1966's "Star Pilot" (2+5: Missione Hydra) was among the final examples of Italian science fiction, director/writer/editor Pietro Francisci's one shot attempt to emulate Antonio Margheriti's outer space sagas "Battle of the Worlds" or "Planet on the Prowl," done on a noticeably lower budget. Fransisci had kick started the muscleman peplum epics with Steve Reeves' Hercules entries, and here uses veterans Kirk Morris and Gordon Mitchell (seen for only a few seconds), but the only thing that viewers will recall from this item are the female leads, top billed Leonora Ruffo previously working opposite Gordon Scott in "Goliath and the Vampires" and Christopher Lee in Mario Bava's "Hercules in the Haunted World," Leontine Snell displaying as much skin as possible in her see through costumes. Unleashed in the US only after the phenomenal success of Peter Cushing's "Star Wars," it faced competition from the likes of Al Adamson's "Space Mission to the Lost Planet," merely another new title for John Carradine's "Horror of the Blood Monsters." Losing an entire reel before crossing the Atlantic, the plot vaguely resembles "The Terrornauts" and is essentially split in half, the first on earth where a downed spacecraft is found in Sardinia by a group of mostly young scientists, captured by Leonora's alien leader Kaena to help her return to her home constellation of Hydra. They encounter some Chinese spies who continue to plot after takeoff, endless talking head scenes only occasionally broken up by some action. A lost Bulgarian ship is found adrift in space, its two occupants now skeletons inside their suits, transcribing the terrible fate on earth that foreshadows what Kaena finds on Hydra, Leontine's theatrical performance and modeling of several eye catching outfits perfectly in keeping with her portrayal of a wannabe actress. Only a brief amount of time is spent on an uncharted planet that might have been left over from STAR TREK, where apelike cavemen cause a minor disturbance (they earned it a few playdates as a ripoff of "Planet of the Apes," right down to the nuclear climax). There's little amusement to be found despite the odd comic tone, and apart from "Mission Stardust" rang down the curtain on Spaghetti sci fi.
Review of Star Pilot
