Queen of Blood (1966)

Director:

Curtis Harrington

Writer:

Curtis Harrington
(more)

Release Date:

March 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

HIDEOUS BEYOND BELIEF... with an INHUMAN CRAVING

Plot:

The year is 1990. An alien species makes contact with Earth through radio transmission, notifying of an imminent visit...

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Blood | 1990s | Rescue | Egg

Cast

John Saxon	...	Allan Brenner
Basil Rathbone	...	Dr. Farraday
Judi Meredith	...	Laura James
Dennis Hopper	...	Paul Grant
Florence Marly	...	Alien Queen
Robert Boon	...	Anders Brockman
Don Eitner	...	Tony Barrata
Virgil Frye
Robert Porter
Terry Lee
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Farraday's aide (as Forrest Ackerman)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
T. Pochepa	...	Woman on alien planet (archive footage)

Directed by
Curtis Harrington

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Curtis Harrington
Mikhail Karzhukov		story "Mechte navstrechu" (uncredited)
Otar Koberidze		story "Mechte navstrechu" (uncredited)

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	producer
Roger Corman	....	executive producer
George Edwards	....	producer
Stephanie Rothman	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Vilis Lapenieks

Film Editing by
Leo H. Shreve		(as Leo Shreve)

Art Direction by
Al Locatelli		(as Albert Locatelli)

Set Decoration by
Leon Smith

Costume Design by
T. Glinkova

Makeup Department
William Condos	....	makeup artist
George Spier	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Gary Kurtz	....	production manager

Art Department
John Cline	....	titles background paintings
Carl Schanzer	....	property master

Sound Department
Harold Garver	....	sound
Gene Corso	....	sound effects (uncredited)
James Nelson	....	sound effects (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Mikhail Karyukov	....	special effects production design
Mikhail Karzhukov	....	special effects production design (as Mikhail Karyukov)
Boris Macheret	....	special effects photographer
Ivan Mikhels	....	special effects art director
Ivan Pulenko	....	special effects art director
Frantsisk Semyannikov	....	special effects photographer (as F. Semyannikov)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sharon Compton	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Ronald Stein	....	composer: stock music (as Leonard Morand)
Ronald Stein	....	music editor (as Leonard Morand)

Other crew
Barbara Bohrer	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Cinema West Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• BijouFlix Releasing (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Polygram Filmed Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Star Classics Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Nelson-Corso  sound effects
• Producers' Sound Service  re-recording (as Producer's Sound Service)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Major Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinema West Productions

Trivia:

This was an ultra low budget production. The elaborate special effects were taken (uncredited) from two big budget Soviet productions, _Mechte Navstrechu (1963)_, and _Nebo Zovyot (1960)_.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The Cyrillic letters CCCP (USSR) can be seen on the side of the "American" rocket ship, betraying the fact that this film used stock footage from a Russian sci-fi film.

Quotes:

Allan Brenner:How are the musical spheres?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bikers, Blondes and Blood (1993) (V)

The Space Version of "Night Tide", But Not as Good

Take Dennis Hopper, give him a leading role, and hand hi ma script written by Curtis Harrington. Then allow Harrington to direct said picture. What do you get? "Night Tide", one of the single greatest horror films in movie history. However, if you do the same thing, put it in space and throw in a green-skinned alien, you have "Queen of Blood".

Let's be fair. It's a 1960s b-movie with no budget and recycled images from a Russian film. If you have to steal from Russia to make your movie, that's a sign right there that you're in trouble. But, accounting for the low budget, and ignoring this, it's not actually a bad film. I mean, compare Mario Bava's "Planet of the Vampires". Bava is by far a bigger name than Harrington... but I would say "Queen of Blood" is the better film.

And the plot, really, is not that bad. Some have said they see the beginnings of "Alien" in this one. Of course, many films have been said to be precursors (including "Dark Star") so I don't believe much of that unless I hear it from the creators themselves (and Dan O'Bannon is sadly passed).