Saturday Morning Creature Show: Planet of the Vampires

Join us for Planet of the Vampires, the second of three movies in our latest community curated film series, Saturday Morning Creature Show: Selections from WLVI's Creature Double Feature!

1965; Starring Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, and Ángel Aranda; Not Rated; 88 minutes

Amazon.com says, “Italian horror master Mario Bava brought his

considerable skills to bear on this hypnotic genre hybrid, creating one

of the most eerily atmospheric science fiction films ever made. A

spaceship is lured to a mysterious planet, where members of its crew are

slaughtered, and their bodies possessed by a near-extinct alien race--a

minimalist plot, to be sure, but in the hands of Bava and

cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi, Planet of the Vampires (the best-known

of this film's many titles) is a near-masterpiece of style over

substance. The simplest sets and backdrops are composed with a perfect

eye for perspective and color, with sensible spaceship design and

memorable costumes that look like they sprang from the futuristic

fantasies of an S&M biker gang. Performances are secondary but

effectively low-key, serving to enhance Bava's painterly use of matte

work and miniatures. With a surprise twist ending, POTV is an essential

addition to anyone's sci-fi collection.”

This film series is curated by Mike Piso, a filmmaker who studied film

and video at Mass College of Art. Mike helped to found an art

collective in Jamaica Plain in 2003 that put on regular film and video

screenings. He has also programmed film screenings at the Aviary

Gallery in Jamaica Plain and as part of the Mass College of Art Film

Society series. Mike will offer brief introductory remarks before each

film, and

there will also be time afterwards for comments, questions, and

discussion.

Our final Saturday Morning Creature Show movie is Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, on Saturday, July 21st at 10:00 a.m.

This free film series is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and all are welcome. We hope you can join us!