Danger: Diabolik (1968) Criminal Mastermind Action John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is the criminal mastermind who has just pulled off a huge heist. He spends most of his free time with his girlfriend, Eva (Marisa Mell), in fond embrace. The police minister (Terry-Thomas) is approached by Valmont (Adolfo Celi), a master criminal who proposes to use his underworld connections to catch Diabolik for the police. In between their gratuitous lovemaking, he and the exotic Eva are chased by police and the mob in this plodding crime drama. Expanding his primary-hued fantasy world into an appropriately cotton candy-flavored kaleidoscope, director Mario Bava injects Danger: Diabolik with the perfect amount of humor, hi-tech gadgets, and espionage-tinged action. The scourge of police and the criminal underworld alike, Diabolik's only loyalties lie with his lover Eva and with taking every opportunity to embarrass authorities through a series of elaborate and craftily masterminded heists. Striking a deal with police to capture Diabolik once and for all, underground crime-boss Valmont receives more than he bargained for as Diabolik constantly turns the tables on his would-be captors, always managing to squeak out of a tight spot with his gadgets and disguises. John Phillip Law establishes himself as the definitive Fantomas-esque antihero, and in its style the film is a curious foreshadowing of Tim Burton's Batman films that would follow two decades later. Diabolik also serves as an interesting companion piece to Barbarella, released the same year and co-starring Law as Pygar, the angel who has lost his will to fly.

• published: 25 May 2014
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