Danger: Diabolik

Finally, Danger: Diabolik DVD is here! (And so worth the wait!)

Here is the deal! I don’t care what anyone thinks of Danger: Diabolik because it is one of my favorite movies, if not my favorite movie of all time. Mario Bava was so ahead of his time that it is hard to fathom that he wasn’t even more renowned than he was.

I wish there had been as many of these as there were the James Bond movies because frankly, Danger: Diabolik gets it right in ways the Bond people forgot how years ago. Diabolik is a master thief, (played beautifully by John Phillip Law,) whose goal in life is to steal things for his own amusement and to shower his lovely girlfriend, (Marisa Mell,) with lavish gifts.

Directed by Mario Bava, (who started out as a cinematographer,) Diabolik has some of the most beautiful art direction and camera work ever seen in a movie. Bava’s style made any movie he made worthy of repeated viewings. For Mondopopsickle, this design and style of this movie exemplifies everything we love most about the films of the late sixties, early seventies.

Paramount delayed this DVD’s release by a year, and after watching the extras and listening to the commentary, I have to thank them for this. It is a great DVD and brings tears of joy to my face every time I watch it. I love this movie so much.

I have vague memories of seeing Danger: Diabolik as a child, but didn’t seeing it again until the late nineties when I made my wife’s family watch it for Thanksgiving. They didn’t appreciate it the way they should have, but for me it was like reconnecting with an old friend.

There are so many amazing sets in Danger: Diabolik and so much outlandishness that fans of the extraordinary should never miss an opportunity to see this if they haven’t, and every fan of the films of that era should own this wonderful DVD. Eventually, I am going to devote a full section of this site to this excellent film. If I had a choice to direct a remake of a great film, I would do a sequel, (a faithful and direct sequel that picks up where Diabolik left off.) Studios take note I’ll start on the screenplay in a heartbeat! Rumor had the director of The Brotherhood of the Wolves doing a remake, which would honestly be OK with me because nothing could tarnish the excellence of this great 1968 gem.

Terry Osterhout
June 2005