Going through my free streaming bookmarks, I thought I'd watch The One-Armed Swordsman (1967, Chang Cheh).

klu9@ohai.social

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...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tunnel_Under_the_World_(film)

#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Diabolik

klu9@ohai.social

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

klu9@ohai.social

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

#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Giallo #LegitFreeMovies

klu9@ohai.social

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)

#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #MonsterMiru

klu9@ohai.social

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.

#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Godzilla

klu9@ohai.social

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

klu9@ohai.social

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.

https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-golden-voyage-of-sinbad

#LuigiCozzi #SciFi #Monsterdon #Starcrash #Sinbad

klu9@ohai.social

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