Planet of the Vampires

Two spaceships, the Argos and the Galliot, travel toward the unexplored planet Aura after picking up a strange signal. The Galliot vanishes, and when the Argos is pulled down and crashes, its surviving crew finds the other ship's personnel dead, apparently having killed one another. The planet turns out to be inhabited by bodiless beings that take over human bodies and force their hosts to act against their will, and the crew members are soon uncertain who among them is still themselves. The astronauts discover that the entities are looking for a way off their dying world, which puts Earth itself at risk.

Mario Bava directed, and co-wrote the screenplay with Alberto Bevilacqua and Ib Melchior, with Fulvio Lucisano producing. The film followed Blood and Black Lace in Bava's filmography and preceded Kill, Baby... Kill!, marking his move from gothic horror into science fiction. Barry Sullivan plays Captain Mark Markary, with Norma Bengell as Sanya, Ángel Aranda as Wess, Evi Marandi as Tiona, and Stelio Candelli and Franco Andrei among the crew.

Released in 1965, the Italian-Spanish production took roughly one million dollars worldwide, a modest return for its era. On IMDb it holds 6.2/10 from around 8,100 votes, and on TMDB 6.4/10 from 263 votes, indicating a small but steady following. A critics' rating of 6.3/10 from 14 reviews sits close to those audience scores.