The tyranist's thoughts
A movie that is oft mentioned but likely rarely seen, this Italian sci-fi/horror flick has endured beyond its time better than most. The atmosphere, the effects, the sets, the characters are all perfect for the movie. Campy it is, but oh so cool at the same time.
No one knows what's on the planet Aura, but there's an "electrical signal" coming from it and humanity is going to land there to find out what's making it. Well, one of the two ships crashes and all the crew appears to be dead. Then members of the surviving ship's crew start to disappear as well. And remember that in space. . . no one can hear you scream.
About midway through Mario Bava's directing career, this moody, edgy sci-fi flick packs a punch that can still be felt. The effects are good beyond their time and the film is wonderfully, colourfully gory for a mid-60s film. The dubbing is naturally off at times, but don't let that distract you from the story. There is strong use of Golden Age Sci-Fi jargon at the beginning of the movie and some of it is pretty funny. Just relax though and let this movie happen.
A lot of people draw very strong parallels between this and the more modern sci-fi classic Alien and those parallels can certainly be made. The bigger than reality set pieces and some of the awe-inspiring shots showing how small men are compared to the a wrecked alien ship really do compare straight across. Plotwise, however, the comparisons break down a lot. See this one. Its more fun than you expect and completely worth the time.