Going through my free streaming bookmarks, I thought I'd watch The One-Armed Swordsman (1967, Chang Cheh).
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Oh well, I'll watch FantastiCozzi instead, documentary about the #BMovie director Luigi Cozzi beloved of #Monsterdon for films like Starcrash & Hercules and beloathed of #MonsterMiru for inserting real footage of dead people into his 1977 cut of Godzilla
FantastiCozzi
He's been called The Italian Ed Wood. Now Luigi Cozzi tells his own story, from his sci-fi obsessed childhood and collaborations with Dario Argento to his rise as writer\/director of many sagas as STARCRASH, CONTAMINATION, HERCULES, PAGANINI HORROR, THE BLACK CAT, and his first film in 27 years, BLOOD ON MÉLIÈS MOON.
(flixhouse.com)
For those who watched The Adventures of Hercules in #Monsterdon , Urania is not only the name of the muse of astronomy & astrology in Greek mythology, but also the popular Italian sci-fi magazine that Luigi Cozzi grew up reading.
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For those who watched The Adventures of Hercules in #Monsterdon , Urania is not only the name of the muse of astronomy & astrology in Greek mythology, but also the popular Italian sci-fi magazine that Luigi Cozzi grew up reading.
Cozzi got his start with a Kodak Brownie camera, writing pieces for scifi magazines around the world & attending the Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival, which awarded #Monsterdon "favourite" X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes its 'Silver Spaceship' trophy.
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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Cozzi got his start with a Kodak Brownie camera, writing pieces for scifi magazines around the world & attending the Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival, which awarded #Monsterdon "favourite" X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes its 'Silver Spaceship' trophy.
Cozzi's 1st film at 21 y.o. was an experimental low-budget adaptation of a "Truman-Show-esque" Frederik Pohl story. To fund it, he & his friend Alfredo Castelli would sell story ideas for the comic Diabolik & use each payment to buy more film stock
He purposely made it confusing because he knew critics would be afraid to write negative reviews of something they didn't understand
But it caught Dario Argento's eye...
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Cozzi's 1st film at 21 y.o. was an experimental low-budget adaptation of a "Truman-Show-esque" Frederik Pohl story. To fund it, he & his friend Alfredo Castelli would sell story ideas for the comic Diabolik & use each payment to buy more film stock
He purposely made it confusing because he knew critics would be afraid to write negative reviews of something they didn't understand
But it caught Dario Argento's eye...
Cozzi & Argento's 1st collaboration was a "giallo" mystery/horror/thriller inspired by a Perry Mason book & is free to watch on Plex & Mometu (in some countries)
https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/movie/four-flies-on-grey-velvet
https://watch.mometu.com/feature/four-flies-grey-velvet
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/four-flies-on-grey-velvet#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Giallo #PerryMason #LegitFreeMovies
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Cozzi & Argento's 1st collaboration was a "giallo" mystery/horror/thriller inspired by a Perry Mason book & is free to watch on Plex & Mometu (in some countries)
https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/movie/four-flies-on-grey-velvet
https://watch.mometu.com/feature/four-flies-grey-velvet
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/four-flies-on-grey-velvet#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Giallo #PerryMason #LegitFreeMovies
Cozzi's 1st commercially-made film was an "extended remake" of a giallo episode he made for TV, & is also available legit free streaming (in some countries), under various titles (as it was banned for violence when originally produced, so re-edited & re-titled)
The Killer Must Kill Again / The Dark is Death's Friend
https://tubitv.com/es-mx/movies/12018/the-dark-is-death-s-friend
https://fawesome.tv/movies/10537613/killer-must-kill-again
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-killer-must-kill-again -
Cozzi's 1st commercially-made film was an "extended remake" of a giallo episode he made for TV, & is also available legit free streaming (in some countries), under various titles (as it was banned for violence when originally produced, so re-edited & re-titled)
The Killer Must Kill Again / The Dark is Death's Friend
https://tubitv.com/es-mx/movies/12018/the-dark-is-death-s-friend
https://fawesome.tv/movies/10537613/killer-must-kill-again
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-killer-must-kill-againAfter 2 directing efforts, Cozzi started working in a film distribution company, buying rights to release colourized & dubbed versions of old scifi films/Monsterdon-bait like:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Day of the Triffids (1963)
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Invaders From Mars (1953)and of course:
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) (US-ified version with Raymond Burr) -
After 2 directing efforts, Cozzi started working in a film distribution company, buying rights to release colourized & dubbed versions of old scifi films/Monsterdon-bait like:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Day of the Triffids (1963)
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Invaders From Mars (1953)and of course:
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) (US-ified version with Raymond Burr)Cozzi's boss refused to distribute Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in black & white, so Cozzi decided to colourize it & pump up the volume with "Sensurround" explosions, as well as extend it with real footage from Hiroshima etc. He seems very pleased with the results but I think this is where he & #Monsterdon / #MonsterMiru strongly diverge.
The documentary FantastiCozzi doesn't address the issue of real dead people in the footage.
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Cozzi's boss refused to distribute Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in black & white, so Cozzi decided to colourize it & pump up the volume with "Sensurround" explosions, as well as extend it with real footage from Hiroshima etc. He seems very pleased with the results but I think this is where he & #Monsterdon / #MonsterMiru strongly diverge.
The documentary FantastiCozzi doesn't address the issue of real dead people in the footage.
In 1976, Cozzi directed a romance "The Last Concert"
1. Big hit in Italy & Japan
2. Still wanting to do scifi, he used his own money from that to make a scifi special FX reel to shop to producers
3. Got turned down by producers, uninterested in a scifi project
4. 15 days later, Star Wars came out & became a gigantic hit
5. Surprise, surprise, producers called him back real interested!
[See alt text for more]
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
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In 1976, Cozzi directed a romance "The Last Concert"
1. Big hit in Italy & Japan
2. Still wanting to do scifi, he used his own money from that to make a scifi special FX reel to shop to producers
3. Got turned down by producers, uninterested in a scifi project
4. 15 days later, Star Wars came out & became a gigantic hit
5. Surprise, surprise, producers called him back real interested! [See alt text for more]
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
Caroline Munro was Cozzi's 1st choice for the lead in Starcrash after seeing her in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)(now taking bets on that as next Monsterdon poll option
)The producers didn't know her, decided to get a US star. As shooting approached, they still hadn't got the money for a big star & went with Cozzi's 1st choice.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad streaming online
Watch "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" · Full movie online for free · Check all streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video & Disney+ – incl. 4K options!
JustWatch (www.justwatch.com)
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash #Sinbad
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Caroline Munro was Cozzi's 1st choice for the lead in Starcrash after seeing her in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)(now taking bets on that as next Monsterdon poll option
)The producers didn't know her, decided to get a US star. As shooting approached, they still hadn't got the money for a big star & went with Cozzi's 1st choice.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad streaming online
Watch "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" · Full movie online for free · Check all streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video & Disney+ – incl. 4K options!
JustWatch (www.justwatch.com)
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash #Sinbad
Marjoe Gortner was cast in Starcrash because Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures (see previously on Monsterdon ad nauseam) had picked up distribution rights & had just had a hit with Gortner in The Food of the Gods (Monsterdon, 28 Sep 2025. Sequel shown in #MonsterMiru same date)
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
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Marjoe Gortner was cast in Starcrash because Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures (see previously on Monsterdon ad nauseam) had picked up distribution rights & had just had a hit with Gortner in The Food of the Gods (Monsterdon, 28 Sep 2025. Sequel shown in #MonsterMiru same date)
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
David Hasselhoff was an unknown, one of several soap opera actors on tapes sent to Cozzi by a casting agency
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
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David Hasselhoff was an unknown, one of several soap opera actors on tapes sent to Cozzi by a casting agency
#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash
Cozzi inserted references/homage to lots of scifi/Monsterdon films & scifi books, inc:
Forbidden Planet (1954)
Invaders from Mars
Jason and the Argonauts (#Monsterdon 15 March 2026!)
2001 (1968)#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash #ForbiddenPlanet #JasonAndTheArgonauts
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