Diabolik (Danger: Diabolik). 1968. Italy/France. Directed by Mario Bava. Screenplay by Dino Maiuri, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates, Bava. With John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas. In English. DCP. 105 min.
Based on a popular Italian comic book series and on crime serials of the silent movie era, Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik imagines a master thief and his girlfriend—the Fantômas to her Irma Vep—outwitting Inspector Ginko (a hilarious Michel Piccoli) and his league of not-so-extraordinary gentlemen detectives. A celebrated craftsman of Italian giallo, a hybrid genre of sado-erotic horror and thriller, Bava made this, his only Hollywood film, on borrowed time and money, pressured by Dino di Laurentiis to produce a new international franchise alongside Barbarella. And while the film was a flop on its initial release, it has since become a cult classic for its wonderfully inventive Pop art visual conceits—a knowing nod to the comic book form (Fatboy Slim and the Beastie Boys borrowed its campy spy-fi aesthetics for their music video “Body Movin’”)—and for Ennio Morricone’s wildly experimental score, with its elements of psychedelia, disco, funk, free jazz, and rock opera, interwoven with wailing vocals by Christy, Edda Dell’Orso, and Alesssandro Alessandroni’s I Cantori Moderni choir.