Kino Lorber
As I was learning about the history of American comics from all the wonderful books on the subject that came out in the early 1970s, a few of them also schooled me on foreign comics. That was where I first saw Diabolik.
Diabolik was (is?) a long-running Italian comic about a super-criminal who wears a tight costume that covers all but his eyes. It would be another decade before I found out about the 1968 movie, Danger: Diabolik!
Unlike the more austere comic book itself, Danger: Diabolik embraces both the 1966 Batman and James Bond styles, resulting in what amounts to an over-the-top, campy Eurospy film.
Top-notch direction comes from Mario Bava, not yet the cult film superstar he would soon become. The hip, jazzy score even comes with a 007-style theme song.
John Phillip Law plays our hero…or villain, as the case may be. In the first ten minutes, Diabolik has successfully stolen ten million dollars that the authorities had taken unprecedented steps to keep from him. Then he stops to pick up his sexy girlfriend, Marissa Mell, and they head off to his Batcave. He has to sacrifice his cool car to get away, but luckily his girl has a cool car, too!
Steely-eyed Law was nobody’s idea of a great actor but since Diabolik’s eyes were all one can see, he feels perfectly cast here for a change. Even unmasked, there are times where we only see his eyes, such as in the rear-view mirror of his sportscar. (Ironically, in his other Italian comics-based role, as the blind, blindfolded angel in Barbarella that same year, his eyes couldn’t be seen at all.
Ms. Mell, a lovely Italian model and actress, gives an equally, and appropriately, wooden performance, matching Law’s perfectly. The Bond connection is driven home by the presence of Thunderball villain Adolfo Celi. Oddly enough, one of the authority figures in the story is played by British comic actor Terry-Thomas.
The gap-toothed Terry-Thomas was everywhere back in the day. He was in new movies like Munster, Go Home, old movies on TV like Mouse on the Moon, as well as in episodes of TV series like The Red Skelton Show or The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and even commercials. He doesn’t do much here and is presumably present just for name value.
The plot has the bad guys, jealous of Diabolik’s successes, teaming up with the good guys to stop the arch-villain. If there’s anything to complain about in this movie, it’s that we see more of the folks on both sides who are attempting to find and capture or kill the title character (or his girlfriend) than we do of that character himself.
The scenes where we do see him, though, are cool, colorful, and sometimes just plain psychedelic. There are some iconic visuals such as he and his girl making love on—and under—all that money he had stolen. Diabolik has no qualms about killing to get what he wants, but at least he does so less here than he does sometimes in his comic.
Apparently, this movie was a mess behind the scenes, with several false starts, recast actors, and a switched director. The great Catherine Deneuve even shot scenes for a week before being replaced! In the end, though, it all worked out to become just a wonderfully fun and entertaining movie with some striking imagery that stays with the viewer.
The amoral Danger: Diabolik, with its traces of nudity and violence, is a tad more adult than Adam West’s Batman, but works on much the same level most of the time. Both are very much of the 1960s. A recent remake feels particularly dull in comparison.
Extras include audio commentary, featurettes, newly discovered Outro, Body Movin (Beastie Boys music video) edited with Diabolik footage, teaser and theatrical trailers.
Booksteve recommends.
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