Flesh Gordon (1974)

It began as a pornographic film. That is not the most interesting thing about it.

FLESH GORDON (1974) was shot as early as 1971 by co-directors Howard Ziehm and Michael Benveniste, originally intended as an explicit parody of the 1936 Flash Gordon serial.

The hardcore footage was eventually surrendered to the Los Angeles Vice Police after Ziehm realised that producing pornography in LA was legally considered pandering. The X-rated material is presumed destroyed. The film was re-edited for an R rating.

Universal threatened to sue for plagiarism because the opening section followed the 1936 serial so closely. Ziehm responded by adding a disclaimer at the start of the film and a "not to be confused with the original Flash Gordon" notice to all advertising.

What makes Flesh Gordon especially interesting, beyond the puns and the premise, is who made the special effects. The crew included Rick Baker, Dave Allen, Jim Danforth (credited in the film backwards as Mij Htrofnad), and Greg Jein, among others who would go on to significant Hollywood careers.

The stop-motion creature at the film's climax, named by the effects crew "Nesuahyrrah" in a reverse tribute to Ray Harryhausen, was so expressively built that its creators added dialogue to match its mouth movements after the fact. Voiced by Craig T. Nelson (Coach, Mr. Incredible, the dad in Poltergeist), the creature is the best thing in the film - which is either a tribute to the effects team or a verdict on everything else.

Flesh Gordon was nominated for the 1975 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the only independent production nominated that year. It lost to Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.