★ 6 / 10
In an unidentified European country, Police Inspector Ginko
Ola G
In an unidentified European country, Police Inspector Ginko oversees the transportation of $10 million from a bank. To prevent the master thief Diabolik (John…
In an unidentified European country, Police Inspector Ginko oversees the transportation of $10 million from a bank. To prevent the master thief Diabolik (John Phillip Law) from stealing the money, he creates a diversion whereby a truck from the bank transports wastepaper, while a team of himself and disguised officers take the money in a Rolls-Royce. The plan is still foiled by Diabolik, who escapes with the money and his lover Eva Kant (Marisa Mell) to their underground hideout, where they passionately make love on top of their loot. Diabolik and Eva attend a press conference held by the Minister of the Interior, who reinstates the death penalty to dissuade criminals such as themselves; they disrupt the conference by releasing exhilarating gas into the crowd. Unable to locate Diabolik, Ginko and his fellow officers are granted emergency privileges that allow them to crackdown on the activities of gangster Ralph Valmont, who they hope will aid in capturing him. Realizing their plan after a teen discotheque he operates is raided due to it being a front for his drug trafficking operations, Valmont makes a deal with Ginko...
Upon its initial release, Howard Thompson of The New York Times gave a brief negative review of Danger: Diabolik, referring to the film as "infantile junk." Variety was also negative, calling it a "dull Dino De Laurentiis programmer" whose "bizarre sets, poor process work, static writing and limp direction spell pure formula fare for lowercase grind bookings." A more favorable review came from Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave it a two-and-a-half star rating out of four, stating that although he felt that the film was "long and eventually loses track of itself", he deemed it to be "very nearly the movie Barbarella should have been" due to "looking better put-together (although its budget must have been smaller)", noting Bava's "thorough grounding in schlock exploitation films" and praising his use of clichés. He also found Piccoli's casting as Ginko to be "nothing short of hilarious". In Britain, a review came from David Hutchison for the April 1969 issue of Films and Filming, who deemed the film's use of spy-fi tropes to be outdated, but made a point that "the comic strip has a great many affinities with the motion picture; both are a series of separate pictures and take the same advantage of light, shade, colour and perspective. Bava is obviously well aware of this and the result is a film strip cartoon which, despite its faults, is generally more successful than either Modesty Blaise or Barbarella in capturing an elusive comic strip flavour". Betty Marcus of Fort Lauderdale News was enthusiastic, describing the film as "pure entertainment", noting that "it brings back the excitement and gimmickry of the Bond films and the high-camp corn of the Batman television series" and finding the visual effects to be "magnificent". In Australia, a review in the September 6, 1968 edition of The Age called the film "a real surprise, splendid stuff"; aside from noting the influence of Fantômas and Raffles, it defined the film in the context of Bava's filmography as cinematographer and director, stating that "Danger: Diabolik demonstrates [Bava's] graphic eye for an image, his fluid camera style and arresting way with colour composition", and that "Although pictures by Bava have been pouring out of Italy for years, I can recall only one or two here - no horror of course, because this genre, which allows him greater scope, is still banned in Australia".The Monthly Film Bulletin also gave the film a positive review, noting that: "Bava's superb visual sense stands him in good stead in this comic-strip adventure which looks like a brilliant pastiche of the best of everything in anything from James Bond to Matt Helm."
"Danger: Diabolik" based on the fumetti Diabolik by Angela and Luciana Giussani is campy and kitschy no matter what other people say. I think the problem is not that it´s campy and kitschy, but it´s simply a poor comic 60´s film with speeded up sequences, studio backdrops and obvious miniature sets that isn´t all that exciting in 2021 which I hoped it would be. It´s like the Batman tv show (1966-1968), but more in the "Barbarella" realm which is fine, but it didn´t excite me at least which I had high hopes for.
Trivia: Upon its theatrical release, Danger: Diabolik performed below De Laurentiis' expectations at the box office, and received negative reviews from The New York Times and Variety. With the re-evaluation of Bava's filmography, retrospective reception of the film has been more positive, with its visuals, the performances of Law and Mell, and the score by Ennio Morricone receiving praise. In studies of the film, critics and historians have focused on Bava's use of mise-en-scène to replicate the imagery and stylization of comic books, and the film's reflection of the socio-political upheavals of the 1960s in its characterization and narratology. Having garnered a cult following, Danger: Diabolik was chosen by Empire magazine as one of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" in 2008.
Read full review
★ 7 / 10
This is visually quite a stylish film
isla s
This is visually quite a stylish film , certainly of its time (the late 60s) - it seemed a bit of a parody of both superhero type films (think a perhaps darker…
This is visually quite a stylish film , certainly of its time (the late 60s) - it seemed a bit of a parody of both superhero type films (think a perhaps darker version of Batman almost) and of spy films (think James Bond etc.) and it also reminded me of the Austin Powers films, given the rather saucy moments present ('groovy baby' etc.).
I thought it was certainly an entertaining watch - a bit of a send up, a little racy in parts perhaps but its quite British, in terms of poking fun of things, hence the parody element. Its colourful, visually, with some scenes taking place in nightclubs or discos as they were then and its amusing, in a tongue in cheek way and as such I enjoyed it. Also it features some relatively toe-tapping music and some mystical sounding background music at times as well, I suppose adding to the sense of suspense and mystery to it. It doesn't exactly take itself too seriously and neither should it - comedy wise its quite British and of its time but its worth a watch if it sounds of interest. Its certainly a bit of a laugh at the least! I quite like parody type films and this one was entertaining enough for my liking. Would I recommend it? yes, why not, unless you really dislike fairly mild to moderate sex references.
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
Very clever, well thought out, crafted on the
Anderson O
Very clever, well thought out, crafted on the thieves/heist aspects. Interesting and sleek musical score for the pacing. Cinematography worked very well, and…
Very clever, well thought out, crafted on the thieves/heist aspects. Interesting and sleek musical score for the pacing. Cinematography worked very well, and Car Chase sequences are faster pacer and better executed than I could have imaged. This movie was nothing like I had anticipated.
Read full review
68%
TOMATOMETER
· 25 reviews
71%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
6.5/10
8.2K
•••
Back in July 2025, Kino Lorber released a 4K UHD of DANGER: DIABOLIK, and it looks fantastic! Whenever you have a chance to look for it, if you can find it and post a version here, that would be greatly appreciated Mr. Freeman.