Pick a genre, any genre, from the last 7 decades and you can bet your bottom dollar that VTSS‘ main man, John Saxon has found himself knee deep in it at some stage or another in what has proven to be a glorious acting career. Not least within Science Fiction, to which Saxon has repeatedly tested the depths and limits of quality and credibility. From TV offal to the late night drive in classics (via “Straight to Video” hell and the big screen Blockbuster), John boy has been there, seen it and done gone bought the bloody T-Shirt…
No season of Sci-Fi would be complete without a mention of his contribution to it over the years, so here’s a “Top 5/Low 5″ (delete as appropriate) of “Saxon Science Fiction” – some of which have already been reviewed on these pages as part of our ongoing The John Saxon Project, now lovingly assembled here in one place, for your reading pleasure…
Night Caller from Outer Space – 1965 / Director: John Gilling
With a review on these pages imminent, I probably shouldn’t give too much away – suffice to say, Plague of the Zombies‘ talented helmsman John Gilling is on hand to direct this wonderfully taught British Sci Fi Horror where an alien creature stalks the sleazy streets of Soho…
Queen of Blood – 1966 / Director: Curtis Harrington
Who needs Alien when you’ve got John Saxon, Dennis Hopper AND Basil Rathbone running around a deserted spaceship being terrorised by a nasty xenomorph? This AIP quickie, cobbled together with footage from a couple of Soviet Sci Fi films, showcased Saxon’s dashing good looks, had Florence Marly painted in green to play the vampiric Martian alien queen of the title and set the wheels in motion for Ridley Scott and Dan O’Bannon’s premise a whole 13 years later on down the line.
Planet Earth – 1974 / Director: Marc Daniels
It’s tempting to imagine what might have happened to Saxon if Gene Rodenberry‘s failed TV Pilot, in which men are “dinks” and subjugated by the dominant species, had ever managed to get off the ground – there’s certainly something of William Shatner in his confident performance as lead in Planet Earth. Would we have seen our main man in the likes of Cannibal Apocalypse? Nightmare on Elm Street? um, Murder She Wrote? Actually, looking back on Shatner’s career post Star Trek? Probably…
Battle Beyond the Stars – 1980 / Director: Jimmy Murakami
John Saxon in makeup! with a scar across his face! in the future! in an intergalactic battle beyond the stars!
Those looking for a cheap, quick fix between Star Wars movies will probably know and love Murakami’s cash in. Hell, they might even applaud it for its camp interpretation of the Lucas Space Opera, wild approximations of retro Sci Fi cliches and the incessant swooshing noises and laser-gun dog-fights in space.
John Saxon probably refers to it now as “that point in my career where I had to pay off the mortgage, alimony and veterinary bills”…
Hands of Steel - 1986 / Director: Sergio Martino
A late return to Italian work for Saxon with the inevitable role of futuristic arsehole, Francis Turner, Hands of Steel has developed a cult following over the years, not least because of Daniel Greene‘s god awful performance but also sadly because Italian actor Claudio Cassinelli was accidentally killed on set during a helicopter stunt sequence. Some ecological mumbo jumbo, an inexplicable obsession with arm wrestling and sweaty truck drivers, the welcome addition of George Eastman as a villain and a distinct lack of actual “hands of steel” make Martino’s science fiction an unintentional hoot, marred only by the tragic circumstances in which it was finished.
