2023 movie #39. 1966. Astronauts are sent to Mars, in 1990, to rescue a crashed alien spaceship. What they find is a blood thirsty alien queen. An early role for Dennis Hopper, who's the 1st to go. A truly terrible movie with SFx stolen from a 1962 Russian movie. ( )

The retired Sherlock Holmes is now running the world's space program! Contacted by an alien race that is sending an ambassador to Earth, Holmes is forced to send a ship to Mars, where the aliens appear to have crash-landed. But the title of the film gives you a hint of what they find. A likable cast, including a young Dennis Hopper, do their best given the silly material.

If you're wondering why you see a red star on the tail of the rocket ship before it blasts off for Mars, it's because this film uses a lot of footage from a Russian film! Also, the filmmakers portray the trip from the Moon to Mars as a pretty short jaunt, and they have no idea about the lag in 2-way communication that would occur over that distance. ( )