Working from a dullish source—a novel by the Soviet sci-fi eminence Aleksandr Kazantsev—director Klushantsev overpowers the party-line dialogue with excellent effects. Upon arrival to Venus, cosmonauts find furious volcanoes and sundry prehistoric beasts (a cackling, swooping pterodactyl is most memorable). Roger Corman re-used Klushantsev's footage in three of his own productions: Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, Queen of Blood (both directed by Curtis Harrington), and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich).