STARCRASH

STARCRASH is simply the best STAR WARS knockoff. For starters, Italian director Luigi Cozzi was only vaguely interested in ripping off Lucas. For every $100k less they had in budget, they added colored lights — making for an eye-popping, swirling universe more resembling a lava lamp than a Flash Gordon serial. There’s also stop-motion Harryhausen monsters, sword-fighting clockwork machines and other devastating intergalactic gibberish.

Then there's the cast: former Bond girl Caroline Munro (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) leads a motley crew including child evangelical / scam artist / hippie icon Marjoe Gortner as a perma-permed Luke Skywalker clone, Oscar-winning Christopher Plummer as The Emperor of the Galaxy (who refuses to act), David Hasselhoff (“Baywatch”) and creepy MANIAC Joe Spinell.

Plus bikini-wearing Amazons and a robot with a Texas accent. What a trippy-ass package!