Behind-The-Scenes Pix #51: STARCRASH

Star Caroline Munro and director Luigi Cozzi pose with the miniature of Count Zarth Arn's unique and menacing claw-shaped flagship during the shooting of the enjoyably goofy Starcrash in 1977-78.

STARCRASH (1978) Deleted Quicksand Scene

Watching Luigi Cozzi's deliriously over-the-top (and endlessly entertaining) 1978 space opera Starcrash, it's hard to imagine that anything was cut out. It is simply so jam-packed with action and low budget spectacle, the mind boggles when it's learned that a prominent setpiece was left on the cutting room floor.

In the finished film, immediately following the curvaceous Stella Star's (Caroline Munro) escape from the Imperial prison, she flees through a marsh-like area where she comes across a spaceship conveniently waiting for her. Originally, though, the scene was to play out with her being pursued by armored guards and falling into a deadly quicksand pit! Another close call for space smuggler Stella!

I can't imagine that poor Caroline was pleased to see the scene excised from the finished flick, especially since, from these rare stills, it looks like it was probably a pretty unpleasant couple of day's shooting for the scantily-clad sci-fi siren!

Cosmic Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #36: STARCRASH

Here's a Behind-The-Scenes photo guaranteed to warm you up on a cold, late-January morning! The stunning Caroline Munro on location as space smuggler/interstellar heroine Stella Star during the filming of Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash in early 1978.

Happy Birthday, Stella Star!

This Star Kid wants to wish the lovely Caroline Munro - Stella Star herself - a very joyous and happy birthday today. The interstellar siren of Luigi Cozzi's pulp romp Starcrash (who also portrayed the savage Dia the Beautiful in Kevin Connor's At The Earth's Core, among many other memorable genre roles) turns a youthful 64 today.

Caroline is a personal favorite of mine, and although I've never had the good fortune to meet her, she remains something of a muse to me in my writing. Many of my heroines resemble Ms. Munro, and that's not a coincidence. It's also notable, I think that Caroline was the very first "Space Babe" on this site!

Coming Attractions: STARCRASH (1978) International Release Trailer

"From the Haunted Stars, to the infinite limits of the universe..." 

Today we've got an International release trailer for Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash (with Dutch subtitles). Unlike the U.S. trailer that was cut by Joe Dante for New World Pictures, this one features an appropriately pretentious narration and lots of dialogue from the film (Dante deliberately only used some of Plummer's less-goofy lines as a voice-over).

Still... we all know I love this movie, and it's fun to see this different trailer, especially as it includes the classic line: "Imperial battleship - halt the flow of time!"

Rare STARCRASH (1978) Publicity Stills

Some anonymous Star Kid just sent me this batch of terrific publicity stills shot for Starcrash in and around Rome in November of 1977. Of course, I never need much of an excuse to post pictures of Caroline Munro, but these were especially cool, and completely new to me. I love that last pic....

Caroline Munro in Mediascene (1979)

Issue #37 of Jim Steranko's Mediascene tabloid magazine from the Spring of 1979, featuring Starcrash's Caroline Munro on its cover. The issue featured an article on the stunning Caroline, covering her appearances in a variety of 70s genre films, including The Spy Who Loved Me, The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, At The Earth's Core, etc.

STARCRASH (1978) Lobby Cards/Press Stills

Here is a colorful selection of Starcrash promotional photos and lobby cards from around the world. I've been gathering these up for some time. Unfortunately, scouring the Internet for Starcrash material means putting up with a lot of "worst movie ever made" bullshit. Look, I'm not going to claim that Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash is a 70s sci-fi masterpiece (although I may privately think so, at times), but it is tremendous, Saturday matinee entertainment, and remains one of my personal favorite intergalactic epics of the era. (In fact, I'm listening to John Barry's score for the film right now!)

Happy Valentine's Day... in Space!

Love is in the stars....

Stella!

Here's wishing the glorious Caroline Munro, also known known throughout the Haunted Stars as the stunning interstellar siren Stella Star, the best of birthdays!

The lovely Ms Munro was Space: 1970's very first Space Babe.

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #12: STARCRASH

Here's a cool shot of a modeler (perhaps Armando Valcauda?) detailing the special effects miniature of Stella Star's spaceship for Luigi Cozzi's Starcrash. Personally, while there are plenty of valid criticisms one can lob at the movie's model work and effects, I must admit that I truly love the funky spacecraft from this flick!

STARCRASH (1978) Pre-Production Art

Apparently, today is Starcrash director Luigi Cozzi's birthday. In celebration, here's a gallery of some of the deliciously pulpy pre-production pieces created by Italian artist Niso Ramponi for Cozzi's much-maligned - but greatly loved, at least around here - intergalactic epic, when it was still known as The Adventures Of Stella Star!