Based on the hugely-popular fumetti neri (“black comic”) Diabolik series created in 1962 by Italian comic book writers Angela and Luciana Giussani, Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik is a wild, madcap, surreal and really rather bonkers 1960s pop art masterpiece. It’s a film that couldn’t be the product of any other decade than the 1960s, with its bright primary-colour pallet, arch performances, and absurdist plotting. Its influences range from the Fu Manchu series to TV’s Batman, the James Bond films, and what’s often referred to as the popular cycle of “supervillain” movies that swept Europe in the 1960s.
John Phillip Law (Barbarella) plays the elusive master thief known as Diabolik, who has been running rings around the police force in some unnamed European country. Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli) is charged with overseeing the transportation of $10 million across the country and is determined to stop the resourceful Diabolik and his lover/accomplice Eva Kant (Marissa Mell) from getting their hands on it.
But despite the best efforts of Ginko and his officers, Diabolik nabs the cash, before setting his sights on stealing a priceless emerald and twenty tons of gold as he embarks on a crime wave that pits him against the police, the government, and rival gangster Ralph Valmont (Thunderball’s Adolfo Celi).
Danger: Diabolik is eye-openingly bizarre and probably something of a culture shock for anyone not familiar with Bava’s work, much of which was considerably darker and more macabre. It’s a crazed, psychedelic dreamscape of a movie punctuated by moments of broad comedy (British comedy legend Terry-Thomas pops up a couple of times as the Minister of the Interior, then the Minister of Finance), spectacular action, widescreen cinematography, and coy titillation.
Law is no great actor, but he imbues his often monosyllabic Diabolik with a mischievous sense of danger, and there’s a real chemistry between him and his loyal sidekick Eva. Diabolik’s subterranean base is pure TV Batcave with its secret entrance, winding staircases, and cavernous interior. Bava brings it all to life with an uncharacteristic twinkle that even allows him to get away with the odd staggeringly badly composited greenscreen effects sequence, and you’ll soon get used to the rather clumsy dialogue dubbing.
Danger: Diabolik underperformed on its original release, but has inevitably found its audience over the years. It’s now a cult favourite, and Diabolik himself lives on in a new series of films launched in 2021. Bava’s version has appeared on physical media previously, of course, but this lavish new set from Eureka! is available in a hardback limited edition with a 60-page booklet, commentaries, featurettes, video essays, a music video and much more. Definitely not a diabolical release.
DANGER: DIABOLIK is available on 4K/Blu-Ray now from Eureka!
