CONTAMINATION (1980) Poster Art

Why do I enjoy this mad film so much?

 

Wild, Wild Podcast: Luigi Cozzi Season: Episode 4 - The Black Cat (1989) & Blood on Méliès' Moon (2016)

As our Luigi Cozzi season comes to an end, Adrian and I revisit The Black Cat (1989) and struggle to give a coherent plot summary. The film has been difficult to see for decades and we’re both happy that the recent Severin Blu-Ray makes it possible to evaluate the film on its very strange merits. We also take a quick look at Blood on Méliès' Moon (2016), Cozzi's long-awaited return to directing, and enjoy discussing his bowtie and his pyjamas.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Luigi Cozzi films, or if you have questions for him. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice! 

Wild, Wild Podcast's Luigi Cozzi Season Episode 3 - HERCULES (1983)

Listen in as Adrian and I put on our tiny leather skirts, grab our weapons (mind out of the gutter!) and jump into adventure. We discuss both of Cozzi's 1980's Hercules films starring Lou Ferrigno and a double handful of familiar Euro-cult faces. We talk about how these Cannon produced movies came about, how Cozzi was brought in to helm them and why the second one is so damned much stranger than the first. Luckily, the writer/director is on record about these movies so we have lots of fun behind the scenes tidbits and some real insight into the reasons these memorable throwback sword & sorcery films were successful for Golan & Globus.

If you have any favorite Luigi Cozzi films we'd love to hear from you. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com with an email or recorded voicemail. And please remember to rate and review us on your podcast listening platform of choice! Thank you and we'll be back soon. 

Wild, Wild Podcast Season 4: Episode 1 - THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN (1975)

We're back with a new season and new Euro-Cult topic! This time we celebrate the work of science fiction enthusiast, film director and shopkeeper Luigi Cozzi. In this episode we focus on his first commercial film THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN (L'assassino è costretto ad uccidere ancora) and ask, just who is The Spider? Are those cheekbones real? Is George Hilton the coolest guy on the planet? What kind of lunatic leaves his keys in the ignition of his Mercedes? Join us as we steal a car and head for the coast, only unlike our hapless protagonists, we have murder on our minds.

We would love to hear from you if you have any favorite Luigi Cozzi films. You can contact us on Twitter and Instagram or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com. Please remember to rate and review us on your podcast platform of choice!

Wild, Wild Podcast #7 - STARCRASH (1979)

Sing with me now: "Starcrash, it's a Starcrash, we're having a Starcrash..." Yes, we've made it to 1979's Italian Star Wars knock-off par excellence, the one and only STARCRASH, featuring Caroline Munro in a space bikini and David Hasslehoff with a tight perm.

In this episode Adrian and Rod share their unabashed enthusiasm for this silly film, whilst not holding back on just how difficult it is to accurately summarize the plot, even when it's written down in front of you.

We would love to hear what you think of this film too. You can contact us via Twitter and Instagram, or you can email us at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com

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The Bloody Pit #43 - STARCRASH (1979)

Luigi Cozzi's science fiction epic STARCRASH is one of the wildest cinematic experiences of all time. The movie's script is a hot mess that feels like it was assembled in the dark from ideas jotted randomly on post-it notes. There is no logical progression from scene to scene or from idea to idea. When an explanation or solution was needed Cozzi just seems to have inserted a line of ridiculous dialog, had the characters smile at each other and kept moving. It is this almost total disregard for logic, sense or sanity that allows this budget challenged Italian production to reach mad heights of near genius.

When the idea of covering STARCRASH for the podcast suggested itself I found myself with an odd problem - everyone wanted to be part of this show! Randy Fox, Jeff Nelson and John Hudson all wanted the chance to talk about the film and relate their love for it. Troy Guinn also wanted to participate but scheduling kept him away from our recording session. Regardless, he found a way to be a part of the episode anyway! So, we gathered around a table one Friday night to go through this crazed movie marveling at it's odd twists and turns while trying to come to terms with our out sized affection for it. We touch on many of the plot elements that amuse us - there is no way to touch on them all in just two hours - while digging into the cool things that the film plays homage to and/or steals from classic genre movies. Since this show consists of a group of friends that have known each other for years you can expect a number of odd references (Peter Frampton 8-tracks?) and strange connections (Where's Waldo!) that will only make sense if you listen to our stream of conscious blather. If it gets out of hand, we apologize! We had a good time and we hope you do as well.

I read out a couple of email messages at the beginning of the episode and if you would like to comment on the show the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com. Drop us a line with any suggestions for future podcasts or to put us in our places if we've gone wrong. Thank you very much for downloading and listening! 

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STARCRASH (1979) on YouTube!

I'm just about ready to post the next episode of The Bloody Pit but I'm well aware that the subject of our show is.....obscure. So, to facilitate the viewing of Luigi Cozzi's sci-fi masterwork I present this link to the entire film posted over on YouTube. This is not the best way to see and appreciate the film (that would be the stellar Shout Factory Blu-Ray)  but it at least allows you to see it in the manner of a VHS copy. Check it out! 

The Bloody Pit #27 - CONTAMINATION (1980)

It was a year ago that Troy, Jeff and I sat down and podcasted together and the film under discussion that time was the mad Umberto Lenzi zombie epic NIGHTMARE CITY. Proving that we only seem to want to talk on the record about completely insane Euro-Cult horror movies we now sit down to hash out our feelings about Luigi Cozzi's incredible (in every sense of that word) CONTAMINATION. If you have never seen this slice of 1980's cinema madness allow our conversation to push you toward a viewing first because we spoil the holy living crap out of the film from beginning to end. If you have any love for bizarre movies you will find much to love - and much to make you scratch your head in wonder. After all, when you are watching a film that is trying to copy Ridley Scott's ALIEN but on a very low budget there are going to be some interesting compromises along the way. Due to budgetary constraints writer/director Cozzi had to set the film on Earth but kept the idea of the alien eggs and a large monstrous creature from the Scott film and even titled his script 'Alien Arrives on Earth' so you know it has to be great. God, I miss the days of cheap Italian rip-off cinema! So much fun!

Please join the three of us under "Absolute Maximum Security" as we travel from New York City's sewers to the coffee fields of Columbia to the planet Mars (!) in our quest to understand and share this amazing film. Listen as Troy re-titles the movie FOOTBALLS: THE RIPENING and wonders why it wasn't called CONTAMI-GASM while I express my belief that the movie is "Nonsensical to the point of genius." Jeff has done a deep dive and brings some fascinating details from the graphic novel adaptation of the script that Cozzi has produced and that is available as an extra on the new Arrow Films Blu-Ray release. Will wonders never cease?

If you have any comments or suggestions you can send them to thebloodypit@gmail.com and we'll respond in our next Italian Horror episode. Thank you very much for downloading and listening! 

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