Directed by ANTONIO MARGHERITI / WESLEY BARRY
Review by MIKE KITCHELL


Released by Dark Sky Films
Running Time: 162 minutes
Rating: NR
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: English Audio, Optional English Subtitles
Region Code: ALL, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1
16:9 Enhanced: According to Dark Sky’s website
Special Features: Drive-In Intermission Ads, Theatrical Trailers, English Subtitles
Trailer Online: No

Presented as a “Drive-in Double Feature,” Dark Sky Film’s release of WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS and CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS intends to, like many bootleg companies before them, recreate the Drive-In experience with their DVD release. What this means is that after selecting “Play,” being the only option on the DVDs initial menu, the viewer is treated to about five or six minutes of short snippets of refreshments available at the stands, etc. After the refreshments segment, Dark Sky works in trailers for two of their other releases, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACEMONSTER and THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH. The trailers are a lot of fun, and set the desired tone for the “drive-in” experience.

Unfortunately, the fun tone set with the DVD’s opening extras is almost immediately squashed as the first film on the double bill, Margheriti’s WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS, begins. Since the film is a low budget sci-fi film from 1966, you should have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting yourself into: space helmets that are basically spray-painted motorcycle helmets, lots of miniatures used as stand-ins for real buildings and vehicles, and the crazy bubbling-tentacle-ridden planet that is undoubtedly vile.

Despite the promising 60s sci-fi kitsch, the film fails to live up to anything remotely enjoyable. The plot is entirely incomprehensible for the most part; apparently a series of “natural disasters” is rapidly destroying the entire earth. A group of scientists ride in their space jets to space station Gamma-1, where despite the fact that the world might be ending in the next few hours, nobody really seems to care and everybody is just really, really bored with their job. Eventually, Earth keeps getting destroyed more rapidly, and the crew of Gamma-1 decide they should probably do something. After randomly sending crew members to float around in space, they decide to get in their little space jets again and go blow up a planet that they happen to run into, which happens to be causing “space winds” that are messing with the Earth.
Giacomo Rossi Stuart, as Jack Stuart, plays the role of Commander Rod Jackson, a totally arrogant prick who everybody seems to love and respect. He’s even got two girlfriends, one who’s the daughter of the ruler of Earth (or something; it’s not really all that clear), and Lt. Terry Sanchez, Communications Lt. of Gamma-1. Neither of the woman seem to care all that much that there is another woman in Rod’s life; all the earth president’s daughter seems to be concerned about is that her Daddy doesn’t make everything perfect for her, and Lt. Sanchez has some vague sort of sympathy for humanity that makes her wobble around the interior of a planet, moaning about the fact that somebody other than Rod is sacrificing his life to save planet Earth.

Despite the fact that the incomprehensible sequence of events known as the “story” in this film is utterly useless, there are some really nice kitsch-y visuals that almost make up for it. The planet that the crew of Gamma-1 has to destroy near the end of the film has to include one of the most creative uses of plastic piping ever, and the bubbling, vagina like openings in the planets surface are enough to distract anyone from the fact that they have no idea what’s going on for a while.

The image quality on the film looks surprisingly good considering the fact that it was obviously low budget and from 1966. There’s no overabundance of dust and scratches on the print, and while it’s not remastered as well as a Blue Underground or Criterion Collection disc, it’s perfectly acceptable. The audio is also fully listenable, obviously not a Dolby Digital masterpiece, but fine nonetheless.

After the film ends, the viewer is treated to more vintage drive-in ads, once again touting the refreshment stand and telling us how long we have until intermission is over. After four or five minutes of the kitsch-y footage, we’re treated to two more trailers of films from Dark Sky films, and then the next movie starts.

The next film on the disc, Wesley Barry’s CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS, is a very... peculiar film to say the least. After a thirteen hour nuclear war on earth, humans have been forced to attempt to rebuild everything, eventually creating robots. However, the robots that are created keep becoming more and more powerful, until eventually humanoids are created. The humanoids look exactly like humans, except they have blue skin and completely black eyes. Certain members of the population are afraid that these godless, soul-less humanoids will try to take over the human race. The extremists in this thought begin an anti-humanoid group referred to as “The Order of Flesh and Blood.” Cragis, played by Don Megowan, is one of these extremists, fully believing that these humanoids are disgusting scum.

One night Cragis and a friend follow a robot who had a faked “free time” ID to a scientist’s lab, where to the Order of Flesh and Blood’s dismay, they discover that a robot has killed a human. This confirms the highest fears of the order, and they set out to figure out if it’s enough evidence to get all the humanoids of the world disassembled. However, a bigger problem is at hand; it turns out that some of the humanoids have been working with the now-dead renegade scientist to create humanoids that are virtually detectable from humans! What will Cragis and the Order of Flesh and Blood do?

A very peculiar film, CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS primary goal seems to be to examine race relations and philosophical issues under the guise of a low-budget sci-fi flick. The last twenty minutes of the film will truly have you scratching your head, and possibly laughing as Cragis meets Maxine and within two minutes the two are engaged.

A much more fulfilling film than WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS, CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS is what I imagine to be a little seen film that would fall under the “philosophical sci-fi” cannon of the early 60s. The transfer on this is just as clear as the transfer on the other film, with the except of a few spots in the first few minutes of the film looking a little scratched and dusty, but overall, nothing too distracting.

Overall, the disc is interesting as a peak into a few obscure titles from the 60s Sci-Fi genre, and its presentation is truly a treat. Despite the fact the films aren’t the greatest, there’s enough going on as a whole to warrant watching this. Who knows? Perhaps even WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS could become more enjoyable watched with a couple of friends and maybe a handle of whiskey.