Contrary to popular belief, independent, commercial-minded cinema can be a fertile ground for intelligent, probing filmmakers, and chief amongst them is Italian helmer Bava. Although his output was comparatively broad – totaling nearly 23 single-credit films before his death in 1980 – his legacy of expertly handled, intelligently scripted and, above all, personal films stands as a testament to the veracity and honesty of low-budget filmmaking. This sci-fi mystery – later regenerated into the megabucks fright-fest Alien (1979; dir. Ridley Scott) – is a perfect example of how Bava’s “can-do” attitude and practical know-how should be exemplified by wannabe directors: the film is a famously cheap exercise in fog machines, polystyrene rocks and coloured gels that still manages to convey atmosphere and intelligence thanks to Bava’s skilled deployment of the basic principles of cinema.

In a climate where the majority of film students and filmmakers are still under the thumb on the Money Myth, the simple, almost Heath Robinson style problem solving on show during Terror Nello Spazio should come as an eye-opening and hopefully rewarding experience. Bava had a painterly eye and a workman’s sense of how to get results, coupled with his keen sense of cinema and his understanding of its complex, often frightening subjective subtleties – all of which is easily teachable within a short space of time given the correct films to watch and the key texts to read. Modern film education would better serve itself – and, more importantly, its students – if it were to throw out superfluous, elementary modules like “Film History” or “The Noir Cycle” and replace them with a concise study of Bava’s work in a cinematic, psychological and technical context.

Terrore nello Spazio at the IMDb