Atmospheric visuals dominate this Italian made sci-fi tale about earthlings who get more than they bargain for when their spaceship touches down on the mysterious planet Aura.They're attacked by an unknown force and later find out that Aura is inhabited by a dying race of vampire beings who have the power to raise the dead and take over the body and minds of the living. Although obviously made on a very small budget, this film is a lot of fun to look at, although the acting makes it seem like a movie made well before 1965. If anything, it feels like a low budget action or serial feature from the 1940s. The alien body snatcher/mind stealer thing was a pretty common element in these movies well before this was made and was often taken to symbolize subversive communist infiltration, although it's hard to say if that was the intent here. No doubt this movie was good source material for numerous big budget sci-fi features that came later.

When I first sat myself down to watch this I really wasn't expecting anything more than just another dusty old sci-fi clunker, but I was soon pleasantly surprised by it, it was very compelling and surprisingly eerie and to me it was a good movie. Not brilliant, it is quite slow and I can see how someone would get bored with it, but for me how it looks and feels made for some great atmospherics and it soon establishes a nice sense of dread. Visually I thought it was gorgeous, the first thing I noticed was the style of it. That alone elevates it above mere B-movie material as far as I'm concerned. The colours and designs of the fog-shrouded alien landscape are surreal and beautiful, and the way the sleek space suits looked and even the far-out techno jargon all had an effect that to me was like a 50's pulp science fiction comic book come to life, that amazingly luminous colour photography was so striking and otherworldly that it makes it feel like you're almost there! It's a visual triumph, that sparse creepiness was positively mesmeric to me, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Some of it even seemed a bit ahead of its time, like in the scene where the alien parasite awakens the corpse which claws its way out of the black body bag. It sure wasn't vampires threatening the people but the title fits very well. Although what it may or may not have influenced will always be more acclaimed, I think this picture still stands on its own merit as a very well presented fun and spooky adventure that's dripping with fear. Bava was a great one for turning a little into a lot and creating atmosphere out of meagre resources and this early gem of his superbly proves that. I'd recommend it to fans of his work that have yet to see it or just plain fans of chilling retro sci-fi cinema.

Mario Bava directed this eerie and effective Sci-Fi film as two spaceship crews(the Argos & Dalliot) investigate the mysterious planet Aura, only to have fights break out among both crews, resulting in one crash landing, and the other successfully landing. The surviving crew discover their comrades dead, all having murdered each other. They then explore the fog-shrouded planet, to find the remains of another spaceship and the huge skeletal remains of its crew. They then learn that the planet is inhabited by disembodied aliens who can reanimate the newly dead, and use them as temporary hosts, until they can take over the living...Despite having forgettable and sketchily written characters, this surprisingly good film has a palpable atmosphere about it, directed and designed with skill and a good eye for detail. Skeletal alien remains may have influenced Ridley Scott in "Alien", and is in some ways just as memorable. Good score and chilling surprise end make this film a cult classic, much better than expected.

I was a bit afraid to watch this flick from the sixties. I don't dig flicks from the fifties or sixties but what a relieve it was to see this one. It's directed by Mario Bava well known for so much horror flicks. But here he directed a science fiction. Science fiction in that era is mostly out dated to today's standards but this here keep me watching and finally I really enjoyed it. It's a good story and you never see the real monsters or vampires. To say vampires is maybe a bit exaggerated because you don't see any fangs. But it contains for the time being a lot of blood and is even for that time gory. One person do open his jacket to show his body being ripped apart by the alien creatures. And just have a close look towards the space costumes they were wearing. It was made in leather and you could easily see that the collars annoyed them. They can't turn their face properly so they have to act a bit wooden. Nice flick and surely a view worth if you are into science fiction or even horror.