I probably wouldn't watch Danger Diabolik again unless I was really loaded, or maybe just in the "right" mood. I did like it, though not exactly in the way I expected, at all. It's funny really because of what director Mario Bava does to make this very third-rate (if that) James Bond knock-off worthwhile. But it's not worthwhile in the sense that it's really high-quality, unless you're talking about Diabolik's secret cave/lair. No, it's more worthwhile as a surefire example of a director who knows what he has to work with and decides to just make it as awesomely bad as it can be, through the period mostly. And this period brings out what must've been for Bava his 'interpretation' on the late 60s psychedelia movement. Sure, the film is based upon an Italian comic strip, but really, would you know it by looking at the film in and of itself?
Featuring performances that sometimes just speak for themselves, including John Phillip Law as the title character, who has eyebrows that almost rival his own fancy tricks, and Michel Piccoli (yes, the Michel Piccoli) as another evil-doer, or possible authority figure, or other. Really, part of the gleeful dumb fun in watching Danger Diabolik is that, well, there's not plot really to describe, least of which I could discern. Basically Diabolik and his woman Eva (Maria Mell) go around getting out very elaborately and nefariously through the 'traps' set by the evil-doers who try and ensnare Diabolik through his own greed and want. So it's all really a bunch of set-ups that end up not working out for those who try and set it up, as Diabolik fools them every step of the way, all the while having lots of sex in his bed piled with money, as nasty characters try and plot some more. For what end all of this comes to I can't tell you, which is in part why I can't ever take a work like this seriously.
Bava here is 100 times more interested in getting the wacky world of espionage, spoofed in its own way, than he is in telling any half-way near coherent kind of thriller story. It's all a big excuse for Bava to bring on elaborate, very goofy camera moves (zoom-in, zoom-out, zoom-in again, for now reason), which also include a manic moment of psychedelia through a kaleidescope, lots of quick pans and other fancy moves, and everything almost to mock these characters. Maybe that's part of the point, that as this very wild tome of the Roadrunner and the Coyote spins out (only this time the Roadrunner really being a dastardly character Diabolik who is neither villain or hero, just is as his very unclear-in-motivation bandit), one can only watch with the laughter coming out possibly unintentional- or not. Who knows; Bava was an extremely experienced genre filmmaker, so this must have come as something of a delightful challenge. And there's a very wise, strange case of a musical composer here- Ennio Morricone- sometimes sounding and sometimes not at all sounding like his usual work; you almost want to get up and do some kind of silly 60s boogie to this stuff.
So do seek out the film if you want a good cheesy time of a movie to see, almost like watching What's Up Tiger Lily only with half the wit though much more in terms of delivering visual veracity. And I'm sure if you can seek it out, it's probably quite fitting as the finale to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television show. What a way to come back down to earth, as Diabolik gives one final wink...or is it? It's a stupid, B-movie romp with lots of explosions and gun-fire and senseless killings- in short, lots of worse ways you could spend a Friday night.
Featuring performances that sometimes just speak for themselves, including John Phillip Law as the title character, who has eyebrows that almost rival his own fancy tricks, and Michel Piccoli (yes, the Michel Piccoli) as another evil-doer, or possible authority figure, or other. Really, part of the gleeful dumb fun in watching Danger Diabolik is that, well, there's not plot really to describe, least of which I could discern. Basically Diabolik and his woman Eva (Maria Mell) go around getting out very elaborately and nefariously through the 'traps' set by the evil-doers who try and ensnare Diabolik through his own greed and want. So it's all really a bunch of set-ups that end up not working out for those who try and set it up, as Diabolik fools them every step of the way, all the while having lots of sex in his bed piled with money, as nasty characters try and plot some more. For what end all of this comes to I can't tell you, which is in part why I can't ever take a work like this seriously.
Bava here is 100 times more interested in getting the wacky world of espionage, spoofed in its own way, than he is in telling any half-way near coherent kind of thriller story. It's all a big excuse for Bava to bring on elaborate, very goofy camera moves (zoom-in, zoom-out, zoom-in again, for now reason), which also include a manic moment of psychedelia through a kaleidescope, lots of quick pans and other fancy moves, and everything almost to mock these characters. Maybe that's part of the point, that as this very wild tome of the Roadrunner and the Coyote spins out (only this time the Roadrunner really being a dastardly character Diabolik who is neither villain or hero, just is as his very unclear-in-motivation bandit), one can only watch with the laughter coming out possibly unintentional- or not. Who knows; Bava was an extremely experienced genre filmmaker, so this must have come as something of a delightful challenge. And there's a very wise, strange case of a musical composer here- Ennio Morricone- sometimes sounding and sometimes not at all sounding like his usual work; you almost want to get up and do some kind of silly 60s boogie to this stuff.
So do seek out the film if you want a good cheesy time of a movie to see, almost like watching What's Up Tiger Lily only with half the wit though much more in terms of delivering visual veracity. And I'm sure if you can seek it out, it's probably quite fitting as the finale to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television show. What a way to come back down to earth, as Diabolik gives one final wink...or is it? It's a stupid, B-movie romp with lots of explosions and gun-fire and senseless killings- in short, lots of worse ways you could spend a Friday night.