I’m not sure I’ll ever get to the point where I feel comfortable calling myself an expert in horror. I don’t even know it’s possible. Mastering a sub-genre or the work of a specific director, sure. But horror in general? No way. I say that because the deeper I dig into the world of horror the more I discover I know virtually nothing. And I don’t even mean when it comes to understanding the genre because that’s a totally different matter but I’m talking about just being aware of what’s out there.
I watch a ton of horror movies. A lot of my time is dedicated to doing just that and still there are tons of movies I’ve never even seen. There is an even larger amount of movies that I’ve never even heard of. Case in point, Queen of Blood. Released in 1966 via American International Pictures, Queen of Blood written and directed by Curtis Harrington. The film stars John Saxon, Dennis Hopper and Basil Rathbone. Roger Corman served as producer. I love all these people so how I had never heard of this film until Kino Lorber released it on Blu-ray is beyond me. That’s why I love the genre though. You’re always finding new discoveries.
Queen of Blood takes place in the future of 1990, a tidbit that makes a lot of the movie quite hilarious. In this future space travel is common. A base is set up on the moon and Mars is the next place humans plan to inhabit. At the International Institute of Space Technology signals from space are beginning to be received. Dr. Faraday (Rathbone) translates the signals and determines they are coming from an alien race with plans to send an ambassador to Earth. Faraday makes the exciting announcement and everyone prepares for the alien’s arrival.
Unfortunately the aliens never show up but instead send out a video message that astronaut Laura James (Judi Meredith) intercepts. The video shows the aliens having an accident and crash landing on Mars. After showing the video to Faraday, if is determined that the best plan of action is to send a team to Mars to rescue the aliens. Once the team lands on Mars all they find is one female alien (Florence Marly) who doesn’t look too different than your average human. The team brings the alien aboard their spacecraft and plan to take her back to Earth. On the way home they learn that what they thought would be the meeting of a friendly alien race is instead something deadly that could potentially wipe out the entire human race.
Queen of Blood is very much your classic 60’s sci-fi fare. From the crazy expectations of the not so distant future to the wonderful set design to the “futuristic” clothing every character wears, it is exactly what I want in a B-movie. The set design, particularly of the inside of the space ship, is something I really love. For a film with a fairly modest budget they definitely stretched what they had to get great results. The inside of the ship features lots of big buttons, flashing lights and just an overall metallic look. It’s pretty much perfect.
While this is a B-movie and there is some cheese to it, the material is treated very seriously which is nice. Everyone is sincere which results in a more engaging story and pretty strong performances from a stellar cast. Saxon has that cool confidence that he always does. Doesn’t Saxon always have a very cool, can’t nothing phase me attitude? I think he does and it’s on full display here. Hopper, in a smaller supporting role, does a good job. He has one scene in particular with the alien that is fantastic. He just seems so fascinated with the creature. It’s one of those moments from early Hopper were you can see the flashes of the star he would become.
As impressive as Saxon and Hopper are, the real stars of Queen of Blood are the lead actresses in Meredith and Marly. After I finished watching the film I immediately looked Meredith up on IMDB to see what else she played in. This was my first time seeing her in a movie and I found her to be quite charming. So when I got to IMDB I was quite shocked to see she only played in a handful of movies and television shows before calling it a career. Meredith is smart, attractive and tough as she essentially serves as the film’s hero. Marly’s performance is completely the opposite. She doesn’t say a word and yet she commends attention while she’s on screen. I think it takes a real special actor to impress with nary a line of dialogue. Marly proved to be that special talent.
Queen of Blood isn’t perfect. Things get a little slow in the middle, which is disappointing since the run time is just about 80 minutes. There is just this extended stretch before they actually find the alien that is a bit less interesting than the rest of the movie. Aside from that one stretch I think the film is a lot of fun and any lover of old school sci-fi will find it highly entertaining. If you’re like me and enjoy a good double feature, Queen of Blood makes for a great double bill with either Planet of the Vampires or Contamination.
As far as the release itself, Kino Lorber has done a terrific job with this Blu-ray. It’s amazing seeing AIP movies look so beautiful aNSM that’s exactly what you get here. As a nice bonus this release actually has a few special features, which is a bit rare for Kino Lorber releases. The special features are are a couple of interviews, one of which is with Roger Corman. Like always, hearing Corman speak is a real treat. He shares a number of factoids about the film, the most interesting of which is that he’s heard rumors that Ridley Scott got some inspiration for Alien from Queen of Blood. I have no idea if this is true or not, but there are definitely some similarities (personally I think Alien was heavily inspired by the aforementioned Planet of the Vampires). Regardless of whether or not Queen of Blood has ever inspired anyone to do anything, it is a fun little movie that is worthy of this fine release.
Queen of Blood is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
