Queen of Blood

The producers of this film owe thanks to the Russian film, Mechte navstrechu, for keeping costs down by providing critical footage. But, the sci-fi effects are dazzling, and the color is brilliant, especially for a film from the 60s. I wish our current astronauts wore suits as colorful as the ones in this film. It also features some good actors: John Saxon, Golden Globe nominee for The Appaloosa, the same year; two-time Oscar nominee, famous swashbuckler, and the definitive Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone; a very young two-time Oscar nominee, Dennis Hopper; Mr. Science Fiction, Forrest J Ackerman, who is credited with creating the term sci-fi; and, of course, Florence Marly (in one of her last films) as the Queen of Blood. Interesting precursor to Alien.

I saw this movie on late night TV as a teenager. It scared myself and my younger brother so much we never made it to the end. About 20 years later I caught it on TV again and though It didn't have the same impact, I could still see what made it so frightening to me back then. Atmosphere.

The thing that really stands out in this film is the visual style which was largely borrowed from a Russian Science Fiction classic. I'd really love to see that film. Of course the rest remains a lot of fun to watch as a young John Saxon and Dennis Hopper take flight to Mars and although it's paced a little too slowly, I still get a kick out of this movie especially the scene where the Alien Queen first sees Laura James. A likely inspiration for LIFEFORCE and possibly even ALIEN (although NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST , IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES are other contenders). I get the feeling at the end of this that a further ending was originally planned given all the hints Saxon was dropping about the Earth's light on his face.

Remember seeing this at the theater, most of it. With the chance to see the complete film, found myself pretty impressed. Quite a bit to offer for a B feature. A real young Dennis Hopper and some neat, but cheap, special effects. Earth has finally received contact from outer space; in 1990 radio waves from aliens inform us to expect visitors, but the spacecraft crashes on Mars. Many nations send rescue craft to search for survivors. A U.S. crew finds a lonely green skinned female survivor, with a strange fixation...deadly fixation. This film is directed and co-written by Curtis Harrington and along with Hopper, starts John Saxon, Basil Rathbone and Judi Meredith. The Green Woman is seductively played by Florence Marly.

"Queen of Blood" is also known as "Planet of Blood". It was released by American International around 1966.Reguardless of it's low budget,it is a combination of science fiction and horror, with more attention being paid to it's sci-fi side.Cult movie fans should notice that it is actually a foreign movie bought by American International and reworked for american audiences.Curtis Harrington(writer and director)did a fine job on the film. John Saxon would later star in "Planet Earth", a film that closely resembles this movie.I wouldn't be surprized if Gene Roddenberry saw this thriller and hired John Saxon to star in "Planet Earth".If you get the chance, watch this movie, it's pretty good.