Sci-Fi Film Fiesta: The Swingin' 60s - Volume 8: Way Out Worlds- by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

There I stood accused of causing injury to one of their people, even though “I thought I was being attacked and I defended myself” and that I didn't even want to come to their world. I tried to explain that I had lost control of my ship and that it was like being pulled toward their planet by an enormous gravitational force.

Sessom explained to me that though my craft was brought down safely by their gravitational tractor beam, they had not been able to do same with the other Earth spaceships which were completely destroyed when they strayed too close and crashed on Rheton's surface. It was explained to me in terms of managing just in the nick of time to control my landing by releasing the pressure in their “space warp’ – whatever the hell that also means!

It soon became pretty clear enough that my real offence was that of being an outsider for which I was duly found guilty with no penalties being lodged against me ….and get this…..sentenced to be made “a free citizen of Rheton!” I was not permitted to leave so that their security would be assured, but at least I would be accorded all the rights of a citizen of Rheton. Great!

In the meantime, as I slept my spaceship was sent into space to keep Rheton's existence secret, along with their world's gravitational technology which allows them to navigate their world through space.

I guess if there was a saving grace from my forced stay on Rheton it would have had to be a couple of beautiful women, one of whom I could marry once I became accustomed to living on Rheton. One of the Rhetonian females was called Liara who was Sessom's daughter. Boy, was this gorgeous blonde broad self-confident to the point of being smug and cocky! A real spoilt brat type of gal. The other woman whose name was Zetha was the complete opposite. She was shy and gentle and uncommonly quiet, that is until I discovered that she was in fact a mute. But there was something about her that really attracted me to her.

I learned that Rheton’s atmosphere, together with some acceleration from the Rhetonians’ gravitational control, had reduced me to ‘normal’ size, at least from their perspective. It seems that there are other worlds out there that have “creatures larger or smaller according to the size of their world.”

I also learned that the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere would restore me immediately to my regular size. At that stage a rather mute point considering I was never to see my world again.

As I was later informed by Sessom, I was expected to accept my fate of being a permanent resident of Rheton and to set about finding a way of being productive.

I also got a bit of a history lesson on Rhetonian civilisation. Despite possessing technology and knowledge hundreds of years ahead of our science, their mode of living appears on the surface to be relatively primitive.

It turns out that the Rhetonians once had machines do all their work for them to the extent that they became “completely free of all labor” and “practically of all responsibilities” with the consequence that they “became soft and lazy.” It was soon apparent that they “did not know how to cope with their free time” and so they then “started to fight amongst themselves.”

As a side note, with all our automation, technology and artificial intelligence one can’t help but notice that “people on earth are beginning to face the same problem: too much free time….too little work.”

In order to solve this apparently universal problem, the Rhetonian forefathers decided to return to ‘primitive ways’ and to toil for their living. As a result “they became much stronger, much happier, much more valuable.” However, they did not forsake all of their scientific achievements. They retained the secret of the gravity control for their survival in space along with the secret of their food production for their survival on their barren planet.

Whatever the case, I was set the task of becoming acquainted with the ways of Rheton whether I liked it or not. I was soon to find out that would not be smooth sailing for the inhabitants of Rheton were so alike human beings not just physically but also in many ways emotionally and psychologically.

I spent quite a bit of time interacting with Liara who it turned out was one of two females I was expected to choose for my (for want of a better word) wife. The other was the enigmatically silent, Zetha.

I did manage to learn from Liara that the Rhetonians make their food chemically as nothing grows on Rheton. The physiology of the inhabitants is such that they require very little food due to the nature of the air they breathe.

No matter which way you look at it, as a stranger in a strange land I was in fact a prisoner despite the assurances given to me that I was free to go anywhere on Rheton. As already alluded to, even if I had wanted to I could not return to my ship as it was no longer on Rheton, having been sent off into space while I was asleep.

Unknown to me at the time, but quietly suspected and hoped for, a rescue ship had been dispatched from earth to discover what had happened to Pegasus 4 in the interests of the crew’s safety and for future space missions. It seems that Pegasus had eventually been located adrift in space and that my recorded message was heard.

Later while in a state of frustration and feeling the need to know more about the Rhetonians’ gravity control, I learned from Sessom the predicament his people faced. He informed me that the high density of their planetoid made it possible for them to advance gravity and that the atoms on Rheton “have narrower electronic orbits than the atoms on most other planets.” The smaller they become the easier it is for them to control and take advantage of positive and negative gravity. Apparently this is why Rheton was becoming smaller. The planetoid was “slowly using up the energy that holds the atomic particles together” with the result that Rheton could very well disintegrate into nothing.

The more immediate danger for Rheton was that sudden bursts of concentrated heat directed by their enemies toward the planetoid “might suddenly speed up the process of time.” These enemies of the Rhetonians are called the Solarites who would like nothing more than to possess their knowledge. The Rhetonians are always in a constant state of alert in expectation of an attack by the Solarites.

Danger of a more personal nature soon came my way in a rather familiar human-type dilemma. After Liara had been interacting with me for quite a while, she declared her love for me but I admit that I didn’t feel the same about her. Besides, I was too preoccupied with finding a means of returning to Earth.

I later managed to spend some time with Zetha, even though the conversation was somewhat one-sided. She struck me as being “more different than the others” in terms of being “warmer...more sensitive.”

Yet another side was added to this complicated emotional triangle in the form of an individual called Herron, who it turned out was in love with Liara. He lied to Sessom by accusing me of imposing myself on both Liara and Zetha. As far as he was concerned this constituted an insult to Liara whom he loved, a direct insult to himself as well as a crime against the people of Rheton. As a consequence, Herron demanded Sessom’s permission to challenge me to a duel…..to the death.

Herron never liked me from the get-go and always seemed to be strutting about with a surly expression on his face. For two-bits I would’ve loved to have hung one on him. As it was, an opportunity seemed to afford itself in the form of this “duel of bravery” which to my way of thinking “might clear the air a little.”

Well, for starters there were no rapiers or pistols at 20 paces involved. Instead, we had a form of combat where opponents holding on to a rod between them aim to push each other on to gravity plates set on such a high intensity that they will cause immediate disintegration when touched. The rules: no quarter can be called and no quarter given. “The fate of the victim is in the hands of the victor.”

Nothing in my sporting endeavours or military training could have adequately prepared me for the sheer intensity and difficulty of this kind of combat. Fortunately I did have the necessary skill and luck on my side to manoeuvre Herron onto a plate, but I just couldn’t bring myself to kill someone for no good reason. At the last moment, I let Herron go.

You know something? While Herron and I were fighting for our lives, I had the distinct impression that Liara was quietly enjoying the fact that she and her honour was a factor in his duel between one man she loved and another who obviously loved her. It was clear that Liara was simply “waiting to see which one of us won and then take the one that was left over.” I tried to make her understand the fact that “you can't make someone love you. It's got to come naturally; you can't force it.”

Speaking of love developing naturally, that was definitely the case between Zetha and me. Totally out of the blue and unexpected.

Equally out of the blue and unexpected was Herron’s offer to help me escape. His plan centred on the fact that my space-suit’s oxygen tank contained air from earth which meant that I could revert back to my ‘normal’ size once I had inhaled it. The other part of the plan was based on the probability that my own people from earth would be searching for me and would eventually zero in on Rheton.

Two nights a week Herron was left alone in complete charge of the master control centre. On those nights while Sessom slept, Herron would manoeuvre Rheton within a distance of the earth's moon resulting in an investigation by earth and with me being eventually located.

Of course, it was Herron’s love for Liara that was the main motivating factor behind his decision to assist me in my escape from Rheton.

Of more immediate concern however, was the realisation that Rheton was at that moment being attacked by the Solarites or "fire people," aliens from an unidentified "sun satellite." For generations they had been after Rheton’s universal gravity control because they wanted to avoid being pulled into the sun. Their aim was to attack and destroy Rheton with flaming fighter spacecraft in order to steal the secret of gravitational control. If they weren’t stopped they would eventually attack the earth. This conflict between the alien races also explained Rheton’s seemingly random and erratic movement through space.

Believe it or not, one of the Solarites captured during the last war several years previously was being held prisoner. The presence of the Solarite showed clearly the kind of diversity of life-forms that must exist throughout the universe. It also revealed just how little we do know about what awaits us and how unprepared we really are for what’s out there.

From our planet’s perspective, the creature I saw would’ve stood over 7 feet tall and was immensely powerful. On Rheton, standing at roughly 7 inches tall, this bizarre-looking biped had long thin limbs, a bulbous forehead and bulging eyes. Yet, it was obviously intelligent belonging as it did to a space-faring race that travels on flaming ships and possessing the ability to destroy an entire planetoid, such as Rheton.

There the creature stood smashing rocks against an invisible force-field which instantly disintegrated the rocks when they made contact with it. These invisible prison bars were a product of the gravitational control by which a high magnetic field was used to “lock molecules so closely together that they form a solid wall.” Without the wall, the Solarite could have easily escaped and killed us all. I’ll come back to the Solarite prisoner a bit later.

Returning to the battle between Rheton and its enemy, the conflict had to be decided then and there once and for all otherwise the Rhetonians would be forced to live in constant danger. They had the gravity control but the greatest danger to their survival was posed by the Solarites’ high intensity heat bombs. They had enough concentrated heat to blow up Rheton instantly.

For a while the battle raged with Rheton being bombarded with heat bombs, but Sessom and Herron positioned Rheton for attack by facing the enemy when it did attack. With a little help from me, Sessom and Herron managed to destroy the enemy fleet using the gravity beam.

Unknown to us during the course of the battle, the Solarite prisoner managed to escape when the gravity barrier holding him failed. As it roamed the subterranean corridors of Rheton, the creature captured Zetha, who on a previous occasion during her childhood had been rendered mute by an encounter with its species.

Sessom himself was then attacked by the Solarite. During a search for the creature,

Zetha's muteness suddenly ended when she saw that I was about to be attacked by the creature and she was able to scream, thereby warning me. After a tense struggle with the Solarite and with the assistance of Herron, I was able to manoeuvre and push the Solarite onto a gravity plate with the result that it was disintegrated.

With the danger averted and now that Zetha could express herself, she was able to declare her love for me. The happiness we felt would be short-lived though for I knew I had to return to my home world, a destiny to be denied to Zetha. There I was on this strange world and I had “found perhaps what I've been looking for all my life” and the cruel irony of it all was that I had to leave despite everything within me wanting me to stay.

The chaos of battle had brought us closer to Earth’s moon than had ever been the case. Rheton would then be slowly and steadily manoeuvred even closer and the travel time would be short. As soon as we would be within range of the moon, Herron’s men were to carry my suit out into the open. Whoever would come from Earth to investigate, would be pulled into Rheton’s gravity and have their landing directed. Meanwhile, I was to enter my suit and seal it up so I wouldn’t be exposed to Rheton’s atmosphere. The air from my own tanks would hopefully enable me to revert to my ‘normal’ size.

A team on a search mission from Earth finally located me and I carried out the plan involving me crawling inside my spacesuit, and after being exposed to atmospheric gases from Earth, returning to my ‘normal’ size.

As I reluctantly left Zetha and her diminutive world behind I remember thinking that no-one would ever believe me if I told them the story of Rheton and what I saw and experienced there. Even with the little piece of her world that Zetha had given me as a keep-sake, no-one would ever believe me. The rock was now little more than the size of a pebble, not even big enough to be paper-weight! The secret of Rheton’s existence would indeed be kept safe.

Perhaps the crew of the rescue ship was right. Had I in fact been dreaming? Was it possible that I was delirious as a result of the shock of the crash-landing on the rogue planetoid? No, this journal and the little pebble I have will give the experience I had a sense of solidity and be a constant reminder of its reality.

I was never the same after my experiences on Rheton and after a series of medical and psych evaluations, I was pronounced unfit for further duty and honourably discharged from USAF. I now do private consultancy work for the private sector.

Yep, there went my Mars mission opportunity alright! Not long after the events I have just described, an unmanned test launch was conducted involving the kind of vehicle to be used for the eventual manned mission to Mars. Unfortunately, he launch was a complete disaster with the spacecraft exploding a few seconds after take-off. And yet, the powers that be classified it as a “success!” So that’s how we now define success! Why? Because it somehow gave us new insights into how to avoid future problems and would help us to better tackle the unknown. They did much the same thing with my own mission to locate the rogue planetoid. We’ve yet to schedule a launch of the first manned mission to Mars, the one I was slated for as commander had I not been reassigned to sort out the mystery of the missing spacecraft and the phantom planet.

Yes, in front of cameras and congressional hearings the political, military and bureaucratic big-wigs talk, spin and act big but they really think small. Children panicked by phantoms. None of them have any clue about the kind of reality that’s waiting for us out there or what to do about it when we eventually confront it.

************

 

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

An admirable sci-fi adventure about friendship, trust, self sacrifice, and co-

operation in order to survive in an inhospitable world. A message sorely needed in

today’s modern world.

 

Directed by Byron Haskin

Produced by Aubrey Schenck

Screenplay by Ib Melchior, John C. Higgins

Based on “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe

Music by Nathan Van Cleave

Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch

Edited by Terry O. Morse

Production company: Schenck-Zabel

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Running time: 110 minutes

 

Cast

Paul Mantee: Commander Christopher Draper

Victor Lundin: Friday

Adam West: Colonel Dan McReady

The Woolly Monkey: Mona

 

Long before there was a

“ Mission to Mars” (2000)

OR

a landing on the “ Red Planet” (2000)

OR

Any thought of trying to

“ Escape from Mars” (1999)

OR

any desire to get “Away” (2020)

(What the...??)

 

THERE WAS…….

 

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

A science fiction retelling of the classic 1719 novel “Robinson

Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe.

 

Aboard Mars Gravity Probe 1, Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are forced to avoid collision with a meteor.

Using an escape pod, Draper lands on the surface of Mars.

With his fellow astronaut dead and with a monkey being his only companion, Draper will need to find a way to survive until he can be rescued and hopefully return to earth.

The need for;

Oxygen

Food

Water

And the effects of;

Loneliness & Isolation…..

….are but a few of the threats posed to the survival of this modern-day

 

Robinson Crusoe on Mars!

Somewhere in another universe and another reality, the inhabitants of the third blue planet from their sun had by the 1960s reached out into space beyond mere low earth orbit and their bases on their single natural satellite.

The year is 1964 and Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper, USN and Colonel Dan McReady, USAF aboard their spaceship, Mars Gravity Probe 1 are set to become the first humans on Mars…...rather unexpectedly so.

The extra-ordinary account of the Mars Gravity Probe 1 mission is taken up by Commander Draper in his audio logs…...

 

Mars Gravity Probe 1

Commander Christopher Draper

Audio Log

 

Entry (Columbus in a strange new land)

This is Commander Christopher Draper... the Navy of the United States of America, planet Earth... former co-pilot Mars Gravity Probe 1.

Colonel McReady and I were set to make our remaining orbits before starting back. We had sufficient animal data and had decided on bringing little Mona, the remaining test monkey back with us rather than expose her to the inferno below above the Martian surface. While deciding on what to eat, we received a warning of the presence of a massive “unidentified flying mass, dead ahead” on a collision course with the ship.

“We took evasive action to avoid collision with a meteor.” With 28 seconds remaining, main retros were fired followed by the firing of upper retros which put us into a descending fast-decaying orbit resulting in “Mars's gravity taking over, pulling us down.” There was no question that we had been “forced into the dangerous gravitational pull of Mars.”

We informed NASA that we had been “forced out of orbital velocity to avoid collision with planetoid and into tighter orbit of Mars” with “the gravity of the planet...pulling us toward it.” We had no option but to “blast back into orbital velocity” which of course would cause us to use all our fuel: - a problem we would have to try and lick later.

After Delta “V” our fuel supply was spent and there was nothing left for us to do but to “prepare to eject: emergency procedure.” In short, we were forced to abandon ship using our pods. After that we would hopefully be able to join up later down on the planet’s surface.

“As of now, the vehicle frame is still orbiting Mars (and) seems to have established gravitational balance. We ejected capsule without incident, Colonel Dan McReady ejecting after I did.”

My pod is a complete right-off. Whether we like it or not, we are the first humans on Mars, but my own presence here almost proved to be a very short one. I quickly realised that the thin atmosphere of Mars contains insufficient oxygen for humans to breathe so I’ll have to rely on my portable oxygen supply….until it runs out.

Despite the low oxygen content, fire seems to have have found a way to thrive on Mars. In fact, it almost ended my life as a fiery ball seemed to deliberately attack me as if it were alive! It reminded me of the way in which fire behaves in zero gravity and during some wild-fires – almost as if it were a writhing living entity.

Added the spookiness of the place was the soul-shattering, mournful but somewhat menacing moaning sound that at first seemed to be coming from all around me. Ghosts of Mars? However, I soon discovered that the sound was the result of the wind forcing its way through the shattered remains of my life-pod as if it were going through its final agonizing death-throes.

My immediate problem was to locate shelter and so I set off along this alien landscape to who knows where. It reminded me a lot of Death Valley back on earth, except for the reddish orange-tinged sky and the amazing light show of the Martian borealis of which I seemed to be the sole spectator.

By chance (or perhaps was it by design?), I stumbled upon a solution to obtaining fire and heat when one of fiery plasma balls shot towards me before moving on. Along the track it took, I discovered a collection of yellow rocks that seemed to act like coal that when ignited could retain heat while being able to he handled to some extent. “It's as burnable as some of our poorer grades of coal. Heat's uneven, but it should make the Martian nights endurable.”

Also by chance (or had it once again been by design?), I discovered a suitable place of refuge when like the stupid jerk I am, I managed to lose my footing up on a rock ledge and literally fell on my ass into a depression. Looking up, I spotted a cave and climbing up into it I discovered it contained seams of a kind of crystal. It was with such a lump of crystal that I used as magnifying glass to ignite the yellow ‘coal’ to provide me with fire, light and heat.

“Now, my two most difficult problems are air and water. I have, with what's left in my tank and one reserve cylinder, enough oxygen for...oh, about 60 hours, depending, of course, on how much I exert myself.”

As I mentioned, “my first discovery was that the air on Mars is far too thin to support human life. As to water, by severe rationing, I can get by for about 15 days. ‘Course, once my air gives out, water won't matter.”

Funny to think how I came here in a space ship from millions of miles away only to wind up like some kind of a primitive cave man! In fact, “I feel a little bit like Columbus: set down in a strange new land, full of new wonders, new discoveries. It's a challenge, all right; a challenge to my training. Sometimes challenges can get mighty big. But I'm gonna stay alive, believe me - That's for the morale officer.”

I hope Mac was as lucky as me. “I'll set out to look for him tomorrow. From all indications, he should be on the other side of a high range of rocky peaks to the west.”

 

Entry (Breathless)

My last nap almost proved to be literally my very last one ever, period! My lungs ached with the desperate effort to gulp in air from somewhere, anywhere. As I mentioned before, “I've licked the heat and shelter problem. Breathing - that's a different story. Moving about, exerting myself, I've found that I can breathe the air of Mars for about, oh, 12 to 15 minutes before I need to take air from my tank for a booster. Lying down, asleep, inactive, I can get by for an hour before taking a booster. In this way, with some discomfort, I can conserve my oxygen supply.

“At the most optimistic appraisal, I have 50 or so hours of life left - God willing.

“The problem is sleeping. If I don't wake up in time to renew my air supply, it's hearts and flowers. I've got to make some kind of alarm device, safeguard myself.

“Tomorrow - and morning's only a couple of hours away - I'm gonna rejoin Mac. Good old Mac. I'll bet he's got these problems licked.”

 

Entry (Over and out)

 

“This is signature... Mars Gravity Probe 1. Colonel Dan McReady dead. M-Me too soon.

No more oxygen.” Set out to find Mac. Under watchful gaze of orbiting ship - last link to earth and hope for survival- located Mac’s pod….Crash-landed and broke apart on rock outcrop….All that’s left of Mac after burying him was his ring, a recording of a song from his wife, Elinor and his two kids.

Found Mona on way back...nearly mistook her for Martian life-form….Carried her back to cave….really did have a monkey on my back...heh...heh. No point rationing food tubes….Let Mona have her fill……..Won’t be for long…...Over and out….”

 

Entry (Life-saving discovery)

“Well, you can scratch signature. I've found an answer that's saved my life temporarily.” I awoke to find myself well and truly alive instead of stone-cold dead. Out of the fire fueled by the yellow stones oxygen seeped to revive me.

“These yellow stones that burn like coal. I've been wondering about this a lot. Where do they get the oxygen to burn? It must be similar to solid rocket fuel with its own built-in oxygen. Heat and flame release it - and it's breathable. I've gotta find some way to store it. As far as life on this planet - I've seen no sign of any other living thing anywhere... yet.”

Guess I wont be joining you just yet Mac, old buddy. I really do wish you were here. You always seemed to know what to do in any situation. Don’t worry pal, I’ll hang in there.

 

Entry (Another problem to solve)

 

Having discovered that heating the yellow rock also releases oxygen has allowed me to devise a system for refilling my air tanks with a hand pump which will enable me to move around in the thin Martian atmosphere.

I’ve noticed that “Mona the monkey spends most of her days off somewhere. Where she goes I have no idea. Thank God she doesn't seem to need or want water. I've offered it to her every day. I'm on strict rationing myself, and even then I'll be out of water in a few days.”

“Well, I've now been on Mars for two weeks. I've tried on several occasions to talk down the wreck of our space vehicle, the Elinor M. I can't break it out of Mars's gravity grip. It answers electronically, but the jets don't fire. No fuel left. So there it is: A supermarket that flies through my sky, and it might as well be in East Overshoe.”

 

Entry (Theory and practice)

 

The supply of water and food wont last for much longer. Much of our training involved survival training, namely locating water on another planet. Well, I have good old professor Woodward aboard on “Instructional videotape number six...second phase of survival, finding water” employing of course, “hypothetical knowledge from our studies here on earth.”

Well prof, “I can give you a tip from here on Mars:” There ain’t no seas, rain or snow and I’m sure as hell not going to drink my own piss! “Good night, Professor. Thanks for the heart-to-heart.”

Speaking of food and water, I’ve lately noticed that Mona keeps disappearing and she seems to display little interest in the dwindling supply of food and water. Something I’ll have to get to the bottom of or I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Sorry, Mona.

 

Entry: (Monkey Business)

I devised a plan that involves depriving Mona of water and restricting her to the cave. It worked. Mona is definitely not like a camel. She can get thirsty too and she obviously knew something very important to our survival.

I managed to find out what it was when I went in search of Mona. As is my habit, one moment I’m on solid ground and the next I’m falling down into something. In this case, that something was a very deep, deep cavern. Luckily, I manged to grab hold of a ledge which turned out to be the rocky rim of a water source like some kind of an underground spring. And guess who I found sitting on the other side happily munching away on something. Yep, good old Mona. It turned out that she was stuffing her face with an edible plant that resembles seaweed that contains something like a pod that once peeled looks a bit like a sausage. “Could use a little paprika.. not bad at all.”

This was a wonderful turn of events. Still, man cannot live by bread alone. With Mona being my sole companion, if she “just had four words” that she understood, even if it were just “Yes,” “No,” “Come,” “Go,” “then we could talk to each other.” Human beings need to interact, to communicate, to socialize. Rob them of that ability and they’re likely to…...well, I’ll talk to you later on.

 

Entry (Mana from heaven)

The new source of Martian food has other uses, because you can “eat it, weave it and you wear it.” Now, that’s one useful resource worth its weight in gold. “This is manna from heaven!”

 

Entry (Utterly alone)

“All right, here's another note for you boys in Survival, for you geniuses in Human Factors. A guy can lick the problems of heat, water, shelter, food. I know. I've done it. And here's the hairiest problem of all: isolation, being alone. Boy, here's where he'll crack. Here's where he'll go under.”

“I know, I know. I had great training, including two months in the isolation chamber. But when I was in that chamber, I knew I was coming out. I knew I'd be with people again. But up here on Mars; you've gotta face the reality of being alone forever.”

The days have grown into months and “I haven't heard a human voice in four months - Four!” During all that time “I have just been aching for someone to talk to.” All I have is Mona’s chittering and the sound of my own voice echoing back to me at the pool, a place I euphemistically call ‘the beach.’ All I want is for Mr Echo to just for once “say something!….I mean…. say something back!”

I think I’m beginning to crack from the prolonged isolation. Why, after last night’s meal of stewed ‘sausages’ I went to sleep feeling none too good, perhaps coming down with a dose of food poisoning. Suddenly I awoke to the sound of knocking at the cave entrance. When I opened the makeshift door, I imagined that I was in the presence of Mac – alive but strangely silent. Was I going out of my mind? Was it Mac’s ghost? Was it a magic mushroom-like hallucinatory effect of the cooked Martian sausages? It was as if Mac was cruelly mocking me with his silence until the full import of what took place hit me like a sledgehammer when my ‘alarm’ jangled my senses back to reality.

We all remember the global pandemic of 1950 – 1953 during which a large proportion of the population was forced into lock-down and extended periods of social distancing. You’ll also recall how difficult it was for so many people to endure social isolation, together with the threat to lives, jobs and livelihoods. Despite the difficulties, we knew in the back of our minds that we were undergoing a shared experience and that in a sense we were in this together and that there were ways and means by which we could reach out to others no matter how inadequate they seemed to be. In the end, we came through it when the virus disappeared just as quickly as it arrived even before an effective vaccine had been fully developed. But for many the damage had been done and it took years for people to restore their psychological and emotional health.

Now imagine being cut off from ALL human contact while being separated from everyone and everything you knew by millions and millions of miles of space. No friend to joke around and have a beer with. No one to hug or be hugged by. No one to have a sane and rational conversation with. No woman to love and make love to. A monkey: your only contact, your only company. Your only hope – not to lose hope…….

And to rub in, there’s the ever-present Mars Gravity Probe 1 ship ceaselessly orbiting overhead: an inaccessible "supermarket" without fuel and unable to respond to my radioed commands to land.

 

Entry (An unexpected find)

As part of my survival at all costs bid, I opted for continuing to give my existence on this new world of mine some structure and purpose. You know, preserve the mind and body thing. I guess one way to do this would be to explore the surroundings.

Three weeks ago, as I was walking about with Mona, I stumbled across a dark rock slab standing upright. It had definitely been deliberately placed there – but by whom? Curious, I dug in the ground around it, and to my astonishment I managed to expose the skeletal remains of a hand and arm wearing a black bracelet. I then uncovered the rest of what definitely appeared to be a humanoid skeleton.

I don’t have to spell it out for you what that means: Intelligent life – extraterrestrial life - here on Mars! It seems that I might not be so alone after all. The burial suggests that the skeleton’s species have a concept of an afterlife, reverence for their dead, a belief in a god or gods or at least some kind of religious worship. The bracelet also suggests a degree of technological sophistication.

You can sense a tone of foreboding in my voice instead of the expected joy at my discovery and what it could entail. You see, “it is now three weeks since I found the skeleton out by the black mesas. I had to conclude it was murder because there was a large, neat hole in the forehead of the skull. The back of the skull was fused and charred. Because of this, I have concealed or destroyed any outward sign that anyone is living.”

Also, in order to hide my presence on Mars, I felt I had to signal Mars Probe 1 to self-destruct on its next overhead pass. There went my last link to and reminder of Earth.

 

Entry (Companion)

“Last night occurred the most important event since I landed on Mars 147 days ago. An interplanetary space vehicle made a landing - like no space vehicle I've ever seen on Earth. From what I see from my videotape, it was manned by some animated beings, obviously from some planet other than Mars. They're here, apparently, on an ore-gathering expedition. They mine electronically by remote control. They also use slaves, and they handle them electronically. One of them escaped. He's with me and I'm trying to establish communication with him. He's pretty much like an Earth being, except he's completely mute and, for all I know, deaf.”

At first I thought he might communicate by thought transfer, electronic signals or even like us by using spoken language. I so much wanted to ask him where he came from, how he was like us, in what ways he is different and how he could breathe without a booster. I was however, able to definitely establish by what the camera captured, (his appearance, the circumstances of my finding him and his reactions to what he saw on the tape) that he was an indeed an escaped slave.

“Well, I prayed for a companion, and I finally got one, and he can't even make a sound.”

“As a companion, Cosmos, Mona's better.”

 

Entry (I’m The boss!)

Neither of us seem entirely sure whether we can trust each other. Well, for the time being I guess I’ll have to show the stranger that “I'm the boss” and make it known to him that if he gets “out of line just one iota,” I’ll bring his “enemies right back into this cave.” Hey, it’s my place and my rules after all! A great beginning so far for humanity’s first encounter with intelligent extraterrestrial life, eh?

Entry (Friday)

 

Trust has been slow in coming between myself and my new acquaintance. Last night I caught him fooling around with my sand alarm but as I decided to sleep with a knife under my pillow, I quickly made it known to him that it could be quite dangerous for him to fool around with my stuff.

The aliens then returned to the mine site area and began bombarding it with what appears to be energy-type weapons. Their ships seem to be powered by what could be electromagnetic propulsion. At any rate, they move with terrific speed and are incredibly manoeuvrable, far beyond anything we have on earth.

When the ships departed, my alien friend thought that I had gotten rid of them and that I was therefore some kind of a god! I then determined that I’d give him a name and “with apologies to Robinson Crusoe,” I named him “Friday.” Alright, I can just picture you shaking your heads and laughing at the idea!

It was at that point when I discovered that Friday is not mute after all. He has the capacity to use spoken language and even though I cannot understand him, if he can make sounds like he has been doing, then he can make English sounds too! Yes sir, Friday is gonna have to learn English if I have to sit on his chest for two months.

 

Entry (Friendship)

It seems that since I have had the company of Friday I have been acting like an arrogant son of a bitch. There I was lording it over my solitary non-monkey subject, berating him for his apparent stupidity at only being able to mimic my English words and expecting him to carry out my ‘commands.’ I began to view Friday as being an “idiot” and “retarded.”

Later when Friday and I went to investigate the mine site, we came across the grisly sight of bodies of dead slaves. Those alien bastards left them behind after using them to mine their ore and deprived them of their oxygen pills, the same pills that Friday has been using and which he has been trying to get me to use. Not only that, but the aliens in their ships blasted the area. Friday’s “friends were expendable,” it seems….

Shortly afterwards, a large meteor entered the Martian atmosphere and exploded overhead, showering the site with a tremendous volume of an ash or soot-like substance. Had it not been for Friday, I would have died of suffocation. He had risked his own life to save mine.

It was at that point that Friday and I can became fast friends sharing a bond of mutual trust and regard. Here was an alien being who displayed more humanity than most people I have ever known back on earth. It was like he was here for a reason and had helped me re-discover something important within me…..."The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want…….He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness….” I think I’m starting to get it.

Entry: (Yet another problem)

It took some time, but I finally got Friday into a conversational mode instead of just repeating my own words. I found out that his home is located at the central star in the belt of Orion.

Friday also informed me that the enemy alien ships will return in two months but if that is so then “they’re overdue.” Even more concerning is that they will be able to use his bracelets to track him down. “We've gotta figure out some way of getting these things off.” The wire saw might do the trick.

“For the survival record, I've been taking Friday's oxygen pills. Chemically, of course, I have no way of analyzing them. As to how they work…...Somehow, these pills bypass the lungs and produce oxygen right in the blood.”

 

Commander Christopher Draper’s account

Debriefing Session Aboard Space Rescue Group 3

 

…. the alien spacecraft returned, and were able to track Friday by his bracelets. They began blasting our cave site with their energy weapons. Our little band of three fled our pursuers through the underground Martian canals, “our underground highway, our bomb shelter.”

Eventually our path was cut off by a fiery molten obstacle and with no water available to us, we had to get back up to the surface. There was nothing for it but for the three of us to embark on a trek to the Martian polar ice-cap.

When we reached the ice-cap, we were spent, half-frozen and almost out of air pills. I found out that Friday had not been taking his pills and was saving them for me instead. Now that’s what I call a real “buddy” – my “brother.”

We’ve often wondered whether alien races we might eventually encounter would have a concept of a God or of a supreme being. Well, it turns out that Friday’s people do. They call God by the name of “Kaihechipek,” a supreme being or “divine order.”

Another thing I learned about Friday is that he has had the controller or locator bracelets on for 62 years and that he is 78 years old himself! It gives you an idea just how long he has been enslaved by the other alien species. I guess not all encounters with technologically advanced life-forms are going to be mutually benign and fruitful. Look what happened when similar encounters occurred on Earth between peoples of widely differing levels of technological advancement, power, mind sets and points of view.

Anyway, we managed build a snow shelter and I finally succeeded in cutting off Friday's bracelets. Wouldn’t you know it, another one of those low-orbiting meteors burst onto the scene and smashed into the ice-cap setting off a massive explosion and firestorm. At least this time it helped us by melting the ice and snow and saving us from freezing to death.

A bit later, my portable radar locator detected an approaching spaceship and I immediately thought ‘oh, no, not again!’ Suddenly my portable radio picked up the sweet sound of an English-speaking voice, and here we are safe and sound aboard your ship heading back to good old Earth. Beer, burgers and babes for me. Real bananas for Mona and freedom and a brand new home for my buddy and brother, Friday.”

Friday: “A-OK!”

 

So ends the account of

“Commander Christopher Draper

of the United States Navy.”

“A voice from Mars!”

Formerly…...

 

A Robinson Crusoe on Mars!

 

Points Of Interest

The first half of “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” has a more serious and quieter tone as well as a slower pace concentrating as it does on one man’s struggle for survival. In fact, Paul Mantee does a fine job holding the audience's interest on his own during this time combining both a tough-guy can-do attitude and evident vulnerability. The pace then picks up in the second half with the appearance of Friday and the subsequent trek to the Martian polar ice-cap. Unfortunately the events in the second half do come across as being rather rushed and devoid of any real suspenseful build-up.

As with “War of the Worlds” (1953), the film effectively brings a classic story to life within a modern or more contemporary setting, in this case outer space.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars” was released a year before NASA's Mariner 4 spacecraft took the first closeup images of the planet Mars. The film did at least provide the best depiction of the Red Plant at the time. Even back then Percival Lowell's theory of Martian canals was losing favour.

Of course, there will be those today who will quibble over the film’s scientific accuracy or lack of it. But you know what? Who cares! It works well as a sci-fi adventure story and should be enjoyed for its entertainment value. Just thank God it is not overlaid with or buried under lashings of PC correctness, gender concerns, racial and sexual orientation requirements as well as the necessity for absolute scientific accuracy. Thank goodness also for not bogging the story down with endless flashbacks and cross-overs to earth for tedious back stories of characters. Without all that crap, we are left with a film that at least contains a sense of fun, something we have largely forgotten about in the 21st Century.

“Robinson Crusoe on Mars” is a stunning visual feast with excellent Technicolor photography and Matte paintings provided by Albert Whitlock combined with stunning Death Valley exterior shots. In fact, many of the scenes of the Martian surface were filmed at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, California. With all of this before us on the screen, we can well imagine that we are on an alien planet.

You might have noticed that the enemy alien spacecraft resemble the models used in the original “War of the Worlds” (1953). In fact, they are special effects paintings that utilised animated traveling-matte processing to make the spacecraft appear and disappear. However, there is some dispute and hang-wringing argument over this with many who contend that the alien ship is in fact a model. Whatever. Who really cares!

Also from “War of the Worlds” is the "valley of the shadow of death" verse that Draper recites as he and Friday walk along after the meteor explosion and rescue of Draper. This was also recited by the priest in the “War of the Worlds” as he walks towards the Martian vessels before being vaporised.

The music score is by Nathan Van Cleave, who is also known for his music for “Conquest of Space” (1955), “The Space Children” (1958) and “The Colossus of New York” (1958).

Apparently, M&Ms were used for the air pills while pepperonis were used for the alien plant “sausages.” In addition, real snow and ice was used in the Martian ice-cap scene in which Draper and Friday were buried after the meteor impact.

The ‘female’ monkey, Mona was played by a male Woolly Monkey named "Barney," who (possibly an affront and insult to the poor fellow’s dignity) wore fur trunks or a diaper to hide his maleness! It happens to lot with male characters/actors in movies these days!

Certainly the discoveries made about Mars over the decades from the 1965 ‘Mariner’ fly-by, to ‘Viking’ then on to ‘Spirit’, ‘Opportunity’ and ‘Curiosity’ have served to render the film as being way off the mark in terms of accuracy about the conditions found on Mars. Well, we could bore our selves silly watching a lone stranded astronaut trying to grow potatoes in Mars, or struggle to keep awake during an episodic soap-opera about a mission to Mars and feel good about how accurate it all seems to be. Or, we could just enjoy the film for what it is and not concern ourselves with the planet in question being the planet Mars we now think we know it to be. Just think of it as being an an adventure story about alien world on which a single human struggles to survive. (By the way, it has recently been discovered that Mars does indeed have water - a salt water lake - under its surface!)

Overall, “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” is a fine adaptation of Defoe’s classic tale which stands the test of time with its authentic look and feel, and fine performances from its small human and non-human cast!

 

************

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

(Terrore nello spazio)

 

A stylish, innovative, well-paced and entertaining mid-1960s sci-fi film with strong

tone and atmosphere along with earnest performances.

 

Directed by Mario Bava

Screenplay by Alberto Bevilacqua, Callisto Cosulich, Mario Bava, Antonio Román Rafael J. Salvia

English version: Ib Melchior, Louis M. Heyward Based on "One Night of 21 Hours" by Renato Pestriniero Produced by,Fulvio Lucisano

Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi

Edited by Antonio Gimeno, Romana Fortini

Music by Gino Marinuzzi Jr.

Production companies: Italian International Film, Castilla Cooperativa Cinematográfica, American International Pictures Distributed by Società Italiana di Distribuzione (SIDIS) (Italy), C.B. Films (Spain) Running time: 88 minutes

Budget: $200,000

Box office: £90 million (Italy), 38.2 million ESP (Spain), $251,000 (United States)

Cast

Barry Sullivan as Captain Mark Markary

Norma Bengell as Sanya

Ángel Aranda as Wess Wescant

Evi Marandi as Tiona

Franco Andrei as Bert

Federico Boido as Harry Gash

Stelio Candelli as Brad )

Alberto Cevenini as Toby Markary

Mario Morales as Eldon

Ivan Rassimov as Carter

Massimo Righi as Captain Sallis

Fernando Villeña as Dr. Karan

 

A strange transmission of a distress signal is received.

The spaceships Argos and Galliot travel to the mysterious

planet Aura to investigate.

Automatic controls malfunction and the Galliot crashes on the

surface of Aura.

Upon landing, crew-members in Argos briefly lose control and

attack each other.

Why?

Casualties are soon found but the Argos’ Captain and his

surviving crew discover that the dead do not stay dead.

How can this be?

Did they respond to a distress signal or have they fallen into a

trap?

If the latter, then who set the trap and for what purpose?

 

“This planet seems to be made of fog”

Aboard the spaceship Argos, our view of the spacious bridge, its equipment and its personnel is measured and unhurried affording us enough time to take in its impressive dimensions and functional efficiency. This huge interplanetary ship along with its sister ship, the Galliot have embarked on an expedition into the far reaches of deep uncharted space. On their sixth orbit around Aura, an unexplored planet, the crew has detected a signal that “always comes from the same point” emanating from a “man-made transmitter.” The transmission has been known about for the last two years. In response to what appears to be this distress signal, both ships are about to attempt to land on the surface of the fog-shrouded world.

While preparing to land on the planet, the communication link between the two vessels appears to be blocked. This is followed by a massive increase in gravitational forces as the Argos begins to enter Aura’s atmosphere, almost crushing and immobilising the crew.

 

“He doesn't remember anything either”

“What's happened? What's going on?”

“I wish I knew”

During the course of the landing, the crew of the Argos suddenly become possessed by a mysterious force that impels them to attempt to violently kill each other. It appears that Captain Markary is able to resist this unknown power and manages to force all of the other crew members out of their homicidal hypnotic trance-like state.

All that can be determined so far is that only some of the crew “have been behaving strangely with no memory of it afterwards.” Just prior to this “the automatic controls went completely haywire” and then “without warning the force of gravity increased…..up to 40G, a force which only a planet with a mass a thousand times superior to ours could have put out.” After unexpectedly setting down gently on the planet’s surface, the crew seemed to go crazy.

 

“None of this is coincidence.

This was planned- by whom by what?”

Soon after the Argos lands on the surface, the crew unsuccessfully attempts to lift off and head to the Galliott’s landing site. They then decide instead to disembark and explore the eerily coloured and swirling mist infused terrain as they make their way toward the Galliott. Upon their arrival at the other ship, they discover to their horror that the crew members have killed each other, including Markary's younger brother, Toby. The bodies outside the ship are buried but several bodies remain sealed inside the ship's control room, the entrance to which will need to be cut through in order to gain access. While Markary goes back to get tools for opening the sealed room, the corpses within have mysteriously disappeared.

Markary returns to find the bodies missing, the control room doors open and all evidence of violence erased with the exception of blood discovered by Wess. After the baffled crew leave to return to the Argos, the grave markers at the Galliott burial site start to shift before toppling over. One by one the buried corpses emerge from their graves and slowly tear off their clear plastic shrouds before moving off to……

 

“Maybe we're not alone. Somebody or something could be

watching us here right now”

A mystery has presented itself: First of all, despite being guided to the planet by a signal, no sign of life is evident. Second, Tiona is convinced that she saw some of the ‘dead’ men from the Galliott moving around nearby which caused her to scream in terror. Finally, there is the question of whether there is some inexplicable force at work here or if there’s any form of life responsible for what has happened, then it should be considered as their enemy.

“A captain should not be afraid and I confess now to whoever may hear

this that today now I am experiencing fear. I must not let my crew know

this. I must keep them busy. I must not let them know that the situation

appears more hopeless with each passing day. Dictated by captain Mark

Markary of the spaceship Argos on the planet Aura in the year…..”

Although it is decided that the surviving crew must escape from Aura. the vessel has sustained serious damage during the landing, and the necessary repairs will delay any departure for at least two days. The pressure is on as In another three days the planet's orbit will have swept the crew so far away they may not get back home at all.

A short time later, Markary observes Wess attempting to disconnect the meteor rejector. After being intercepted, Wes recalls that he was fully aware all the time that he was doing so but couldn't help himself. He tells the other, “I fought it with all my power but it was no use, I had to disconnect the meteor rejector…..it was like like another will fighting my own in my mind trying to take take over control.”

It is concluded that “whatever unseen beings are out there, they apparently have the power to influence our minds when we're unconscious.” As a precaution, the captain orders that a guard be placed on anyone who's sleeping.

The crew members patrolling and standing guard outside the ship report having heard and seen something. When Markary joins them, the ‘something’ is described as being “like luminous gloves” seen out of the corner of the eye but seem to just disappear when looked at directly.

Tragedy strikes when the outside party hears a scream and discover a hideously mutilated Bert lying on the ground. Before he dies, he tells the others that it was “captain,” but is unable to finish his identification of the culprit.

After Bert’s body is brought back into the ship, the assessment of the crew’s predicament is outlined as follows:

1. One entire crew lost

2. Two of their own crewmen gone

3. Bert dead

4. Elden disappeared

5. The unknown enemy keeps getting closer

The Enemy

The enemy becomes visible and identifiable when viewed out of the corner of one’s eye but seems to disappear when looked at directly. Being perhaps composed of little globes of light, this alien life-form could, it is conjectured, be “based on a different plane of vibrations” to humans and that the “strange sonic waves” the crew heard could be their voices.

As Tiona finishes the records for Sanya, she is terrified by the sight of the apparently deceased Bert standing behind the record cabinet door, seemingly poised to do her harm. Karen faints from shock and the others return to find her lying on the floor. There may be some scepticism concerning Tiona’s account of what happened especially with Bert’s seemingly lifeless body lying atop the table.

Bert’s burial service is quickly dispatched with a perfunctory, “rest well... sorry we weren't around to help you…. we'll try to see that you didn't die in vain.” This is followed by “let's not stand around, we've got work to do!” If his ghost is watching he’ll be shaking his fist and muttering, “Is that all you’ve got to say, you bastards!”

 

“Looks like it's been here for a long time”

While conducting a land survey of Aura, Wess spotted something “shining” which turns out to be the ruins of an alien spaceship a few miles from the Argos.

Markary, Sanya and Carter proceed to the site of the alien ship to investigate. An examination of the vessel’s exterior indicates that “it's been here for a long time” and doesn’t look like any ship the crew has ever seen. Suddenly they spot a giant skeleton on the ground “three times the size of us and judging by the deterioration of the calcium must have been here a long time, probably belonging to an ancient civilisation.”

While Carter stands guard outside, Markary and Sanya venture inside the derelict craft. While cautiously making their way lit by subdued lighting through the immense interior, their presence seems to have triggered a series of strange eerie melodic sounds.

Another giant skeleton is discovered slumped over some kind of control station. Both Markary and Sanya receive a shock when they touch what appears to be an electric torch used by the aliens whose size may have enabled them to hold the device without being shocked.

While they have been exploring the chamber, Markary has managed to activate a recording device which fills the area with a deep almost melodic baritone voice. The voice belonged to the giant alien and what Markary and Sanya’s ears are being subject to is the alien’s language…..saying what exactly? It’s a moot point, however as Markary smashes the console which silences the message and brings the giant skeleton crashing down onto the floor of the vessel.

A somewhat symbolic act! But what is pretty obvious by now is that the crew of Argos and Galliott are not the first ships to be lured into a trap on Aura by the distress beacon.

Markary soon locates a large tuning fork on the console and conjectures that the locking device “could be a sonic one - a lock designed to open only to a certain sound to a certain frequency.”

All of a sudden, in what appears to be a fail-safe device, the air is being drawn out the chamber which is now sealed tight. The tuning fork however is of no use, so Markary throws it away causing it to accidentally strike the electric torch device.. The results produced as a consequence leads Markary to resort to enduring the shocks from the ‘electric torch’ to generate the tone and frequency necessary to open the door lock.

After exiting the alien vessel, Markary and Sanya discover that Carter is nowhere to be seen. They believe that he has probably gone back to the Argos for help. But has he????

Back at the Argos, it is evident that Carter has not yet returned. Rather disturbingly it seems that Tiona has been dramatically affected by what she witnessed when standing guard: “they were there in the fog all mutilated and bloody….I looked right at them…. they didn't go away…..empty faces – dead faces.”

Two apparent surviving crew members of the Galliott, Kier and Sallis, arrive at the Argos where they relate that they “remember descending for landing with all conditions perfect then nothing until we found ourselves fighting our way out of unconsciousness somewhere out there.” They go on to explain that they walked around looking for the Galliott but didn't find her. Their peculiar behaviour, however is noticed along with their inability to adequately explain where they have been since the landing. Their presence seems to indicate that they are indeed alive, but as Tiona observes, nothing is what it seems on Aura. She then insists that she saw the three they buried the previous day along with another one – Bert! One way to find out is to open the graves which Markary orders to be done. A short time later, from one of the graves, only a transparent plastic funeral shroud shoots out revealing the absence of any body.

 

“It's imperative that our race continue to exist”

Later that same night, Kier and Sallas are caught stealing the Argos’ meteor rejecter from the control room. Kier is able to escape with the rejecter, but Sallas is captured. When the top part of his uniform is accidentally torn open, the other crew members catch a glimpse of putrid flesh and exposed bone. Sailas’ real identity is revealed. He tells the others that he is an Auran entity who has taken possession of and making use of the dead man's body. He goes on to explain that due to their sun burning out and the planet becoming uninhabitable, his species are desperate to escape before they become extinct.

 

The Imperative

“On this planet many beings who are desperate. We've been in trouble many years now and we're fighting to survive. We arranged for several of you to kill each other

so that we could take over your bodies. You are our last chance, it's imperative that

our race continue to exist….If you were in our place you would understand ….we

cannot build anything - spaceships like this, we need ships to get away. Perhaps

our survival is possible somewhere else. Our sun's been dying….and that means

the end of our species….You heard our message, we never expected you to actually

respond”

The Auran has revealed that the two ships were lured to the planet in order for its species to escape from their dying world and that they have to take possession of the crew members in order to exist in a different atmosphere. In answer to the accusation that such a bodily possession would be parasitical, the Auran states that the hosts must “be willing only to submit, lose their bodies as well as lose their will” and that the relationship would be “symbiotic.” In usual evil alien fashion, the Sallas / Auran entity then declares that resistance is useless and issues an ultimatum stating that either all of them go back to the humans’ home planet, or none will. To underscore this, the Auran adds that “a certain rejector” vital to the human crew has been taken away and therefore they can't leave without it. The rejector will be returned only on condition that they agree to take the Auran’s back with them. Markary resolutely replies that he and his crew are willing to die in order to save their world. In response, the Auran entity vacates Sallas’ dead body which promptly falls to the floor.

 

“Time's running out”

Markary, in a race against time, quickly activates a plan to stop the Aurans achieving their own nefarious plan of reaching the home planet. First of all, the captain intends to use atomic detonators to blow up the Galliott and its entire cargo of “living dead.” Before doing so, the meteor rejector will need to be retrieved As soon as Wess sees team returning with the rejector, he is to turn on the ignition while the rejector is to be replaced after they are in space which will be risky.

To the accompaniment of the ominous mournful wail of the Auran wind, Markary along with Sanya, Dr. Karan and Tiona make their way to the Galliott to retrieve the meteor rejecter, while Wess stays behind on the Argos. At the site of the Galliott Markary orders Tiona and Dr Karen to hold position while he and Sanya proceed into the ship.

 

It isn’t long before the captain discovers that his own brother has turned into one of the living dead. While the explosive is being placed within the ship and the meteor rejector retrieved, Markary and Sanya are caught in the act by Toby and a struggle ensues during which Markary shoots Toby in the leg. The rest of the Aurans are alerted by the sound of the struggle and its on for young and old.

Markary and Sanya eventually make it back to where Dr. Karan and Tiona are before a gun battle erupts between the four Argon crew and the pursuing Auran possessed astronauts. Karen and Tiona are killed in the battle while Markary and Sanya make it back to the Argos. The ship manages to take off with the three survivors just as the Galliott explodes. One would think that would be the end of the story….right? Wrong!

 

“Can you imagine our world invaded by those horrible

creatures?

Just thinking about it seems a nightmare”

After declaring that it was “luck” that brought them here, Markary insists that Wess go and get some sleep. While he tries to do just that, he is disturbed by Markary's strange behaviour when he catches a reflection of the captain holding a field ray gun while hovering outside his quarters and seeming to be undecided as to whether or not to enter. When Wess informs Sanya about what he saw, she asks him, “what are your conclusions?” and he replies, “unfortunately there's only one conclusion: even Mark is controlled by one of them!” Samya and Wess then go to confront the captain where Wess is to discover the horrible truth that…….

 

“Just let one of us join you. It'll give you this wonderful new

complexity”

….both Markary and Sanaya are possessed by the Auran entities! Wess rejects their offer to let him join them and echoing his captain’s earlier declaration, he assures them that he would rather die than submit to them. Before he can be eliminated, Wess dashes off and destroys the meteor rejecter which releases an energy discharge that kills him.

 

“I was right, it is a puny civilization”

Without the meteor rejecter, there is no way for the Argos to make it back to the home planet. home. Instead, Markary decides that they’ll have to land on a closer planet less then a light year away. It is such a small planet it’s “not even marked on the navigation charts” but has an atmosphere in which they and those who follow them can exist. It is the third planet of the star they call T, “most likely a young primitive world” which we of course know as…... Earth!

The crews of the Argos and Galliott were not human at all, but from another distant planet. 'Sanya' asks 'Markary' how he thinks the people of Earth will accept them. "I hope well... for them," he menacingly replies.

 

Points Of Interest

Planet of the Vampires was based on an Itaian-language science fiction short story, One Night of 21 Hours by Renato Pestriniero. The film was co-produced by AIP and Italian International Film, with some financing provided by Spain's Castilla Cooperativa Cinematográfica. American International Pictures released the film as the supporting film on a double feature with Daniel Haller's Die, Monster, Die! (1965).

Bava's film seems to have been a major influence on Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) both of which have similar narrative and visual design elements. Just consider for instance, the continuous shots & panning inside the Argon vessel, the discovery of a giant alien skeleton outside and inside the derelict alien ship, the horseshoe shape vessel design, the landing on the alien planetoid scene, the response to an alien signal an so on.

Ib Melchior who wrote the screenplay for the English-language version of the film had been involved with other sci-fi films such as The Angry Red Planet (1959), Reptilicus (1961) and Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964).

On set it must have been a regular Tower of Babel as each cast member used their own native language on the set, often not understanding what the other actors were saying. The languages used ranged from English, Portuguese, Italian through to Spanish. The actors’ voices were then dubbed into Italian or English in post-production.

Opticals, miniatures and forced perspective visuals were used throughout the film, along with colored fog to add atmosphere while obscuring the cheapness of the sets. In some of the shots two plastic rocks were multiplied by mirrors and multiple exposures. The planet's exterior sequences were filmed on an empty stage obscured by mists, table top miniatures and Schüfftan process effects involving the use of mirrors to reflect a portion of the action being filmed onto a separate piece of glass, which is then incorporated into the final image. This process allows the creation of the illusion of complex and realistic environments.

Planet of the Vampires is a beautifully photographed film with effective special effects and use of color to the accompaniment of eerie atmospheric music. Often the tone and mood is simply set by the sound of humming electronics and the menacing moan of the planet’s wind. The viewer is taken along as a participant by the ever-roving camera as it pans, tracks and zooms in and out and leads us through a scene by means of continuous shots.

The horror and science fiction elements of the film are very well combined giving it an unsettling and creepy feel without going over the top. We are given time to take in everything at the visual level without nausea-inducing shaky camera work and continuous rapid cutting of shots. We also (shock-horror!) have a story with a structure that audiences can actually follow. If I have any criticism, it is with those damn collars of the characters’ uniforms. They must have annoyed the heck out of the actors. Speaking of the vinyl uniforms, Norma Bengell and Evi Marandi did them full justice!

Notice too that unusual for the time the film was made, the female characters were depicted as being fully integrated members of the crew who even participated in the nitty gritty of missions and dangerous conflicts.

Planet of the Vampires deserves to be more widely known and not simply forgotten. It is a wonderful gem of cinematic history that still stands up surprisingly well.

**************

 

 

Countdown (1968)

 

A rather dry, less than exciting but well acted snapshot of the space race with

Russia during the Cold war period of the late 1960s. The film deals with complex

emotions and human behaviour instead of technology but suffers from a lack of

tension and suspense.

 

Directed by Robert Altman

Produced by William Conrad

Screenplay by Loring Mandel

Based on “The Pilgrim Project” by Hank Searls Music by Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography: William W. Spencer

Edited by Gene Milford

Production company: A William Conrad Production Distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts

Running time: 101 minutes

Cast

James Caan as Lee Stegler

Joanna Moore as Mickey Stegler

Robert Duvall as Chiz Stewart

Barbara Baxley as Jean

Charles Aidman as Gus

Steve Ihnat as Ross Duellan

Michael Murphy as Rick

Ted Knight as Walter Larson

Stephen Coit as Ehrman

John Rayner as Dunc

Charles Irving as Seidel

Bobby Riha as Stevie Stegler

 

The Soviets are about to launch a manned mission to the moon.

A desperate bid by the US to land a man on the moon before the Soviets

do.

An Apollo moon program that isn’t ready to launch yet.

A rushed preparation to send a single astronaut in a modified Gemini

capsule to land on the moon.

He is to remain alone on the moon in a lunar shelter for a year until an

Apollo mission can rescue him.

Who will be selected for this hastily prepared and perilous mission and

can it succeed?

 

We are transported back to the late 1960s, a time we recall being of one change, the rise of counter-culture and impending social and political turmoil. Shielded from all of the ructions of the times within the bubble of the Gemini and Apollo moon programs, we find three astronauts training in an Apollo 3 simulator with their main concern consisting of having their session being aborted abruptly with the “third orbit coming up.”

The astronauts inhabit a world of buzz and crew-cutted, skinny-tied, narrow-trousered and short shirt-sleeved mission focused dedication to the achievement of a history-making goal: sending a man to the moon.

♪♪ Johnny we gotta make a moon shot

Or the Russians will leave us behind

So get ready soon and we'll drop you on the moon.. ♪♪

At a get-together at Lee Stegler’s place, Chiz Stewart reveals to his fellow astronauts what he knows about the reason for the earlier abort. The US will be sending a man to the moon, “one man all the way” as part of a secret alternate plan, an “emergency backup to Apollo” called “Pilgrim.” This will be undertaken in response to the Russians having “a one-man mission circling the moon” followed by their sending a moon landing mission “in the next lunar cycle, three to four weeks.”

As a result, in three weeks time one man is be made ready to be sent to the Moon in a one-way rocket using a modified Project Gemini craft involving “an uprated Saturn, with a new third stage and a new landing stage for one man twice the space, twice the life support.” He will stay on the Moon for “ten months, a year - eight months” in a shelter pod “stocked with food, oxygen, all life-support systems” that has been launched and landed before him. Later, a manned Apollo mission will come to retrieve him.

Chiz is to be the “moon-man” but instead of a rousing round of congratulations there is a sense of skepticism in that it seems that they’ll rushing through pre-flight preparations and cutting things a bit fine. One can also cut the air of disappointment that is being exuded from Lee, although he would not admit it outright.

The danger and stress involved with such a mission is not just confined to the astronaut chosen to undertake it. Lee’s wife can image how Chiz’s wife, Jean must be feeling knowing that she will not be seeing her husband again for up to one year, presuming of course that he survives. The wives are just supposed to be able to suck it up and be “tough” presumably knowing full well what the score was when they married military men who are a part of the space program.

Wouldn’t you know it? The damn Ruskies have manged to throw another spanner in the works. They have had the effrontery to send up a civilian, Alexis Plekhanov who is a 34 year old geologist and a specialist in lunar terrain but who has had no military training. So what’s the problem? Geo-politics has so far managed to puncture the space program bubble of isolation and carry it pell-mell towards success or disaster.

Chiz, although well-trained and more than qualified to undertake the moon landing mission, is an Air Force colonel. With the Russians sending up scientists, NASA and the White House insist that an American civilian be their first man on the Moon “or the program is jeopardised” as “even a technical military connection could be used against us.”

As a result of the political, bureaucratic and public relations fiasco, Lee is selected to replace Chiz. Chiz cannot hide his outrage and disgust at what has happened. He declares, “I should be the one to fly it, damn it!” on the basis that “I know the machine, I know the mission, I know my skills.”

Just as bad for Lee is his wife’s reaction to the news. She knows her husband too well and understands how he would respond to the proposal put to him. Guess who will be sleeping on the sofa tonight!

This is a manned spacecraft:

Your PRIDE: Personal Responsibility In Daily Effort – will insure his safe return.

After some bitter wrangling, Chiz agrees to train Lee and be his backup. Chiz is determined to push Lee hard both in order to get him ready and to see him drop out so he can step back in. Chiz tells Lee point blank: “You're not gonna make it. You don't have a prayer…..When you find out how much you don't know we'll see how bad you wanna go. I'll be right on your tail. I'll scrub you.