Though denied, Italian horror maestro Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires would seem to have exerted some influence on Dan O Bannon and Ridley Scott when making Alien. A band of space travelers has just intercepted a distress call from a distant world. Is it a desperate cry for help… or something more sinister? After landing on the shadowy planet, the crew is attacked by a horde of disembodied aliens with a diabolical plan: to conquer the universe by controlling the crew’s minds and stealing their souls. Made on a shoestring, the film looks incredible, especially in its use of colour.
Nicolas Winding Refn: “It’s one of those incredible films that’s a combination of all genres: it’s science-fiction, it’s a horror film, it’s a whodunit, it’s an existentialist film. The costumes are mind blowing; it’s very pop-art and fashion orientated. Bava was making films at the same time as those other great Italian directors like Fellini and Antonioni, but I think he’s equally as important. That’s why it was so cool to present the new restoration of Planet of the Vampires in Cannes Classics this year. It was an honour to help bring Bava that recognition he so much deserves.”