Starcrash (film)

Starcrash
aka	Female Space Invaders
Year	1978
Directed by	Luigi Cozzi (as Lewis Coates)
Produced by	Nat Wachsberger Patrick Wachsberger
Written by	Luigi Cozzi & Nat Wachsberger
Music by	John Barry
Studio	Nat and Patrick Wachsberger Productions New World Pictures (USA)
Cast	Caroline Munro Marjoe Gortner Christopher Plummer David Hasselhoff Robert Tessier
Run time	92 minutes
Riffed in	Experiment #1106

“	The radiation'll burn my skin off!	”
	- Stella Star

For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 1106 - Starcrash.

Starcrash is a 1978 Italian-made space opera directed by Luigi Cozzi (aka Lewis Coates). It was co-written by Cozzi and Nat Wachsberger (one of the producers), with additional dialogue by R.A. Dillon. Music is by John Barry.

Starcrash is one of several sci-fi/space opera-type films that were made in the late 1970s/early 1980s in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars.

Plot

A pair of roguish space travelers evade law enforcement and discover part of a villainous warlord's plan to conquer the galaxy. They are drawn into an effort to defeat the evil usurper which sends them on a perilous adventure through outer space.

Cast

• Caroline Munro - Stella Star
• Marjoe Gortner - Akton
• Judd Hamilton - Elle the robot
• Christopher Plummer - The Emperor
• David Hasselhoff - Prince Simon
• Robert Tessier - Thor
• Hamilton Camp - voice of Elle
• Joe Spinell - Count Zarth Arn
• Nadia Cassini - Corelia

Notes

• As was common practice for European films at the time, most of the film was not shot with sync-sound, the dialogue to be dubbed later. As a cost cutting measure, Caroline Munro was not flown to Los Angeles for the recording sessions. Stella Star's voice was supposedly recorded by Marjoe Gortner's then-wife, actress Candy Clark (though Clark later claimed that it is not her voice).
• Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro would appear together again in The Last Horror Film in 1982, which was co-written by Judd Hamilton and directed by David Winters (director of Space Mutiny).
• At the time of production, Caroline Munro was married to Judd Hamilton (the actor in the Elle costume).
• Starcrash was distributed in America by New World Pictures, a company owned by Roger Corman. Corman insisted on edits adding up to over five minutes of footage in an effort to improve the pace and clarity of the film.
• Before being riffed on MST3K, Starcrash was used in Episode 3 of Mystery Fandom Theater 3000.
• German TV series SchleFaZ also used Starcrash for an episode, also in 2017.

MST3K Connections

• Director and writer Luigi Cozzi was also story writer for Devil Fish.
• Caroline Munro also portrayed Dia in At the Earth's Core.
• Robert Tessier also portrayed Jake in The Side Hackers.
• Salvatore Baccaro (neanderthal man) also portrayed the chief cave man in Cave Dwellers.
• Omero Capanna (spaceship guard) also portrayed a Kobras thug in The Pumaman.
• Donald Hodson (prisoner) also portrayed the village elder in Cave Dwellers.
• Roberto Messina (Zarth henchman) was also stunt coordinator for Final Justice.
• Riccardo Petrazzi (Zarth henchman) also portrayed a fighter with knife and was stunt coordinator in Escape 2000.
• Distribution producer Roger Corman was director and producer for It Conquered the World, Teenage Cave Man, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, Gunslinger, Day the World Ended, and The Undead. He was also executive producer for Attack of the Giant Leeches, High School Big Shot, Night of the Blood Beast, Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, Deathstalker II, Lords of the Deep (in which he also portrayed a corporate executive), and Munchie, as well as director for Swamp Diamonds and producer for Avalanche.
• Cinematographer Paul Beeson was also cinematographer for Moon Zero Two.
• Assistant director and stunt coordinator Goffredo Unger also portrayed Remar in Hercules Against the Moon Men (also stuntman), the fisherman who loses his arm in Devil Fish (also assistant director), and a diplomat in Diabolik (also John Philip Law's stunt double).

Critical Response

• Fangoria editor Bob Martin stated in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film: "Star Emperor Christopher Plummer finds his kingdom under attack by evil Space Count Joe (Maniac!) Spinnel [sic], so he sends his best rocket jockey, Caroline (Maniac!) Munro to check out the situation in the Empire's farthest regions. Caroline's accompanied by robot Judd Hamilton (her real-life husband) and superpowered alien Marjoe (ex-evangelist) Gortner. Despite a criminally low budget, Cozzi and his associates manage to squeeze in every kind of effect imaginable; stop motion, matte paintings, and so on. They range in quality from adequate to almost good, but the psychedelic Christmas-tree look of the spacecraft makes these sequences garishly attractive, especially to young children and people under the influence of controlled substances. John Barry, usually busy scoring James Bond films, supplied the music."
• Leonard Maltin wrote: "One-and-a-half Stars... Moronic sci-fi movie with variable special effects; unless you’re a Munro fan, it’s only good for a few laughs, nothing more."