It's often been pointed out that Alien derived several of its plot elements from Planet of the Vampires (1965), and It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958), but Ridley Scott's masterpiece also owes a nod to this Roger Corman produced quickie.

Set in the far flung future year of 1990, earth scientists led by Dr. Farraday (Rathbone) receive messages from an alien race saying they are coming to call. The alien visitors crash on Mars, however, and send a message to earth requesting help. A rescue ship is dispatched. The sole survivor of the alien crew is a humanoid female who is taken aboard the earth vessel.

During the trip back to earth, the alien woman seems relatively normal, although she doesn't seem to care for the food she is offered. Astronaut Paul Grant (Hopper) is assigned to see to her needs. Unfortunately for Grant, what she needs is human blood, and she soon makes a midnight snack of him. Our stalwart hero Allen Brenner (Saxon) thinks she should be destroyed, but it is decided that she must be kept alive in the name of science and interplanetary diplomacy. There is a supply of plasma on board, but will it be enough to last the entire trip?

The screenplay for Planet of Blood (also known as Queen of Blood) was written to fit around several special effects sequences from Niebo Zowiet, a Soviet produced science fiction film that Corman had recently procured. The effects are quite good for the era, but the quality of the video transfer is atrocious. The tape is recorded in the LP mode, but that alone can't account for the murky, somewhat fuzzy picture.

As good as the special effects are, though, they tend to slow down the story. Most of the borrowed scenes appear early in the film, delaying the drama that takes place in the returning rescue ship. This sequence is the main focus of the film, but director Harrington takes too long to get to it. This delay doesn't fatally damaged the film, but it does detract from it.

Notable for being one of Hopper's first films and one of Rathbone's last. There's also a cameo by former Famous Monsters editor Forrest Ackerman.