Danger: Diabolik (1968) It only just occurred to us that we should have included this film as a double feature on our "Barbarella" post........the two films were produced back-to-back by the Italian mega-mogul Dino De Laurentis.........
.........with both films designed as flashy, trashy, pop art adaptations of hugely popular European comic strip characters......
But holy superhero, what a difference between them. 'Barbarella', as we've pointed out, falls under our category of 'Fun-To-Remember-But-Sucks-To-Actually-Watch'.......directed by that horny hack Roger Vadim, whose primary talent was filming the hot babes he married.......(Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, etc).......
Beyond undressing Fonda at every opportunity, Vadim's gasping attempt at sci-fi spoofery is so languid and static, it plays like a bizarre, slow motion fashion show. A painful, dumb slog.
'Danger: Diabolik', however,......that's a whole other story.......directed at the very height of his visual powers by that underappreciated master of fantasy and horror, Mario Bava......
It's a wild, take-no-prisoners hoot from start to breathless finish...... probably the all-time best replica of a dark, weird 1960's pop art comic book ever put on film.....
Fresh from his role as 'Barbarella's winged Adonis comes John Phillip Law as super-dooper thief Diabolik. Fully equipped with blazing eyes, demonic laugh and black leather outfits welded to his skin, Diabolik stages outrageously ridiculous heists with the help of Eva (Marisa Mell), his blazing hot mini-skirted gal pal.
And he's pissed off everyone.......the government and cops (represented by a babbling Terry-Thomas and a cool Michel Piccoli).....and even worse, the mob, headed by who else but 'Thunderball' Bond villain Adolfo Celi......
They're all out to get Diabolik and Eva, but our powerhouse Super Duo outwit them at every turn........at one point, they literally leave 'em laughing after dosing a police press conference with 'Exhilaration Gas'.......
Bava splashes all of this nonsense across the screen with his unerring eye for dazzling visuals and some startling set pieces......such as Law and Mell sexing it up on a giant circular bed strewn with the cash they've stolen........(the director even slows down a bit for some hubba-hubba
tours of Mell's spectacular, barely dressed body)
And the dessert topping's best of all......a nervous, appropriately offbeat score by Ennio Morricone, filled with his signature outbursts of squawking trumpets and rousing chorals
For this film, BQ came up with a specialized category.....file 'Danger: Diabolik' under Films-You've-Forgotten-About-Or-Never-Heard-Of-But-Are-Loads-Of-Fun-To-Watch.......
and not to miss, we should add. 4 stars (****)......we wouldn't watch 'Barbarella' again if you paid us, but we'll always come back to our good buddy Diabolik.
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