Struggling with meagre budgets and working to strict deadlines to meet the mass market demand for sci-fi following the huge success Star Wars enjoyed , visual effects artist Armando Valcauda nonetheless pulled out all the stops to create some truly memorable movie moments. A long-time Harryhausen fan, employed his stop-motion animation artistry to bring to life the amazing Amazon guardian, and the graceful golem lightsabre duel at the climax of Starcrash betters anything seen in George Lucas' far more costly original.
After his Starcrashing success, Valcauda went on to shoot fx for that other beloved spaghetti sci-fi , The Humanoid , working with Italian industry legend Antonio Margheritti to create the eye-popping spectacle of Golob's space adventures.
The inevitable follow-up to Scontri Stellari, Escape from Galaxy 3, is generally viewed as a disappointment, but again features solid special effects from Valcauda, the highlight of an otherwise poor sequel.
Starcrash director Luigi Cozzi again turned to his visual effects visionary Valcauda when he brought back to life fan favourite Hercules, and the two created a fantasy epic every bit as enjoyable as their earlier outer space hit.
<<Left * Armando Valcauda poses with sci-fi siren
Stella Starr, Caroline Munro
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