made with
sorry for the mistakes!
Queen of Blood
“Is there life in the universe?” A good question.
It’s also the same question that the Earthlings ask in this 1966
film, according to which, in 1990 we have already conquered the moon
since twenty years, we can go and return as we like and quickly, but,
with great disappointment there is nothing to do there and nobody to
talk with. One day, however, a message comes from outer space: aliens
want to know us, they want to come to Earth. Unfortunately their
spaceship breaks near Mars, motorway exit. We, to rescue them, go to
the moon, ready for the red planet.
A very interesting incipit for a low budget sci-fi that to have a
serious tone takes footage, according to different sources, from two
Russian films: "Mechte navstrechu" of 1963 and "Nebo zovyot" of 1959,
both by Mikhail Karzhukov, alongside coloured lamps, smoke bombs, fans
and funny space suits.
The director is Curtis Harrigton, a skilled low budget horror and
sci-fi director who then moved on to the TV series ("Wonder Woman",
"Baretta", "Dinasty" and much more.) And there is also Roger Corman as
uncredited executive producer. And above all there is an excellent cast
with John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Judi Meredith and Dennis Hopper.
The story after a sparkling start in a hi-tec laboratory and in a
modern city slows down a lot, leading us into long dialogues and boring
plans to ensure that our people fulfil the mission. Only at the
forty-seventh minute we begin to see a bit of movement that slowly
reveals the central core of the plot.
We said, the Earthlings go to rescue the alien on Mars. They rescue
one, a woman with a green face (played by the Czechoslovakian Florence
Marly who had a little fame after the war before being mistakenly put
on the “Communists" list) silent apathetic and not at all hungry.
But with such a clear title, who will he ever be hungry for? And yes,
here is the alien danger that puts humanity at risk, first of all
spreading terror on the spaceship. “Alien” type, in short,
but certainly more beautiful.
"Queen of blood" is in the end a nice sci-fi, with all those funny
tools typical of low-budget. A film that manages to miss both the
prediction of the moon landing and the future prediction of the world.
For Harrigton in 1990 we had conquered the Moon, we instead just danced
the Lambada and watch Schillaci's goals.
