The Humanoid

THE HUMANOID (L'UMANOIDE) (15)

D: George B. Lewis (Aldo Lado)

Columbia/Merope (Giorgio Venturini)

Italy 1979

100 mins

Science Fiction

W: Aldo Lado & Adriano Bolzoni

DP: Silvano Ippoliti

Ed: Mario Mora

Mus: Ennio Morricone

Richard Kiel (Golob), Corinne Cléry (Barbara Gibson), Leonard Mann (Nick), Barbara Bach (Lady Agatha), Arthur Kennedy (Dr. Kraspin), Ivan Rassimov (Lord Graal)

The huge success of 1977's Star Wars gave birth to hundreds of copycat science fiction ventures, including this, Italy's own effort, as low budget as they come with a seemingly flagrant disregard to where it gets its inspiration.

A Darth Vader like baddie creates a Frankenstein's monster out of a spaceship pilot, who goes on a quest to find beautiful women who are to be killed in a bloodsucking machine which will make an evil queen more beautiful, but the might of beauty is, of course, simply too powerful.

The sets resemble a shopping centre and the spaceships look like they've come out of a cereal packet. Everything else is just straight up ripped from Star Wars, although it can't be said that juveniles are the intended market for the film. One scene in particular, involving the machine of syringes mentioned above, would leave most adults feeling squeamish. George Lucas certainly wouldn't approve.

4/10