Mario Bava directs this sublime adaptation of the Italian Fumetti (comic book) Diabolik. Unlike his American comic book counterparts Diabolik is more interested in carrying out criminal acts than preventing them. Diabolik rebels against the authority of the state, but not through any outraged sense of injustice. Diabolik in it for the thrills and his own financial gain.
Mario Bava Directs Danger Diabolik
Producer Dino De Laurentis hired Bava to direct Danger Diabolik knowing full well the man could turn his hand to anything and frequently did. The American actor John Philip Law (Barbarella) plays the ambiguous Diabolik. Marissa Mell is his beautiful girlfriend and co-conspirator Eva Kant. Ennio Morricone provides one of his best scores, a highlight being the opening track ‘Deep Deep Down.’
A pre-title sequence shows Diabolik stealing five million from right under the nose of his nemesis Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli) in a daring heist. The rest of the film details Ginko’s attempts at trying to capture the elusive Diabolik. Willing to cross the line and do what ever it takes, Ginko gets mob boss Valmont (Thunderball villain Adolfo Celi) involved by having him kidnap Eva.
John Philip Law Stars in Danger Diabolik
Diobolik wears a black skin-tight leather costume. This makes him look like a cross between a ninja and a sadomasochist. John Philip Law is constantly on the move, even when he is sitting still. Law’s eyes dart about all the time always on the lookout, always making sure he has all the angles covered. Then there is his laugh, a deep deep down mwaa ha ha ha he delivers after pulling off his latest coup.
Bava started out as a cameraman and had a remarkable ability for making a film look like it cost a lot more than it did. A serious contender for the title of greatest comic book movie ever made Danger Diabolik mixes 60’s psychedelia and pop art with the subversive sensibility of Angela and Luciana Giussani’s original Fumetti.
Bava’s eye for detail and his mastery of arranging scenes makes Danger Diabolik one of the few films whose frames look like panels from a comic book. Despite the anarchic content there is an underlying lack of seriousness. Nothing matters in the film except the love between Diabolik and Eva. Everything else, from the law, to the government, to organised crime and maybe even Diabolik himself can be destroyed.
Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Though it was the last ever film to be mocked on Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Danger Diabolik is one of Mario Bava’s best movies. Long undervalued outside Italy its reputation has grown over the last two decades. Bava remains one of the most underrated directors in cinema history, despite contemporary figures such as Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright expressing their admiration for his work.
Rating 4/5
Danger Diabolik
Starring John Philip Law
Written by Dino Maiuri, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates, (based on the stories by Angela and Luciana Giussani
Directed by Mario Bava
Running time 105 mins
Year 1968
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