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Last year I watched a lot of werewolf movies (still needs some to catch up on). This year I will try to watch a lot of SciFi movies made in Italy. I am basing my choices on the book Science Fiction Italian Style by Matt Blake.

I am starting with the last part of the book: Part Five - Alternative Futures because that contains the post-apocalyptic stuff I wanted to watch before I got the book.
However, this part of the book starts with three films of Elio Petri. A totally different type of science fiction. Think more in the likes of Soylent Green and A Clockwork Orange.

1. The Tenth Victim (La Decima Vittima) (1965)
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress and Elsa Martinelli
Fantastic score by Piero Piccioni



I really loved this movie. It looks fantastic. Great music. Elio Petri has a incredible sense of style and framing. This is also very apparent in the next one I watched.

2. One Way or Another (Todo Modo) (1976)
Starring Gian Maria Volonté, Marcello Mastroianni and Mariangela Melato
Score by Ennio Morricone (still unreleased)

Totally different movie than The Tenth Victim. Not an easy one. But again, the way it was made and shot impressed my from start to finish.
It is a critique on the Italian society of the time with corrupt politicians and clergy in charge.



3. Good News (Buone Notizie) (1979)
Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Angela Molinaand Aurore Clément
Score by Ennio Morricone

The most strange and absurd movie of the three (and that is saying something if you have seen Todo Modo before watching this one. I honestly don't know what to say. I loved it. It has more explicit humor than the previous movies.

(clip does not embed, probably because it is age-restricted ;-) )
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti-AOlApOGE&t=122s[/youtube]

If someone wants to watch any of these and doesn't have a copy: let me know.

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After the three Elio Petri movies I wanted to proceed with that part of the book about movies set in a sort of dystopian world. But most of those movies are very hard to find.
I decided to continue my quest with the beginning of the book.

Chapter 1: Early Steps in Italian Science Fiction

The Day the Sky Exploded (La Morte Vienne dallo Spazio (1958)



This is seen as the first Italian SciFi movie every made (although there appears to be another one from the 20s that people rarely mention). And it is Maria Bava's first movie.
I liked it, especially because of the effects. You have to regard it as a product of its time though. Bava's talent already shows here.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (Caltiki - il Mostro Immortale) (1959)



This was way better as a movie than The Day the Sky Exploded. Directed by Riccardi Freda and Mario Bava. I loved the miniature sets. A lot of fun for such an old movie.

After these two movies come some Hercules movies with SciFi elements. While searching for these movies I noticed the huge amount of Hercules movies there were made during that time. And placing Hercules in a lot of different settings and against a lot of different foes. Apparently there is also a difference between Ercoli and Macista, but in the end both are or can be Hercules.

First this comedy were a time machine is used: Hercules in the Valley of Woe (1961) by Mario Mattoli.
It is a dated movie and the comedy it very much of its time, but nevertheless I enjoyed it. Giani Ferrio did the score and there is one bit of music that I recognized, but I forgot from which other movie.



The Giant of Metropolis (1961) by Umberto Scarpelli is another one that has a Hercules type of character in the lead. This I relatively boring but it did contain some very nice SciFi elements in sets and dressing.



I am watching most of these movies more from a historical perspective than that I am expecting to be surprised with some excellent movie making.

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The last couple of weeks I watched a lot more... Let me see if I can remember everything.

I had to work my way through more peplum with scifi elements...

Hercules against the Moon Men (Maciste e la regina di Samar) (1964)
These movies are pretty hard to find so I had to go to youtube to watch this one. And the picture quality is really bad. This was not a good movie. But there were aliens :-)



I finished this part of the book with another 3 peplum movies that aren't as scifi as the previous three but still contain some interesting elements.

Hercules and the Captive Women (Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide) (1961).
This actually was a lot of fun. Well made, funny, Reg Park as Ercole was great as he was fighting an army of invincible Atlanteans.



Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules a.k.a. The Strongest Man in the World (Maciste, l'uomo piu forte del mondo) (1961
Not great but containing some insane and funny bits in it. Hercules needs to beat some challenges like fight a gigantic ape in order to save a damsel in distress from an underground world inhabited by vampire-like creatures that cannot stand sunlight.



Hercules the Invincible (Ercole l'invincibile) (1964)
I scored this right in between the two previous movies. Not great in the least but with some enjoyable scenes like a fight against a giant dragon.

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Chapter 1 is done.
Chapter 2: Italians in Space.

This part starts with some early comedies. I decided to only watch one of those. And it is Lucio Fulci's first film as a director.

002 Operation Moon (002 Operazione Luna) (1965) - Lucio Fulci

I really liked this one. Well made and I found it to be very funny. It stars the comedic duo Franco and Ciccio, a south Italian equivalent to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It also has a fantastic jazz score by Coriolani Gori.



The next part of this chapter is about the space opera's made by Antonio Margheriti.

Assignment: Outer Space (Space Men) (1960)



Loved this one as well. First Italian scifi that is mostly set in space. Margheriti is brilliant in using miniatures (in his later movies even more so). He was very creative a making the tiny budgets go a long way.
In the book it also says this: "The scenes of the astronauts waking from hibernation, their petty squabbles and the Commander who faces an internal battle between loyalty to his crew and his orders from 'above' would all later be replayed in Alien (1979), suggesting that Ridley Scott's indebtedness to Italian science fiction films didn't start and end with Planet of the Vampires."



Next up:
Battle of the Worlds (Il pianeta degli uomini spenti) (1961)



It is the better movie between this and Assignment: Outer Space, but I liked them both pretty evenly. Here you have a terrific Claude Rains as an eccentric professor. It is essentially an alien invasion film in which the aliens never get to invade.

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Antonio Margheriti's Gamma One Quadrology



In 1966,four years after his previous scifi flicks, Margheriti returned with four movies that were intended to be made for TV however some producer decided they should be released in the theater. Margheriti wasn't happy with that decision.
The movies were filmed back to back in 3 months time total. Cast members were shared between the movies and all are set on the same space station: Gamma One.

I really liked the first two of the series. The third one was more of a rehash of the first one. And the last one had a planet filled with yeti's on it...

Margheriti really is talented. It is crazy to see what he can accomplish on such small budgets within a very small time. And his miniatures are beautiful!

War of the Planets (I diafanoidi venono da Marte) 1966


The Wild, Wild Planet (I criminali della galassia) 1966


War Between the Planets (Il pianete errante) 1966


Snow Devils (La morte viene dal pianeta Aytin) 1967

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Next up were two excellent examples of the Italian scifi genre. Quoting Matt Blake:
" Their (Mario Bava and Pietro Francsici) science fiction films are usually considered to be anomalies in the directors' careers but in fact both Planet of the Vampires and Star Pilot are rather unusual and effective affairs, featuring plenty of ideas among their trashy plots and boasting a degree of stylistic accomplishment which usually outdoes anything that Margheriti was able to bring to his films."

I really loved these two movies. Planet of the Vampires being the better one of the two.





Star Pilot a.k.a.


After these I also watched one directed by Primo Zeglio which wasn't that bad: Mission Stardust a.k.a. ...4 ...3 ...2 ...1 ... Morte a.k.a.