Edgar Wright spoke in rhapsodies about this film on the Trailers from Hell website and it has it’s fans. It looks fantastic, like most movies from director Mario Bava – sumptuous photography, wonderful pop sets and costumes. The story and characterisation are a little on the thin side, and it lacks star power.
Apparently Diabolik is a big time comic character in Europe. He's a master thief, who’s so successful it’s causing the police to crack down on all crime – which annoys the mob. So the cops and the mob go after him. Diabolik (played by a stone faced John Phillip Law) wears a leather outfit (including a face mask), drives a Jaguar and has perhaps the most awesome hero’s lair in cinematic history – it’s an underground cave, with a pool, massive bed, groovy furniture, large showers.
He’s a one woman guy though – not too hard when that woman is the stunning Marissa Mell, who wears a series of very revealing costumes (clothes hanging on to nipples by the barest tape, little shorts, etc) and is always taking showers and going for swims. (William Goldman talks about Mell’s beauty in his piece on the 1967 flop musical Mata Hari in The Season and he was spot on.) Wright correctly pointed out it’s like watching Austin Powers without the jokes.
The support cast includes Terry Thomas as a politician (I wasn’t sure what country this was set in), Michael Piccoli (who was in Topaz) as Diabolik’s cop nemesis, and Adolfo Celi (from Thunderball) as the mob boss. Ennio Morricone did the music. Despite all the camp fun of it though I did find it wearying after a while. Law is dull, the action repetitive and it lacks humour. But it looks like a dream and I can understand why some people would love it.
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