[HorrorScience] Horror in Space (1965)

A few weeks ago I commented on an American film calledItem! The Terror from Beyond Spacewhich is consideredthe seed of what ended up beingAlien, something of which I am not going to doubt, because I believe it is true.

Howeveris not the only film that influenced the creators ofAlien and we have the proof in an Italian-Spanish film directed by Mario Bava calledTerror in space, translated into Spanish asTerror in spaceand renamed in the United States asPlanet of the Vampires.

YeahItem! The terror beyondspacecontributed the action part and the horror of the unexpected visitor hunting down the ship's crew one by one, there is no doubt that Terror in spaceHe contributed many ideas and scenes to the initial part of the film.

The film begins with two ships traveling through space.to respond to a distress signalwhich comes from a planet located in an area full of meteorites. Fortunately, the skill of the crew and the mechanisms that deflect meteorites make it possible to locate the planet without accidents.

At the moment they decide to land, both ships are forced by enormous gravity, causing them to land in remote areas.  That's the least of the captain's problems, because as soon as they land,the crew goes crazyand they start fighting among themselves for no apparent reason.

After beating them to reason and verifying that the planet's atmosphere is not toxic for their species, they decide to look for the other ship, located beyond a lake of lava.

Unfortunately the crew of the other ship are dead, apparently they also went crazy and killed each other, the ship is not in a bad state, but its meteor avoidance device is damaged, which prevents its return.

After having buried the dead, the captain decides that they have to explore the planet a little more and from there the strange situations begin to multiply. Some of the crew disappear, othersThey are attacked by what appear to be their deceased companionsand some of the guards have seen strange lights out of the corner of their eyes.

All these situations seem to be linked, but it is not the only strange thing on that planet, becausethe protagonists discover a very ancient alien ship, whose crew (humanoids over 3 meters tall) appear to have died under strange circumstances.

What is that planet hiding?

Terror in spaceIt is a film that pleasantly surprised me.I loved its sinister atmosphere(especially everything related to the old alien ship), its way of increasing the mystery and adding more unknowns that are resolved little by little and almost at the same time for the viewer and the characters.

The negative part of the film lies in the performances (nothing memorable), some special effects (guns firing...) and especiallythe pace of the film, which is tremendously slow, which can serve to cause more intrigue or bore us.

In any case I think any science fiction fan should take a look and if you areAlien fans, viewing is mandatory.

Curiosities about the film:

• The film is based on the story by Renato Pestriniero called “a 21-hour night”
• This film had a comic book collection (under the American name) during the 70s
• Ridley Scott must have a lot of appreciation for this film, since it not only influenced him in Alien, but you can also notice a certain resemblance in the clothing of the protagonists of this film with those ofPrometheus(2012).