In the year 1990, mankind has conquered space
exploration, able to travel to the deepest depths of the galaxy. In doing so, a
space exploration unit receives a distress call from an alien ship that has
crash landed on Mars. A group of explorers is sent to investigate the crash and
retrieve any survivors. They find only one, a green-skinned woman struggling
for her life. They attempt to feed her, but she ignores all offerings. Soon,
crew members begin dying one by one, drained of their blood and the only
explanation is that their alien guest has a taste for blood.
The makeup and costumes practically steal the show
in this low budget feature. They are so over the top, beautifully bizarre, and
along with the hyped up techni-color and chiseled features making the actors
and actresses look like puppets, the visual tone of the movie look like a life
sized Thunderbirds movie. The extravagant space scenes weren’t even filmed in
this movie, they were taken from a couple of largely funded Soviet films from
previous years.
Notable names include John Saxon (Enter the Dragon), Basil Rathbone (the definitive
Sherlock Holmes), and a young Dennis Hopper. Florence Marly plays the Blood Queen,
providing a spooky performance with one particular close up shot that will
haunt you if you stare too long.
TV and movie veteran Curtis Harrington wrote and
directed Queen of Blood, having
previously directed Dennis Hopper in the moody, atmospheric black and white
horror film Night Tide, as well as
other fright features What’s the Matter
with Helen? and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (a tv movie I saw as a little boy during
a summer horror fest).
If you enjoy campiness or horror and sci-fi films
from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s like I do, you’ll probably get a kick out of Queen of Blood, but if you’re so anal
that you need to take every movie you see deadly serious and have no
appreciation for the past, skip it and let other people have their fun.
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