Queen of Blood

Sometime in the 1990's I believe, the Earth has sent many ships to space and is awaiting the arrival of an alien to Earth after sending various stress signals. A crew of three astronauts(including a young Dennis Hopper and Judi Meredith)go to their planet when some kind of problem arises. It seems this race is dead or dying, and the scientists on Earth want to explore their culture and, unbeknownst to them, their anatomy. Another expedition is needed to go after the first with two more astronauts led by John Saxon. In control at home is Doctor Farraday, played with enthusiasm by Basil Rathbone. What the astronauts find on this dying planet(actually one of its moons) is a creature that is horrific yet strangely sexually hypnotic. The creature is in definite female form wearing what has to be one heck of a tight body suit that shows every...and I mean every curve, peak, and valley. Florence Marley plays this vision of beautiful horror. Her face is green and her hair rises up like some kind of testy beehive. She says nothing but acts with her face and facial movements. One side note about this alien presence. It feeds on blood. Well, you can guess what happens to sundry members of the crew as she/it vampirizes them. The innovative part of the script is that most of the people in charge are more concerned with saving the "beast" for the acquisition of knowledge rather than the, in many cases their own, preservation of life. This is definitely something laced throughout the Alien movies. Queen of Blood is a very innovative film that uses some insightful direction from Curtis Harrington with what looks like an obviously small budget. Harrington used clips from a Russian scinece fiction film to show the rockets and other large scale sets. But despite its small budget, Harrington manages to create a film that is haunting, eerie, and strangely beautiful, not to mention adding some good scares and some thought-provoking questions about science and its ends. He uses colors most inventively...blue, red, green hues all over. The acting is adequate. Its fun to see Mr. Rathbone, although he looks very tired and old. Mr. Sci-Fi himself, Forry Ackerman, has a bit part and oddly enough the best scene in the film at the end...a real unexpected climax. Be sure to give Queen of Blood a try...the first half or so is somewhat boring and slow, but it does pick up and I think is an excellent foray in the world of intelligent sci-fi.

To be commended for casting a middle-aged woman as a seductive lady vampire; I would have love to have been a fly on the wall when Curtis Harrington told Florence Marly she was perfect for the part. With even less screen time than Max Schreck in 'Nosferatu' she's as memorably predatory but infinitely more alluring.

It's 1990 and earth has finally made its first contact with extraterrestrials on Mars. Which they have told earth through radio waves that they actually plan to visit earth. Although something goes wrong in their attempt and an expedition is sent to Mars to find any survivors. In which case they discover a green skinned lady. On their trip back the crew encounter that their new passenger has a deadly fixation for blood.

"Planet of Blood" is a cheap little hybrid picture by director / writer Curtis Harrington. He turns in one very solid Sci-fi / horror yarn which is held together by capable performances from John Saxon and Dennis Hopper and some strikingly eerie visuals that go a long way in plastering the film with an atmospherically moody embrace. The haunting story is quite languid, but keeps things rather firm and planted throughout the material are a few surprises and neat touches. The astute plot is quite original and has a variation that would go on to influence (with such others like "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" and Bava's "Planet of the Vampires") the masterpiece "Alien". Some might find the pacing quite slow going and a jargon packed script terribly chatty, but I found it more often interesting with the questions that are raised than boring. If action and mayhem is what you want, it doesn't really kick into gear until the final 30 minutes, where it ends on a surprising final note.

The production looks quite colourful with suited special effects (from a Russian sci-fi flick) that simply does the job. Visually, there are some wondrous lighting compositions and cardboard sets sprayed with a vibrant colour scheme. An otherworldly music score builds up some rustling tunes that rattle along. Harrington's direction is commendably focused and stylishly tailored. Performances are good with the likes of Basil Rathbone, Judi Merdith and Florence Marley as the mysteriously hypnotic and silent alien woman. Watch out for her "Look into my eyes" sequences. John Saxon chimes in with his usual impressive performance and a young Dennis Hopper is sound. Also Forrest J. Ackerman makes a minor mark in the last minute of the flick.

For it's budget, it's a well-presented and exceedingly slow burn premise with a sterling cast.

Is 'Planet Of Blood' a good movie or a good bad one? I've watched it three times this week and I'm still not sure. The print on the DVD I bought was lousy, yet there looked like there were some impressive visual images for a 1960s b-grade sci fi movie. The acting was variable to say the least, ranging from inept to quite good. The script has some silly moments and the whole movie is incredibly dated, yet there was a few genuinely creepy moments. Good, bad, camp, forgotten gem, however you describe this movie there's one thing for sure, it's entertaining! It's certainly an improvement on AIP's goofy 'Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet', released the previous year, which was also directed by Curtis Harrington, produced by Roger Corman, and included stock footage recycled from a Russian SF movie. Both movies also featured Basil Rathbone in small supporting roles. The main reason most people (myself included) will hunt this one down is to see cult favourites John Saxon ('Enter The Dragon', 'Cannibal Apocalypse') and Dennis Hopper ('Easy Rider', 'Blue Velvet') co-star as astronauts. Saxon ("That's one bad thing about space trips - no banana splits!"), Hopper, Judi Meredith, and Don Eitner are sent on a mission to Mars to retrieve a crashed alien space ship. The year is 1990(!) and man has unsuccessfully searched for life on other planets. Unexpectedly alien transmissions are received, but the alien ship crashes before it can reach Earth. Saxon and co. eventually find a survivor, a mysterious green skinned female (Florence Marley), who they rush back to Earth. That's when the trouble starts... 'Planet Of Blood' is lots of fun for fans of 1960s SF, Roger Corman, John Saxon and/or Dennis Hopper. p.s. Keep an eye out for Forrie Ackerman!

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.