Film
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
A 1968 sci-fi oddity that splices Soviet space exploration footage with newly shot scenes of bikini-clad Venusian women. It's delightfully earnest and visually strange, mixing genuine 1960s space-age wonder with Ed Wood-level alien mythology. Perfect for late-night viewing with friends and a forgiving sense of humor.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy creaky, earnest 1960s space fantasies where cardboard rockets, rubber-suited menace and stilted dubbing are part of the pleasure, and sincerity counts for more than polish.
Skip it if you need convincing effects and brisk pacing, because much of the eighty minutes is spent wandering through talky stretches and the science is cheerfully nonsense.
What it asks of you: Brisk at eighty minutes and goofy in tone, it needs little attention; you mostly sit back and let the pulpy strangeness wash over you.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Planet of the Apes1968
Released the same year, it's serious sci-fi that mines alien-world discovery for genuine philosophical weight. If you want the DNA of 1960s space-adventure cinema done with real ambition and craft.
But It's heavy and deliberately bleak. No fun, no romance, no camp—just dystopia and dread.
Barbarella1968
Also 1968, also ridiculous, also stars a woman in space wearing progressively less practical clothing. Same campy energy and willingness to be absurd with absolute conviction.
But Some find the gender politics dated and the humor trying. It's very much of its moment, for better and worse.
Journey to the Center of the Earth1959
An earlier, classier expedition into a strange world full of impossible creatures and underdressed explorers. Same adventure template, but with better production values and genuine suspense.
But It plays things mostly straight. You're watching a proper adventure film, not a curiosity.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Eolomea1972
Both are based in the Soviet space-exploration aesthetic of the 1960s; both remix that footage for new audiences. This is what the original looked like before it was gutted and repurposed.
A Soviet sci-fi epic about a generation ship discovering an alien world. Same DNA as the original *Planet of Storms* your film was hacked from, but complete, visionary, and genuinely unsettling. Science fiction as philosophy, not adventure.
But It's three hours long, dialogue-heavy, and philosophically dense. There's no action, no camp, no women in bikinis—only ideas and dread.
More like this (7)
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars1938
A 1930s serial that proves low-budget space opera has always been gloriously dumb. Marauding aliens, rubber monsters, cardboard sets—the spiritual ancestor of everything here.
But It's in chapters and moves slowly by modern standards. Patience required; boredom possible.
The Phantom Planet1961
Another astronaut-crashes-in-space film with rubber aliens and a complete disregard for physics. The same specific brand of earnest-yet-ridiculous 1960s sci-fi.
But It's genuinely tedious in stretches. The 80-minute runtime of your film is better spent than this one's.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?1964
A Ray Dennis Steckler oddity that embraces incoherence and cheap effects the way this film does. Pure, unfiltered 1960s B-movie sincerity.
But There's no plot you can follow and almost nothing actually happens. Some call that freedom; others call it a waste of time.
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City1969
Jules Verne adaptation from the same era: elaborate sets, colorful production design, and a complete willingness to embrace the fantastic without winking at the audience.
But It's slow and the dialogue is ornate. Modern audiences often find it stuffy and draggy.
Fire Maidens of Outer Space1956
British sci-fi that sends astronauts to a moon with an entire civilization of attractive women. The template for this film, executed with stiff-upper-lip charm.
But It's exceptionally slow. Long stretches of nothing happen, and the pacing is glacial even by 1950s standards.
The Space Children1958
A minor Paramount sci-fi about alien influence and earthbound wonder. Captures the same bewildered-astronauts-meet-aliens energy without pretension.
But It's forgettable and genuinely boring. You won't hate it, but you also won't remember it.
The Andromeda Strain1971
Both came from successful source material (Soviet film, Michael Crichton novel) that had to be adapted for Western audiences. This one kept its integrity; yours got its brains replaced with a storyline.
A genuinely intelligent procedural about scientists confronting something unknowable. If you want 1970s sci-fi that respects your intelligence while maintaining the sense-of-wonder your film reaches for, this is it—tense, thoughtful, and immaculately constructed.
But It's a talky, interior film. No aliens, no crash landings, no spectacle—just men in rooms solving problems. Deliberately restrained.
People
Cast
Mamie Van DorenMoana
Mary MarrVerba- Paige LeeTwyla
Margot HartmanMayaway- Irene OrtonMeriama
- Pam HeltonWearie
- Frankie SmithWoman of Venus
- Judy CowartWoman of Venus
- Robin SmithWoman of Venus
- Cathie ReimerWoman of Venus
- Adele ValentineWoman of Venus
Peter BogdanovichNarrator (voice)
Directing
- Peter BogdanovichDirector
Writing
- Henry NeyScreenplay
Production
- Norman D. WellsProducer
- Roger CormanProducer
- Polly PlattProduction Coordinator
- Gilles de TurenneProduction Manager