Filmic Proof That Nice Guys Finish Last

All I gotta say is this: RUN, do not walk, to your local video retail shop and buy this movie - a steal at $9.95 - before it once again disappears. Or, if you have a laser disc player, whack the paper boy on the back of the head, steal his bike, and pedal as fast as your legs can carry you to your nearest laser emporium to get the widescreen edition. One of the most SPECTACULAR movies of the late 60s (if not all time), Danger: Diabolik has been re-released by Paramount Home Video and, like all second- string titles, won't be out for long.

John Phillip Law (best known for his turn as Jane Fonda's blind angel sidekick in Barbarella) is Diabolik, a notorious and crafty thief whose sole purpose in life is to humiliate the government and diminish their funds. And that is exactly what he does using his wits, his sexy girlfriend, a fleet of awesome Jaguars, a barrage of small arms fire and explosions, and an underground hideout that makes the Bat-Cave look like a ten year old's tree fort! Super-smooth and nihilistic, Diabolik is the perfect balance between James Bond and Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. And his costume - although merely rubber and latex - is more super hero realistic and cool than any modern-day CGI imaged "bio-armor."

The film chronicles a series of Diabolik's escalating heists and the authorities' failed attempts to catch him. I'm telling you, Diabolik is the ultimate super hero. Self-serving and unapologetic, he steals $10 million in cash just so that he and his girlfriend Eva (played by the saucy and stylish Marisa Mell) can make love in giant piles of cash!!

Danger: Diabolik is based on a popular Italian comic book, and director Mario (Black Sunday, Planet of the Vampires) Bava - R.I.P. - was the perfect choice to bring this super-thief to life. Bava is an image-making maestro who has influenced film for the better (whether the folks who steal from him realize it of not). Danger: Diabolik is absolutely beautiful and lushly shot - a delicious piece of eyeball candy. This was 1968. Before visions of the future became dirty and desiccated. When the year 1999 was all about smooth curves, pastel colors, and everything was made of plastic . . . Diabolik is a prime example of a future that has long since passed.

While being visually retro, Diabolik has a surprisingly modern skew as far as characterization and plot go. It's the perfect mixture of Summer-of-Love visuals and Quentin Tarentino sensibility. And it comes highly recommended. One minor complaint: the box cover art is, quite simply, atrocious. Ignore the poorly airbrushed outer image and concentrate on the beauty within this lost classic.