WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Diabolik 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.120 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.040 Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.520 And this is Joe McCormick in Today's movie on Weird 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:25.160 House is the nineteen sixty eight Mario Bava film Danger Diabolic, 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.800 a movie that straddles many genres. It is a comic 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:32.760 book adaptation, it is a crime thriller, it's an action movie. 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.440 And I've even seen people refer to it as a 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.400 spy movie or a euro spy thriller. This is sometimes 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.760 also called like spaghetti spy movies. These are all these 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.400 movies that came out in the sixties, I think somewhat 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:48.000 writing on the success of the first James Bond films 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.479 that have characters named things like James Taunt or something. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:58.000 And while that spy designation does not accurately describe the 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.720 plot of this movie, I can see why pill say that, 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.160 because Danger Diabolic takes part in a lot of the 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.800 same aesthetic trends you might find in sixties spy stuff 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.360 like the early James Bond films in these other continental 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:15.800 European espionage capers. So Danger Diabolic is about a thief, 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.560 but it feels like it's about a spy, but really, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.080 more than anything, it's about love. 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:25.520 That's right, It's ultimately a movie about love. Though our 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.960 heroes are definitely criminals, there's no doubt about it, but 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:33.119 we'll discuss the flavor of crime that they're really involved in. 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.160 I think ultimately you would classify this film as a 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:41.520 super crime movie. These are super criminals engaging in super crime. 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.880 They're not quite super villains per se, though I'm sure 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.840 that the people they're stealing from see them as such. 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:54.200 So yeah, it's interesting because on one hand, there's not 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.640 a speculative element here, like this is not really a 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.280 sci fi film or a horror of fantasy or you know, 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.320 the typical genres we cover here, but it is still 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:08.400 packed with plenty of weirdness. It reminds me in our 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.280 build up to this, you even brought this up, Joe, 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.000 you were like, I'm not sure it'll be weird enough. 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.800 But I think now that we've both rewatched it, we 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.040 have found there's plenty of weirdness to be had in Diabottle. 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.160 Well, I guess you know, we've always gone intuitively on 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.800 like what counts as weird for weird house cinema. Usually 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.600 it's got to have some kind of major anti realism 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.720 element in the plot. It's either got to be about 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.920 something kind of like magical or supernatural, or something sufficiently 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.480 has enough science fiction distance from reality that it's really 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:46.120 weird diabolic has. It takes place in a world of 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:50.800 light science fiction possibilities. Actually, much like most spy movies, 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.480 do you know, kind of like James Bonder Mission Impossible 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.120 movies have very light sci fi elements, just sort of 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.880 slight exaggerations of what's possible in reality, And this is 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:06.000 kind of like that, except it has a much CARTOONI 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:11.320 or style that is free to more free to experiment 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.400 with what would be plausible in terms of like what 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.720 people would actually do, Like would people actually make a 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:22.120 gold ingot the size of a tanker truck because reasoning 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:24.720 that it will be harder to steal that way. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.040 Well, this is I love that detail on the plot 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:32.120 because that particularly feels like folkloric or mythic. It seems 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:37.320 like the kind of thing that that various heroes in 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.440 you know, Sagas and Tales of Old would have engaged in. Oh, 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.440 you know, the trickster was going to steal the gold 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.200 so we just need an enormous gold ingot. But ah, 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.480 the mighty Hero Diabolic stole it anyway. 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.600 So I actually hadn't seen this movie until a couple 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.440 of weeks ago, and a good friend of mine has 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.200 been telling me about it for years. I can going 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.440 back probably a deck him saying this movie is actually great, 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:06.680 and I think for a long time my expectations about 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:12.120 it were miscalibrated by the knowledge that this movie was 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.920 featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater three thousand, 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.279 which I've never seen. By the way, the very last episode. 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:22.240 You know, that's a show I love. But that places 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:27.039 this movie in strange company because Danger Diabolic is not 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:32.039 like Soul Taker. It is not like Final Sacrifice or 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.160 Mitchell or most of the kinds of movies that end 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:39.640 up on Mystery Science Theater. Danger Diabolic is a wonderful movie. 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:42.240 In fact, I would even say that it possesses a 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:43.680 kind of genius. 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:45.760 Yeah, yeah, I mean we could go in into an 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.800 entire tangent on MST three K movies and the fact that, yeah, 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:51.560 I think there are a lot of great movies that 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.600 were riffed over the years, and I think there are 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:58.120 people out there who take offense sometimes on behalf of 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.280 movies that were riffed. I I don't view it like that. 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.760 I think for me in particular, and for a lot 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:08.400 of people. You are Slash were introduced to this whole 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:12.239 world of weird cinema through Mystery Science Theater three thousand 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:17.000 and they taught in different ways to enjoy films. But yeah, 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.640 this was a film that I long associated with ms 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:21.680 th three K because it was episode one ninety seven 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.479 back in nineteen ninety nine. It was for a very 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.240 long time the final episode of MST three K before 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.760 it came back in twenty seventeen, and it's still the 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.640 final mic episode of MST three K, so it was 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:36.520 always bittersweet for that reason. Solid riffing, but the end 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:40.679 of an era. I had never watched Diabolic or Danger 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.440 Diabolic as it's known in the West. I'd never watched 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.719 it unriffed until today. And it's, you know, like a 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.040 lot of these films, it's so much fun. It certainly 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.720 holds its own You don't need the rifting to experience it. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.760 That can't be said of every film that was a 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.120 feature in MST three K. There are some that are 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.359 bad enough that you really need a little something extra 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.320 to get you through. But it is a very watchable, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.080 very fine, very sexy, good time. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:08.440 Absolutely all of those things. And also this is a 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.480 movie that I think has special appeal to people who 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.320 are interested in the process of filmmaking because it's one 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:18.200 of those movies where you can just you can just 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:23.320 feel the steady hand of a director working with absolute finesse. 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:30.800 Mario Bava's shadow hanging over this movie is just so powerful. 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.479 It's like, in some ways I would compare it to 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.000 though I'm not really sports fan, but what I imagine it's 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.599 like to, you know, really appreciate an incredible athlete, somebody 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:46.120 who just does inhuman things with their muscles that would 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.080 be impossible for other people to do, but they make 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.800 it look easy. That's what I would compare the filmmaking 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.599 in this movie too. It's just like it is such 0:06:55.760 --> 0:07:02.320 an effortless, feeling display of of absolute confidence and finesse 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.599 in how sets and costumes and color schemes are used 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.440 and how shots are framed. It's you just feel like 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.560 he is taking it easy and making a perfect movie 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:15.160 and not breaking a sweat. 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.520 Yeah, yeah, I mean he makes it seem easy, and 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.800 at the same time you're in awe of some of 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.720 the shots that he puts together and the way he 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.040 approaches scenes that would just be so throwaway in other films. 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.760 I will say that there are plenty of hypnotic shots 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.000 in this movie, but since this one is more action 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:38.400 themed compared to the other two Mario Baba films that 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.600 we've talked about on the show, it has a different 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.120 feel overall to it. There may be fewer of those 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:48.200 like long hypnotizing sequences, but there's still plenty of moments 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:49.040 like that in the film. 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:51.960 So I want to formally apologize to my friend Ben 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.559 for taking like ten years or more to watch this movie, 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.920 which he's been recommending to me the whole time. You 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.000 were right, this movie is great. It's great. It's great, 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:02.800 And this is a caveat I sometimes have to issue 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.680 on the show. I sometimes fear that the more I 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.960 love a movie, the harder it is for me to 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:09.840 make a good weird House episode about it. So I'm 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.120 gonna try to do my best here and not just 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.520 let this turn into a NonStop, repetitive overt gushing. But yeah, 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.840 please please understand. I feel like I'm working with that handicap, 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.119 I think I like this movie too much. 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.440 Yeah, I know the feeling. Sometimes if I come into 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.960 an episode and I'm like particularly attached to the film, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.560 I worry how that's gonna impact the episode. But I 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:33.360 think it's gonna be great. There's a lot to talk 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:33.800 about here. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.679 Okay, what's your elevator pitch for danger Diabolic? 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.280 I've got to channel a little meat loaf here, and 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.319 I would say it is I would steal anything for love, 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:48.280 and I will absolutely steal that because it's all for 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.600 love in this movie, Absolutely all for love. 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.840 Yes, Why else take down the largest shipment of dollars 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.920 in human history unless it's for love? 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.760 Yeah, And that's why. And that's one of the reasons 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.160 they in Diabolic. They're like, we don't understand his motivations. 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.160 Why does he do the things that he does. Well, 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.400 it's because he's operating on a different wavelength from you 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.440 old fogies that are ruling the world on both sides 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.360 of the law. He has his own agenda and we'll 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:15.640 get into that. That's right. 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.280 They want the money because it's money. He wants the 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.400 money because it's his girlfriend's birthday. 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:25.240 Yes, all right, let's listen to a little trailer audio here. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.200 I don't know if we'll listen to the full trailer, 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.320 and I do want to advise anyone out there that 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.080 if you're interested in watching this movie in full, don't 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.320 watch the classic trailer for it, because this is one 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.640 of those trailers that just spoils absolutely everything. Nothing is 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.240 spared visually anyway. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.360 Warning that much like the trailer, we will get into 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.760 some spoiler territory. But Diabolic has a lot of excellent 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:49.120 twists all throughout the movie, so things will be revealed. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:50.960 If you want to go into it knowing nothing, you 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:52.920 should watch it before you finish this episode. 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:54.800 All right, let's have a listen. 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:14.840 Me Diabolic a bank Robin Hood baffles the cops. He 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:19.320 robs from the rich to give to the girls. Ask Eva, Oh, 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:23.000 you shouldn't have done it. She can't get a good 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:52.160 night's sleep unless she's covered with money. Master Sportscar Racer, Masters, 0:10:52.200 --> 0:11:17.960 skin Diver, Master, lover Master, Ask keeper Diabolic the absolute 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:32.040 gold plated end, askba. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.040 All right, Well, if you want to go out and 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:43.840 watch Diabolic or Danger Diabolic before proceeding through the rest 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.920 of the episode, Well, luckily for you, it's widely available 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:49.920 in all formats, including a nice twenty twenty Shout Factory 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.600 release on Blu Ray. And if you really like the music, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:53.960 we'll get into the score in a bit. The score 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.320 is available on vinyl from Audio Clarity Great Score. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.600 Should we start by talking about Mario Bava? How many 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.360 Bava films did you say? We've done? 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.600 This would be the third one. So we've watched what 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:12.959 Black Sabbath, and we've watched Planet of the Vampires Planet 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:14.520 the Vampires from sixty five. 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.480 Black Sabbath was the anthology horror film that we did. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:23.600 Was it last October or maybe the October before it is? 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.040 So that's one that's got like three segments, and one 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.720 of them, the one that stuck with us the most, 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.480 I think, is the one that has Boris Karloff as 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.960 the verdu Lac, this kind of Serbian or Carpathian mountain 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:39.000 vampire type creature, and it has all those beautiful shots 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.200 where he's just like got purple light dripping off of 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.640 his face as he comes in from the cold and 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.320 looks menacingly at his HouseGuest. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.360 Yeah. Yeah, And that was kind of a follow up 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.640 to the nineteen sixty Black and White film he did 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.600 Black Sunday, but it is, you know, in many ways. 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.880 It's hard to imagine, you know, Mario Baba working in 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.120 black and white, because when I think of Bob, I 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.880 think of those rich colors, those rich gels, which he 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.120 use with a master's stroke. 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.760 Well, let me stand up for his black and white films. 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.200 Baba is best once the colors get pumping and he 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.640 can use yeah, the gel lights and all that, but 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.400 his black and white films look very good. He did 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.800 an early proto Jallo film that's kind of a murder 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.839 mystery thriller set in Rome called The Evil Eye or 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.160 The Girl who Knew Too Much. Their title, I think 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.760 those are titles. Ones for the American cut and ones 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:35.560 for the original cut, and that movie it's not the 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.080 best of the ones I've seen because of some like 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.040 it's not the best script he's ever worked with, but 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.760 it's a fantastic looking film, even in black and white. 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:47.040 He uses very high contrast black and white and uses 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:51.760 makeup to a great effect. So there's always kind of 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.480 eyeliner and shading of the actors' faces and stuff, and 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.120 I assume a lot of that rests on makeup, though 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.240 probably some of it is use of light and shadow 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.680 as well. But that one looks great. Oh my god. 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.840 Black Sunday is amazing. I can't remember have you seen 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:08.400 that or not. 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.120 I haven't seen Black Sunday now. 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.400 Oh that one. It is also in black and white. 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.120 It is one of the most visually striking black and 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.920 white films I have ever seen. Also uses a lot 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:18.880 of high contrast. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:23.440 Well, anyway you slice it. Yeah. Mario Bava legendary Italian 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:28.200 director with an unmistakable obsessive and at times just phantasmagorical 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.440 emphasis on visual composition. Strong still from a Bava film 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:37.000 is often just instantly identifiable. He lived nineteen fourteen through 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.720 nineteen eighty and was the father of director Lomberto Bava. 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:47.120 We've talked more about him on the previous episodes discussing 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.720 his films, and you know, I have a feeling we'll 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.520 come back for more Bava in the future. 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.040 I just looked it up to check. I thought so, Lambertobava, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.080 his son is the director of Demons and Demons too. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.040 There you go. Well, one way or another, we'll come 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:05.320 back to above at some point. All Right. We don't 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.600 always mention the producer on a film, but this one's 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:12.920 notable because this is Dino di Laurentis of nineteen nineteen 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:18.280 through twenty ten. De larentis, legendary Italian and naturalized American 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.680 film producer, really one of the biggest names of all 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:24.000 time when it comes to production, both in Italian cinema 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.560 but also international cinema. Started producing in the late forties 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.200 and continued on till his death. Not everything he was 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.080 involved in was golden, but he had a hand in 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:37.040 the lavish, such lavish productions as sixty eight's Barberella, nineteen 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:41.280 eighties Flash Gordon, which I would I would argue those 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.960 two films and Diabolic kind of are kind of a 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:46.080 stylistic trilogy. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.040 I think you could absolutely say that, Yeah, there's there's 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.400 a lot of uh, there's a lot of sinew in 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.920 common there also, didn't he Wasn't he the driving force 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.640 between hiring David Lynch to adapt to Dune in the eighties. 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.840 I believe, so, yeah, he was involved in David Lynch's 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.640 Dune Conan the Barbarian from eighty two, as well as 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.720 the sequels and also the sort of sequel Red Sonia. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.320 He was a producer on Halloween two and three, so 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.480 technically we have covered one of his productions before, multiple 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:21.160 Stephen King adaptations, including Maximum Overdrive, and also all of 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.160 the Hannibal movies except for the Silence of the Lambs. 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:25.960 Oh, so he did all the best ones. 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.640 Yeah, well, you know he did some. He was involved 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:31.200 with some good stuff. I mean, Manhunter. 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.960 Oh okay, and yeah, and I actually, you know, I 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.280 have sort of a soft spot for what's it called 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.480 the sequel to Silence of the Lambs that had Julian 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:46.200 Moore as Hannial Is starling Hannibal. Oh, it's just called Hannibal. Yes, yeah, 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.160 that one. I understand why critics didn't like it. It's got 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.920 some flaws, but there there's a lot to love about 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:52.960 that movie. 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.280 If memory served. I'm just going off memory here, but 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:59.480 I believe his original working title, Harris's working title for 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:04.000 the novel was The Morbidity of the Soul, which I 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.679 think was ultimately a more fitting title for both the 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:11.040 book and the film A book. The book I kind 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.040 of hated when it came out, but I have a 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.520 feeling like if I went back and at least watched 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.680 the movie again, I would find a lot to love 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.360 about it, Like it is a very strange movie. It's 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.800 very strange story overall, agreed, all right. The writing credits 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:30.440 for Diabolic for Danger Diabolic here. Several names involved here. 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.240 So this movie is based on the comic book of 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:42.760 the same name by Angela Gusani and Luciana Gusani. Angela 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.080 lived nineteen twenty two through nineteen eighty seven and Luciana 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.720 lived nineteen twenty eight through two thousand and one. They 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.320 were sisters. They also share story credits with Dino Mayori, 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:57.199 who lived nineteen sixteen through nineteen eighty four, Andreona Barraco 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.600 who lived nineteen oh seven through nineteen seventy six. Screenplay 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:04.800 credits go to Bava Maori, Brian Dagas who lived nineteen 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.520 thirty five through twenty twenty, and Tutor Gates who lived 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.480 nineteen thirty through two thousand and seven. 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.760 Okay, so we got a lot of writers going on here, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.359 and that can often be a bad sign for a film. 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:17.919 But it turned out great here, And I guess with 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:22.719 the Jusani sisters. They they were the creators of the 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:27.479 character Diabolic, who was a comic book character before it 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:28.840 was ever adapted to film. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.919 That's right. They were inspired to create a grown up 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:36.720 comic book for essentially for Italian commuters, something that could 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.639 be printed in in a small format you could easily, 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:41.480 you know, stuff in your pocket and then pull out 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.000 when you're on the train on your commute and read 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:48.960 offering kind of a phantomas inspired crime adventure, that sort 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.800 of thing. So it ended up being a huge success 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.159 in Italy when it debuted in the early sixties, and 0:18:55.200 --> 0:19:00.960 then also enjoyed international appeal afterwards. This was a French 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.720 Italian co production, so like, you know, the Italian popularity 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.880 is obvious, but it would have also been popular in France. 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:12.040 And I have to say they're still making Diabolic films. 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.080 I haven't seen any of them, but I looked up 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:17.240 some of the stills and yeah, it's still clearly Diabolic. 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.119 It don't look like they're messing with like the basic 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:20.440 visual chemistry of the thing. 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.360 When I was in Italy in like two thousand and 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.600 seven or so, I bought a Diabolic comic book off 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.000 of a news stand. Ah, and I knew nothing about it. 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:32.639 I just saw the art and I was like, that 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:36.040 guy looks cool. I like the mask, yeah, or the 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.239 kind of anti mask actually, because what Diabolic wears is 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.879 like a It's like the Domino mask in negative. His 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.480 entire head is covered in a skin tight mask except 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:49.399 for the area around the eyes and the top of 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.000 the nose, which is just his face is revealed. 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:54.840 That's right. Yeah, it's like the mask is so skin 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.920 tight that it's just ridiculous. It's like a vacuum seal 0:19:59.040 --> 0:19:59.679 to his face. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.959 Yeah. So I was reading a bit about Diabolic. So 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.080 the one I bought was in Italian, so I can't read, 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.240 but I I've been reading a bit about the character 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.560 Diabolic in the comics, and from what I understand, he's 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:20.040 originally imagined as a master thief who you know, can 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.840 steal anything and is constantly foiling the police and their 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.439 attempts to capture him. And he in a way is 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.879 he can do anything. You know, he knows all the sciences, 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:30.959 and he can make any kind of gadget, and he 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.840 can solve any kind of problem. So he's he's one 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.239 of these like superhumans, the kind of you know, pre 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:40.000 Jason Bourne type person who can they can just do anything. 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.959 But then also what I've read is that there's an 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:45.800 arc and we've talked about similar arcs in films before 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.800 on this show where in the early in the early 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.479 Diabolic comics, he is closer to an evil alignment, like 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:59.000 he does crime and he'll just kill people whoever gets 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.119 in his way to steal the thing he wants to steal. 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:04.120 From what I've read, there was kind of an arc 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:08.040 where as the series of comics went on, Diabolics nature 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:12.480 became a little more like chaotic good rather than i 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.199 don't know, neutral evil or something that he became more 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:18.920 of a Robin Hood figure who was stealing from people 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.160 who were understood to be powerful and bad in some way. 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:26.200 You know, he was stealing from other criminals and crime lords, rich, rich, 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:29.560 dangerous people and often doing good along the way. But 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:32.200 that was later on, and you know, there's a kind 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:36.600 of there's a kind of gravity pushing anti hero characters 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:38.679 in that direction. I think we were talking about this 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.399 with the This is a hilarious comparison with Riddick with 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:44.800 Vin Diesel. You know, you start off trying to make 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.000 them look really hard and they're really close to the 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:51.280 evil designation. You know that the strong emphasis on the 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:55.439 anti and anti hero, and then over time there's this 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:57.879 tendency to just make him be like, ah, they're actually 0:21:57.920 --> 0:21:58.480 pretty good. 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:02.119 Yeah, coming back to Hannibal, you see that with Hannibal 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:05.800 electra to a certain extent, like bye bye Hannibal. Uh, 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:08.320 you know, he's he's awful. He's awful. He's he's a 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.439 serial killer. It's it's it's clear he's a cannibal. But 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.639 he's not as bad as Mason Viger. Mason Virger is 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:17.920 presented as like is the ultimate evil in so many 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:18.560 other ways. 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:29.000 Right, so yeah, he mostly kills other killers in that one. 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:34.240 All right, well let's talk who on earth do you 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:38.160 get to play the enigmatic diabolic? Well you get John 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:39.119 Phillip Law to do it. 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:43.520 This is a truly inspired bit of casting. John Philip 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:45.680 Law is perfect in this role. 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.840 Yeah, Like just his physicality. Uh he has this this 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:56.200 wiriry kind of spidery body, very muscular, but but also yeah, 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.400 kind of like thin, like he's like he's he's grown 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:01.879 up in orbit or something, you know. And then also 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:04.600 key is that you could you can find a lot 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:06.560 of actors of the day and a lot of actors 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:11.639 they're working in cinema right now to play diabolic that 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:15.480 could maybe physically look like diabolic, but they've got to 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:18.560 have the eyes you've got to have these just wide, 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:24.200 kind of sinister, unblinking eyes that just register from across 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:27.240 the room, but also in close up, and John Philip 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:29.080 Law definitely has this look down. 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:31.320 You have to be able to make that bird of 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:33.919 prey v with your eyebrows as well. 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.280 Yes, yeah, the bird of Prey is a good comparison here, 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:41.040 because he is there is a he is dangerous. Danger 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:43.720 diabolic is the title, and it is a warning. This 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:47.560 is a dangerous man. And if he's looking in your direction, 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:51.320 well watch out. So John Philip Law lived nineteen thirty 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:54.159 seven through two thousand and eight American actor of stage, screen, 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:57.600 and television. He did some early Italian cinema work which 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:00.679 helped establish him there, while at the same time attracting 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:03.879 the attention of Hollywood director Norman Jewison, who cast him 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:06.240 in the nineteen sixty six film The Russians Are Coming. 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.320 The Russians Are Coming. This led to a co star 0:24:09.480 --> 0:24:14.320 role in Auto Primager's Hurry Sundown from sixty seven. He's 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:18.359 co star in that Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda had a 0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:21.399 big upcoming role in a movie produced by Dino di 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:26.440 Laurentez Barbarella. So she said Hey, I met this guy. 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:30.040 He's great. You should have him play this weird shirtless 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:32.639 angel dude that it's going to be in Barbarella. 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:36.399 I haven't It's been a long time since I've seen Barbarella. 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:38.720 I don't remember anything about what he does except that 0:24:38.760 --> 0:24:40.200 he's shirtless and has wings. 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:43.000 He doesn't. Yeah, he doesn't have a lot to do 0:24:43.040 --> 0:24:45.240 in that. I think if you're only exposure to John 0:24:45.280 --> 0:24:48.000 Philip Blauer that movie, you might think that he's more 0:24:48.040 --> 0:24:51.600 of say the rocky horror level of actor, like because 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:53.719 he doesn't really do much there. But you know, this 0:24:53.800 --> 0:24:58.399 is a guy who did have stage credentials, like you know, 0:24:58.440 --> 0:25:02.399 he's definitely a experienced actor at this point. But there 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:05.960 were delays in making Barbarella, and those delays allowed him 0:25:05.960 --> 0:25:08.800 to star in the spaghetti western Death Rides a Horse 0:25:09.040 --> 0:25:12.159 from sixty seven with Lee van Cleef in addition to 0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:14.920 this production Diabolic. 0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:19.159 Okay, so while he's working on developing his Bird of 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:25.000 Prey face, he's also playing a gunslinger in this western movie. 0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:29.879 Yes, yeah, maybe being trained in the ways of eye 0:25:30.200 --> 0:25:34.720 forward acting by Lee van Cleef. I don't know. But anyway, 0:25:34.760 --> 0:25:38.280 after a Diabolic, his Hollywood career had a little more 0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:41.159 steam in it, but he had lasting international star appeal, 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:43.720 especially in Europe. I think he also worked at least 0:25:43.760 --> 0:25:47.840 on a couple of films that were Taiwanese productions. Other 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:50.480 films of note here, at least for US include seventy 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:53.399 one's The Last Movie, Roger Corman's The Red Baron in 0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:57.640 seventy one. Seventy three is The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Ah. 0:25:57.600 --> 0:26:00.440 Notable for a lot of excellent ray hair house in 0:26:00.520 --> 0:26:01.560 special effects. 0:26:02.760 --> 0:26:06.280 Nineteen seventy six is The Cassandra Crossing. Seventy nine's Ring 0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:09.280 of Darkness. That's a Satanist movie that I have not seen, 0:26:09.280 --> 0:26:11.800 but it has a great poster. Nineteen eighty five's Night 0:26:11.840 --> 0:26:15.560 Train to Terror, nineteen eighty eight Space Mutiny, an MST 0:26:15.640 --> 0:26:19.200 three K favorite, and nineteen eighty eight Blood Delirium, which 0:26:19.359 --> 0:26:20.920 I haven't seen that one either, but I know it's 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:23.879 recently been re released on Blu Ray and has a 0:26:23.920 --> 0:26:27.680 really eye catching a bit of poster art for it. 0:26:28.040 --> 0:26:31.239 John Philip Law plays the villain in Space Mutiny, if 0:26:31.240 --> 0:26:35.480 I recall correctly, Yeah, he's what klgon I think hal Gone, 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:40.760 driving those go karts around and sneering to compare his 0:26:40.840 --> 0:26:43.159 two Mystery Science Theater entries. I'm gonna go ahead and 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:45.520 say Diabolic is better than Space Mutiny. 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:49.399 Yeah, it's it's it's a cut above a hefty cutbuff. 0:26:49.760 --> 0:26:52.359 But Space Mutiny might be a better episode of the show. 0:26:53.080 --> 0:26:56.080 Oh yeah, Space Mutiny is a classic MST three K 0:26:56.200 --> 0:27:00.199 episode for sure. Great riffing in that ridiculous film, but 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:02.439 still a lot of neat ideas in it that are 0:27:02.480 --> 0:27:06.160 not that don't really come to life, or an interesting 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:08.240 cast as well. 0:27:08.280 --> 0:27:12.639 But Diabolic would be nowhere without the love of his life, 0:27:12.920 --> 0:27:16.919 Eva Kant, who is a character who apparently also comes 0:27:16.960 --> 0:27:20.840 from the comics and is his partner in crime and 0:27:20.880 --> 0:27:23.160 the love of his life in this movie, played by 0:27:23.240 --> 0:27:24.080 Marissa mel. 0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:28.040 That's right, Austrian actor who lived nineteen thirty nine through 0:27:28.119 --> 0:27:30.760 nineteen ninety two. She played a lot of fem fatale 0:27:30.840 --> 0:27:34.000 type characters. Her other big films include nineteen sixty nine's 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:37.000 One on Top of the Other Luccio Folci thriller, in 0:27:37.040 --> 0:27:40.800 which she plays a dual role, seventy five's Mahogany, and 0:27:40.840 --> 0:27:44.880 also in Berto Lindsay's Seven blood Stained Orchids in nineteen 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:48.560 seventy two. She also appeared in She appeared in Ring 0:27:48.600 --> 0:27:52.119 of Darkness with John Philip Law, and also she pops 0:27:52.200 --> 0:27:55.720 up in nineteen sixty six's Secret Agent Super Dragon, which 0:27:55.800 --> 0:27:58.240 was also featured on Mister Sen's Theater three thousand. 0:27:58.880 --> 0:28:01.600 She and John Philip Law have such great chemistry in 0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:03.679 this movie. We will explore more as we go on, 0:28:03.840 --> 0:28:06.359 but it's this has got to be one of my 0:28:06.640 --> 0:28:09.000 all time favorite screen couples. 0:28:09.040 --> 0:28:11.879 Now. Yeah, in the past, we've talked about occult power 0:28:12.000 --> 0:28:14.679 couples in various movies. This is I would say this 0:28:14.720 --> 0:28:17.919 is a super crime power couple. Yes, all right, But 0:28:18.000 --> 0:28:21.200 of course since they're doing supercrimes, they're running up against 0:28:21.280 --> 0:28:23.920 the law and they're also running up against other criminals. 0:28:23.920 --> 0:28:25.680 So let's hit the law first. 0:28:26.200 --> 0:28:28.639 Well, to fight super crime, you need a super cop, 0:28:28.720 --> 0:28:31.720 and too bad, because there aren't any in this movie. Instead, 0:28:32.040 --> 0:28:33.879 you get a very underwhelming cop. 0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:38.960 That's right. We have Inspector Jinko played by the French actor, producer, 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:44.120 and film director Michel Piccoli, who lived nineteen twenty five 0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:47.400 through twenty twenty, whose other works include seventy four is 0:28:47.440 --> 0:28:51.800 The Phantom of Liberty, Jean lu Goddard's Passion from nineteen 0:28:51.840 --> 0:28:54.600 eighty two, as well as his film Contempt from sixty three. 0:28:55.000 --> 0:28:57.640 He also pops up in the twenty twelve weird movie 0:28:57.680 --> 0:28:58.760 Holy Motors. 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:01.400 Okay, so I think this guy, this guy worked in 0:29:01.480 --> 0:29:06.320 some prestige cinema as well. Yeah, but I didn't mean 0:29:06.400 --> 0:29:10.600 to sell short his performance by saying we have underwhelming police. 0:29:10.800 --> 0:29:13.280 That's how it's written. The police in this movie are 0:29:13.360 --> 0:29:17.320 just not up to the task of capturing Diabolic. In fact, 0:29:17.360 --> 0:29:20.640 they have to outsource their work to other super criminals 0:29:20.880 --> 0:29:23.600 in order to catch him. And so this this police 0:29:23.640 --> 0:29:27.600 inspector is very put upon and just he's out there 0:29:27.640 --> 0:29:32.200 having a hard time. And so the actor, the casting 0:29:32.240 --> 0:29:35.720 here is interesting. The actor reminds me sort of of 0:29:36.600 --> 0:29:39.480 Christopher Lee in a way, but without the gravitas. I 0:29:39.560 --> 0:29:42.480 was thinking kind of a kind of a stepped down, 0:29:42.920 --> 0:29:48.120 humiliated Christopher Lee, somewhat combined with the Canadian character actor 0:29:48.160 --> 0:29:51.880 Elias Koteis, who was in a bunch of different things. 0:29:52.040 --> 0:29:53.280 You've seen him all over the place. 0:29:53.680 --> 0:29:57.000 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that makes sense. Yeah, and 0:29:57.040 --> 0:29:59.760 he's not a character like, he's not a twisted, corrupt 0:29:59.800 --> 0:30:02.000 cop up or anything like. He's you get the impression 0:30:02.040 --> 0:30:04.320 like he's a good guy trying to fight the good fight, 0:30:05.000 --> 0:30:08.400 but maybe in a system that is is that is 0:30:08.400 --> 0:30:13.480 is a little corrupt, though he himself is not corrupted. Yeah, 0:30:13.520 --> 0:30:15.880 it's a like you're rooting for him, but you don't 0:30:16.320 --> 0:30:17.960 really want him to win. But then you at the 0:30:18.800 --> 0:30:21.720 end of the day you realize, well, diabolic is a criminal, 0:30:22.000 --> 0:30:25.360 and I'm I guess he needs to be caught. Maybe 0:30:25.440 --> 0:30:27.280 if someone's gonna catch him, it needs to be this guy. 0:30:27.600 --> 0:30:29.320 No, he doesn't need to be caught. He needs to 0:30:29.320 --> 0:30:33.000 get away with all of it. I don't think anybody 0:30:33.040 --> 0:30:35.840 wants the police inspector to win in this movie. You 0:30:35.960 --> 0:30:38.080 just want to see him get foiled and foiled and 0:30:38.120 --> 0:30:40.040 foiled again and keep going damnity. 0:30:40.480 --> 0:30:42.800 You know, there's a similar case in Hannibal. Coming back 0:30:42.840 --> 0:30:46.120 to Hannibal, we have remembered the Italian investigator who is 0:30:46.200 --> 0:30:51.040 looking for Hannibal in John Carlo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, great actor, 0:30:51.200 --> 0:30:53.800 great role, and also I think one of the most 0:30:53.880 --> 0:30:57.360 interesting characters in that story. You're rooting for him to 0:30:57.400 --> 0:30:59.160 a certain extent because he seems like a good guy 0:30:59.160 --> 0:31:01.360 trying to do his job, and also he doesn't want 0:31:01.400 --> 0:31:04.360 his wife to be killed by the serial killer monster. 0:31:05.560 --> 0:31:09.880 But then ultimately you're also rooting for Hannibal to avoid capture. 0:31:10.280 --> 0:31:13.360 Things don't turn out well for him. Inspector Jinko does 0:31:13.400 --> 0:31:16.080 not have things go as bad for him as they 0:31:16.120 --> 0:31:18.440 go for gian Carlo in Hannibal. 0:31:18.800 --> 0:31:21.320 All right, So anyway, the inspector here is going to 0:31:21.400 --> 0:31:24.800 have to join forces with one of his enemies, a 0:31:24.840 --> 0:31:31.360 crime boss by the name of Ralph Valmont, played by Adolfocelli, 0:31:31.560 --> 0:31:34.440 who lived nineteen twenty two through nineteen eighty six Italian 0:31:34.440 --> 0:31:37.479 actor and director, best known internationally, I think for his 0:31:37.560 --> 0:31:43.200 turn as Bond villain Emilio Largo in nineteen sixty five's Thunderball, 0:31:43.240 --> 0:31:45.320 which keeps coming up on the show for some reason. 0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:47.200 Yeah, what we were just talking about this last week 0:31:47.200 --> 0:31:48.160 for some reason, weren't we. 0:31:48.880 --> 0:31:50.160 Yeah, yeah, I think we were. I don't know. I 0:31:50.200 --> 0:31:52.200 think it's just a lot of people worked in Thunderball. 0:31:52.560 --> 0:31:54.960 Well, yeah, So he played the villain in Thunderball, the 0:31:54.960 --> 0:31:58.040 guy he's got the really fast driving yacht. I think 0:31:58.080 --> 0:32:02.280 he's trying to steal a law a nuclear warhead that 0:32:02.560 --> 0:32:05.000 crashed on a plane or something. But he's the guy 0:32:05.000 --> 0:32:07.440 who puts sharks in his swimming Pool. 0:32:08.120 --> 0:32:11.520 Yeah, yeah, this actor was. He was also in the 0:32:11.520 --> 0:32:14.440 Phantom of Liberty as well as nineteen sixty five, The 0:32:14.480 --> 0:32:17.720 Agony in the Ecstasy, seventy two's I in the Labyrinth, 0:32:17.920 --> 0:32:20.840 Gordon Hessler's Murders in the Room Orgue from seventy one, 0:32:20.920 --> 0:32:24.440 Franco Zepharelli's brother Son Sister Moon from seventy two, and 0:32:24.480 --> 0:32:28.680 we absolutely cannot forget nineteen sixty seven's Operation Kid Brother, 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:32.920 in which he basically rehashes his role from Thunderball opposite 0:32:33.160 --> 0:32:37.760 the character doctor Neil Connery played by Neil Connery, Sean 0:32:37.800 --> 0:32:42.600 Connery's brother. It's a total cash grab, obviously, and also 0:32:42.720 --> 0:32:46.440 one that was riffed on MST three K. But Shelley 0:32:46.960 --> 0:32:51.040 great Italian actor with a clear knack for playing heavies 0:32:51.080 --> 0:32:54.640 and villains. He has just this great sneer, you know, 0:32:54.720 --> 0:33:00.200 this great sort of sort of stereotypical mob boss physicality. 0:33:00.880 --> 0:33:04.760 I think he had a cigar permanently implanted between his 0:33:04.840 --> 0:33:09.040 teeth surgically, so he would just gnaw without end for. 0:33:09.000 --> 0:33:11.440 The rest of that and his character in this is 0:33:11.480 --> 0:33:14.160 just a complete brute, like no sympathy for this character, 0:33:14.280 --> 0:33:17.360 like this is just a horrible crime boss he's rude 0:33:17.400 --> 0:33:22.200 to everyone. You know, no method is off the table 0:33:22.280 --> 0:33:25.000 for this guy. So this is exactly the sort of 0:33:25.000 --> 0:33:29.600 fella that we're cheering on Diabolic to steal, to steal from. 0:33:29.680 --> 0:33:31.560 Well, as we've said, it's always good to have a 0:33:31.640 --> 0:33:34.240 character like this in a movie with a criminal anti hero. 0:33:34.840 --> 0:33:37.560 Diabolic is a criminal, but we love him, we want 0:33:37.600 --> 0:33:40.160 him to win. It's good to be reminded what a 0:33:40.320 --> 0:33:44.960 really nasty, cigar knowing criminal is like. For contrast, that's 0:33:45.040 --> 0:33:46.160 right now. 0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:47.680 He has a lot of Hinchmen, and I'm not going 0:33:47.760 --> 0:33:49.680 to mention them all, but i am going to mention one. 0:33:50.160 --> 0:33:55.400 This is his Hinchman, Joe, played by Federico Boido, who 0:33:55.480 --> 0:33:59.080 lived nineteen forty through twenty fourteen. He may stand out 0:33:59.360 --> 0:34:01.080 and he probably still out to you, Joe, because this 0:34:01.160 --> 0:34:04.800 Italian actor was also in nineteen sixty five's Planet of 0:34:04.800 --> 0:34:09.239 the Vampires playing Keir. He's in Roger Vadim Spirits of 0:34:09.280 --> 0:34:11.040 the Dead from sixty eight, and he was also in 0:34:11.080 --> 0:34:17.320 seventy two super Fly TNT. Just a good background stooge 0:34:17.400 --> 0:34:20.279 or hinchman, and he has a great hinchman look. And 0:34:20.280 --> 0:34:24.319 then finally, in terms of the actors, here we have 0:34:24.719 --> 0:34:27.600 the Minister of the Interior, and I think his title 0:34:27.680 --> 0:34:29.959 changes later on in the film. But this is played 0:34:29.960 --> 0:34:33.239 by Terry Thomas, who lived nineteen eleven through nineteen ninety. Yes, 0:34:33.280 --> 0:34:36.239 it's Terry hyphen Thomas. You might remember him as the 0:34:36.239 --> 0:34:41.600 dirty movie enthusiast from The Abominable Doctor Fibes, British comedian 0:34:41.600 --> 0:34:45.400 and character actor who excelled at playing bumbling fops. He 0:34:45.480 --> 0:34:47.279 was in a ton of pictures, but you might know 0:34:47.360 --> 0:34:50.239 him from It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World from 0:34:50.280 --> 0:34:53.600 sixty three. He also voiced Sir Hiss in the Disney 0:34:53.680 --> 0:34:57.479 Robin Hood film from seventy three. Oh he just cake, Yeah, 0:34:57.640 --> 0:35:02.600 the snake. He has a great hissing voice in general, 0:35:02.920 --> 0:35:05.320 and yeah, he's fun in this. He just Terry Thomas 0:35:05.360 --> 0:35:06.919 is all over the place. Yeah. 0:35:06.960 --> 0:35:09.920 He has some really good scenes where he's giving press 0:35:09.960 --> 0:35:15.200 conferences appealing to people's patriotism while while clearly kind of 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:19.200 squirming like a only a bug under a microscope? 0:35:19.640 --> 0:35:22.680 All right, real quick Production design credit goes to Carlo Rombaldi, 0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:24.680 who lived nineteen twenty five through twenty twelve. He's come 0:35:24.760 --> 0:35:28.040 up before on the show. He's involved in a number 0:35:28.040 --> 0:35:30.040 of great productions over the years, including Planet of the 0:35:30.120 --> 0:35:33.439 Vampires The Never Ending Story. He also had a hand 0:35:33.480 --> 0:35:39.279 in designing et so some wonderful credits assigned to this man, 0:35:39.360 --> 0:35:43.719 sometimes credited just as Rambaldi. And then the music for 0:35:43.800 --> 0:35:46.040 the film. I think we mentioned this already, but it's 0:35:46.080 --> 0:35:48.600 a score by and Neil Morricone, who lived nineteen twenty 0:35:48.640 --> 0:35:52.600 eight through twenty twenty. You know, the huge name Italian composer, 0:35:53.760 --> 0:35:58.680 soundtrack master. He was responsible for many amazing scores. But 0:35:59.480 --> 0:36:02.759 the two films that we've talked about previously that had 0:36:02.760 --> 0:36:06.200 a Morricone score were probably not that great as far 0:36:06.239 --> 0:36:08.800 as examples go. They were nineteen seventy nine, so The Humanoid, 0:36:08.800 --> 0:36:11.640 which I think had its moments in nineteen eighty three's 0:36:11.719 --> 0:36:15.920 Treasure of the Four Crowns, which soundtrack wise was nothing special. 0:36:16.520 --> 0:36:19.520 Well, I think Diabolic breaks that streak. This is an 0:36:19.520 --> 0:36:22.520 excellent score. I love the theme music here, or the 0:36:22.719 --> 0:36:25.680 music that's used all throughout, has got these great uh 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:29.120 uh these kinda there are there are themes that are 0:36:29.160 --> 0:36:33.239 tagged to specific types of emotional moments in the movie. 0:36:33.280 --> 0:36:36.520 So like anytime there's a big twist, there are these 0:36:36.880 --> 0:36:39.720 these voices that I they're the ones I was thinking 0:36:39.760 --> 0:36:42.520 of is going backwards up a slide? So these like 0:36:42.719 --> 0:36:44.040 choir of voices going. 0:36:43.880 --> 0:36:49.480 Oh yeah, yeah, there's some there. I think some of 0:36:49.520 --> 0:36:51.920 this music has like a sitar kind of a vibe 0:36:51.960 --> 0:36:54.879 going on oh yeah that I really liked. There's also 0:36:54.960 --> 0:36:57.320 there are also some tracks that really lean into the groovy 0:36:57.400 --> 0:37:01.040 fun angle of the thing, which is totally totally valid, 0:37:01.080 --> 0:37:03.880 totally you know, on point for this picture. And then 0:37:03.880 --> 0:37:07.120 there are some great suspenseful moments as well. So I agree, 0:37:07.160 --> 0:37:09.600 I think this is a great score. It's certainly head 0:37:09.640 --> 0:37:12.759 and shoulders above the previous Morricone scores that we've talked 0:37:12.760 --> 0:37:16.120 about here. Oh and he also wrote the theme song 0:37:16.200 --> 0:37:18.800 deep Down that we hear I feel like two or 0:37:18.800 --> 0:37:20.840 three times in the film. 0:37:20.920 --> 0:37:22.520 Do you have a favorite Morcone score? 0:37:23.800 --> 0:37:24.040 Yeah? 0:37:24.120 --> 0:37:26.400 I mean, as I've mentioned before, I think, you know, 0:37:26.440 --> 0:37:29.560 the mission is amazing, you know, of course I love 0:37:29.719 --> 0:37:32.319 eighty two's John Carpenter is the thing, you know, and 0:37:32.520 --> 0:37:34.200 the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from sixty six 0:37:34.320 --> 0:37:38.000 is a classic as well. But so many, so many scores, 0:37:38.040 --> 0:37:39.359 and the Lord knows I haven't heard them all. 0:37:48.040 --> 0:37:50.359 Well, are you ready to talk about the plot? 0:37:50.560 --> 0:37:54.120 Yeah, let's dive into the life and times of diabolic Reminder. 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:56.480 Again, this movie is full of surprises, so if you 0:37:56.560 --> 0:37:59.480 want to see it without having any of those surprises spoiled, 0:37:59.560 --> 0:38:02.920 please watch it before we spoil them all here. 0:38:03.320 --> 0:38:05.160 Well, there's no surprise how this is going to start. 0:38:05.239 --> 0:38:09.320 This is a movie in which money or valuables are stolen, 0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:12.239 so you have to begin with some unstolen valuables. 0:38:12.520 --> 0:38:15.880 That's right, We're gonna start with the prologue heist the 0:38:16.000 --> 0:38:20.960 largest shipment of dollars in human history. So there we 0:38:21.280 --> 0:38:24.080 come up on like the sound of sirens, engines gunning. 0:38:24.760 --> 0:38:28.200 There was a massive procession of police motorcycles riding in 0:38:28.280 --> 0:38:30.960 double file through the gates of a big, austere looking 0:38:31.000 --> 0:38:35.480 building complex. It's all concrete and corners and walls, and 0:38:35.760 --> 0:38:39.520 there are snipers lining the roofs and guards with machine 0:38:39.560 --> 0:38:42.640 guns that are standing along the alleyways within, and we 0:38:42.680 --> 0:38:46.920 see a shipment of yellow bags being loaded into an 0:38:47.120 --> 0:38:50.200 armored transport vehicle. One thing to go ahead and mention 0:38:50.320 --> 0:38:54.640 here is that there is something really inspired about the 0:38:54.840 --> 0:38:59.280 braiding in and out of different color themes in different 0:38:59.320 --> 0:39:04.120 sequences in the movie. So, for example, everything with the police, 0:39:04.200 --> 0:39:07.920 and the opening sequence here has these flourishes of yellow 0:39:07.960 --> 0:39:10.640 and black, kind of like the stripes on a bee 0:39:10.719 --> 0:39:13.040 or on a yellow jacket, which could put you in 0:39:13.120 --> 0:39:16.680 mind of like hives and workers and mindless drones all 0:39:16.719 --> 0:39:20.080 carrying out orders, or it could put you in the 0:39:20.080 --> 0:39:22.480 mind of something that can sting or something that can 0:39:22.520 --> 0:39:25.360 harm you. So I don't know, maybe I'm reading too 0:39:25.440 --> 0:39:27.640 much into it, but I see a kind of genius 0:39:28.040 --> 0:39:30.400 in the way color is used throughout the whole film, 0:39:30.480 --> 0:39:35.040 like that there are color selections that resonate thematically with 0:39:35.120 --> 0:39:38.440 what's going on on screen, and kind of interesting and 0:39:38.680 --> 0:39:40.200 oblique indirect ways. 0:39:40.920 --> 0:39:44.080 Yeah. Absolutely, I mean Bob is a master of color, 0:39:44.120 --> 0:39:45.000 among other things. 0:39:45.239 --> 0:39:48.799 So we see several of the officials who are overseeing 0:39:48.840 --> 0:39:52.600 this truck transport having a private conversation. One of them 0:39:52.760 --> 0:39:56.960 loads up taped stacks of blank paper into one of 0:39:56.960 --> 0:39:59.839 the yellow bags and says, you know, I wonder how 0:40:00.000 --> 0:40:02.680 security would feel if they knew they were guarding waste 0:40:02.719 --> 0:40:07.160 paper instead of ten million dollars. That got me thinking 0:40:07.640 --> 0:40:10.960 how much would it cost to simulate ten million dollars 0:40:10.960 --> 0:40:13.480 with blank paper? Like how much does the paper you 0:40:13.520 --> 0:40:14.760 would use for that cost? 0:40:15.800 --> 0:40:20.080 I mean significantly less than ten million dollars. One would hope, like. 0:40:20.080 --> 0:40:24.400 I'm gonna spend five thousand dollars on paper to simulate 0:40:24.440 --> 0:40:25.520 ten million dollars. 0:40:25.960 --> 0:40:28.080 If it keeps you ten million dollars from being stolen 0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:30.919 by super criminal, then I guess it totally works out. 0:40:31.320 --> 0:40:35.719 Too bad, It's not going to work anyway. So secretly, 0:40:36.160 --> 0:40:38.520 you know, we got a trap being set up. This 0:40:38.719 --> 0:40:42.640 armored vehicle is full of bags of fake money, so 0:40:42.680 --> 0:40:45.200 somebody's trying to set up a trap. And then looking 0:40:45.400 --> 0:40:48.720 on from a window above is the decoy truck motors 0:40:48.760 --> 0:40:51.440 away we see one of the main characters of this movie. 0:40:51.480 --> 0:40:55.880 It is Inspector Jinko, the police detective who is involved 0:40:55.880 --> 0:41:00.680 in the planning of this operation, and he is stern lawful. 0:41:00.920 --> 0:41:03.759 He's driven to catch his mark, but there's all there's 0:41:03.760 --> 0:41:06.319 also something a little bit weary in the eyes and 0:41:06.400 --> 0:41:09.040 kind of pitiful about him, and you kind of wonder 0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:12.840 is he finding fulfillment filling up armored trucks with blank paper? 0:41:14.239 --> 0:41:16.160 Yeah, one suspects not so. 0:41:16.440 --> 0:41:20.440 Inspector Jenko is talking to an ally in the scheme 0:41:20.840 --> 0:41:23.560 who says to him, I've never seen such precautions. Just 0:41:23.600 --> 0:41:26.160 to get a shipment to the port, and Jinko says, 0:41:26.280 --> 0:41:29.319 the whole underworld worries me less than a single man. 0:41:29.880 --> 0:41:31.920 And then the other guy, he gets very quiet and 0:41:31.960 --> 0:41:37.759 he whispers the name Diabolic. So Jinko goes into the 0:41:37.760 --> 0:41:41.000 other room where the police are loading the real ten 0:41:41.080 --> 0:41:45.000 million dollars into different yellow bags which are being hidden 0:41:45.080 --> 0:41:49.160 inside a chauffeured luxury car. And this thing, wouldn't it 0:41:49.200 --> 0:41:51.040 be better to hide it inside a cheap car? 0:41:51.320 --> 0:41:53.240 I don't know. Yeah, yeah, because they're kind of fixing 0:41:53.280 --> 0:41:56.080 it up, like like this is a a chauffeur ride 0:41:56.160 --> 0:41:58.560 with swells in it. So it seems like that might 0:41:58.600 --> 0:42:00.960 attract a super criminals at anyway. 0:42:00.840 --> 0:42:03.279 Yeah, I guess so. But they've got a whole system here. 0:42:03.320 --> 0:42:07.080 So they've got a bunch of tough police or government operatives, 0:42:07.080 --> 0:42:11.280 some kind of tough guys who are disguised as diplomats 0:42:11.280 --> 0:42:14.640 with top hats and cravats, very formal, and they're going 0:42:14.719 --> 0:42:17.880 to ride along with the money. So the convoy of 0:42:17.960 --> 0:42:22.600 cars carrying the real money, those cars depart the police 0:42:22.640 --> 0:42:25.000 station and they head toward the port. Well, we get 0:42:25.040 --> 0:42:27.640 a taste of one of the sweet musical themes. This 0:42:27.760 --> 0:42:31.040 is the one the kind of nervous sounding descending guitar riff. 0:42:31.680 --> 0:42:35.000 And also there's some kind of wind instrument warbling in 0:42:35.040 --> 0:42:37.640 the background, maybe a saxophone or something. I'm not sure 0:42:37.640 --> 0:42:39.680 what it is. Can we get a taste of that theme? 0:42:39.760 --> 0:42:49.600 JJ nice? And then following the convoy, we catch our 0:42:49.640 --> 0:42:53.520 first glimpse of what Jared Harris might call the Jaguar. 0:42:55.120 --> 0:42:57.839 I'm not a car guy, so I don't usually get 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:00.799 excited about cars in movies or fancy sports cars in 0:43:00.840 --> 0:43:04.200 any context really, but for some reason this broke through 0:43:04.200 --> 0:43:07.680 to me. Diabolics jaguar is so cool. 0:43:08.200 --> 0:43:11.200 Absolutely, this is a cool looking car. And I believe 0:43:11.200 --> 0:43:14.360 he buys them by like the dozen, yeah, because they're 0:43:14.440 --> 0:43:18.239 just completely disposable to Diabolic. Diabolic is a very successful 0:43:18.280 --> 0:43:23.000 super criminal. He has super riches, so he's operating with 0:43:23.160 --> 0:43:26.920 a budget well beyond any other criminal you've seen in 0:43:26.960 --> 0:43:27.600 another film. 0:43:27.800 --> 0:43:30.360 I think this might be present in the original comics 0:43:30.400 --> 0:43:32.359 as well, but it's definitely here in the movie where 0:43:32.600 --> 0:43:35.759 Diabolic and Eva both have their own Jaguar. I think 0:43:35.840 --> 0:43:38.400 it's a Jaguar E type, and he drives a black 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:41.080 Jaguar and she drives a white one. 0:43:41.640 --> 0:43:42.440 Oh nice. 0:43:42.719 --> 0:43:45.360 So the police and the money shipmen arrive at the port. 0:43:45.400 --> 0:43:47.040 I guess it's going to be loaded on a boat, 0:43:47.120 --> 0:43:50.800 and they're driving under the giant cranes and monstrous equipment 0:43:51.160 --> 0:43:54.880 used to unpack container ships. And as they pass underneath 0:43:54.960 --> 0:44:00.600 these rusting technological archways, suddenly another musical theme strikes. This 0:44:00.800 --> 0:44:04.240 is the eerie chorus of voices going backwards up the slide. 0:44:05.400 --> 0:44:07.600 I love it. It makes me want to run with scissors. 0:44:07.640 --> 0:44:15.080 Can we hear a sample of this? So we've got 0:44:15.080 --> 0:44:19.000 these evil fairy voices ringing out on the soundtrack. Suddenly 0:44:19.520 --> 0:44:22.560 the convoy of cars is enveloped in a haze of 0:44:22.640 --> 0:44:26.719 multicolored smoke. We've got yellow, green, purple smog. They can't 0:44:26.719 --> 0:44:29.680 see anything. Inspector Jinko and the others get out of 0:44:29.719 --> 0:44:33.480 their cars to investigate. But when we finally realize what's 0:44:33.520 --> 0:44:35.960 going on, the car stuffed with all the money is 0:44:36.000 --> 0:44:38.400 being hoisted away on a crane. It's up in the air, 0:44:38.840 --> 0:44:42.200 and then there is a silhouette barely visible through the smoke. 0:44:42.560 --> 0:44:46.040 It is a tall, dark, lean figure climbing on the 0:44:46.120 --> 0:44:48.760 rigging of the crane. And then there is a fast 0:44:48.880 --> 0:44:51.160 zoom or a fast pull focus. I'm not sure what 0:44:51.160 --> 0:44:54.160 the terminology is, but the camera just charges in for 0:44:54.239 --> 0:44:58.080 a close up on his face and it is danger diabolic. 0:44:58.160 --> 0:45:00.680 We get the title. It says danger diet Ballock. We 0:45:00.719 --> 0:45:04.000 see his eyes glowering out from the kind of butterfly 0:45:04.160 --> 0:45:08.359 shaped gap in his mask, and he laughs. So he's 0:45:08.360 --> 0:45:11.200 got a sinister laughter and he's beaten them again. 0:45:11.920 --> 0:45:14.359 Yes, I love the sinister laughter to laughter to him 0:45:14.719 --> 0:45:17.760 to remind you that, yes, there is a fun evil 0:45:17.840 --> 0:45:19.920 to diabolic. He is diabolical. 0:45:24.560 --> 0:45:26.840 Did you want to do a thing about his his costume, 0:45:26.960 --> 0:45:28.720 this like skin tight suit he wears. 0:45:29.440 --> 0:45:31.400 Uh, yeah, yeah, I think we talked a little bit 0:45:31.520 --> 0:45:33.840 of the mask, but yeah, the whole outfit is basically, 0:45:33.880 --> 0:45:36.000 I think supposed to be kind of like a catsuit. 0:45:37.239 --> 0:45:39.880 As it's realized in the film. It's maybe like a 0:45:39.920 --> 0:45:42.839 little less catsuit and more like leather pants and then 0:45:42.880 --> 0:45:46.040 some sort of a kind of a turtleneck type thing. 0:45:46.680 --> 0:45:50.000 It varies, but but yeah, he has this this this 0:45:50.160 --> 0:45:55.680 black outfit that he's like a ninja ninja with but 0:45:55.760 --> 0:45:59.239 with a mask that just clings to every detail of 0:45:59.280 --> 0:45:59.760 his face. 0:46:00.400 --> 0:46:02.440 I did like when you said it was like his 0:46:02.560 --> 0:46:04.080 face was vacuum packed. 0:46:04.600 --> 0:46:07.040 It is like you vacuum sealed the face. Yeah, a 0:46:07.160 --> 0:46:08.400 face mask into the face. 0:46:08.480 --> 0:46:10.160 Yeah, souv diabolic. 0:46:10.680 --> 0:46:13.040 Mm hmm. And I do have to add, I don't 0:46:13.080 --> 0:46:17.080 know that we ever see him blink. I think, I mean, 0:46:17.360 --> 0:46:20.320 he's not always wide eyed. Sometimes he's looking at things 0:46:20.400 --> 0:46:24.360 or reading things, et cetera. But I didn't think to 0:46:24.440 --> 0:46:26.680 watch the whole movie with this in mind. But it's 0:46:26.800 --> 0:46:29.600 very possible that Bava does not include a single frame 0:46:29.880 --> 0:46:31.280 of John Philip Law blinking. 0:46:31.600 --> 0:46:34.680 I think you're right about that. So Diabolic removes the 0:46:34.680 --> 0:46:37.200 money from the car while the cops are shooting at him, 0:46:37.200 --> 0:46:40.160 by the way, but Diabolic doesn't care, not afraid of bullets. 0:46:40.840 --> 0:46:43.640 He throws the money down into a speedboat waiting below, 0:46:43.800 --> 0:46:47.080 dives into the water to escape, drives the speedboat away. 0:46:47.080 --> 0:46:50.680 We get credits, so the credit sequences, you know, we 0:46:50.760 --> 0:46:53.839 see the credits running while there's like a spinning glass 0:46:54.280 --> 0:46:57.200 colored painted glass thing. I don't know exactly what's going on. 0:46:57.280 --> 0:47:00.000 It's kind of a groovy sixties Italian party song playing. 0:47:00.080 --> 0:47:02.440 Mm hmm. Yeah, this would be this would be the 0:47:02.680 --> 0:47:04.359 Marconi theme somewhat deep down. 0:47:04.800 --> 0:47:08.400 Oh okay, So he escapes with the ten million dollars. 0:47:08.400 --> 0:47:11.040 So he's in the boat and then he just transitions 0:47:11.080 --> 0:47:13.280 to now he's in a car. He's driving the Jaguar, 0:47:13.560 --> 0:47:15.879 and then there's a helicopter on his tail. Oh no, 0:47:15.920 --> 0:47:18.439 there's a machine gun fire coming from above. So what's 0:47:18.480 --> 0:47:21.120 he gonna do? Well, he kind of bobs and weaves. 0:47:21.120 --> 0:47:23.319 He eludes them for a while by like driving under 0:47:23.360 --> 0:47:26.799 some some greenery, some foliage, but they find him again, 0:47:26.880 --> 0:47:28.880 and then oh no, maybe it seems like they're going 0:47:28.920 --> 0:47:32.480 to catch him, but there's a brilliant twist. Diabolic drives 0:47:32.480 --> 0:47:36.359 into a tunnel where there is already waiting the love 0:47:36.400 --> 0:47:40.480 of his life, his perfect partner in crime, Evacan't she 0:47:40.840 --> 0:47:43.640 she's here with her white Jaguar while he was driving 0:47:43.640 --> 0:47:46.560 the black one, and they do a car swap. So 0:47:46.640 --> 0:47:50.160 he sends his car speeding in reverse back out of 0:47:50.200 --> 0:47:52.480 the tunnel and it go or maybe he sends it 0:47:52.520 --> 0:47:54.560 out of the front, I don't know. Anyway, his car 0:47:54.640 --> 0:47:57.360 goes out of the tunnel, goes speeding over a cliff, 0:47:57.640 --> 0:48:00.279 so the police see it crash and they think, oh, 0:48:00.360 --> 0:48:04.080 Diabolic has been killed. Meanwhile, he and Eva speed away 0:48:04.480 --> 0:48:09.560 to their secret hideout, probably furiously kissing the entire time. 0:48:09.680 --> 0:48:11.960 They do not respect the eyes on the road rule. 0:48:12.920 --> 0:48:14.840 There is a lot of screen time in this movie 0:48:14.880 --> 0:48:21.800 devoted to Diabolic and Eva making out. It's great. Yeah, 0:48:21.360 --> 0:48:22.920 it's what you're here for. 0:48:23.560 --> 0:48:26.279 I think it's time to talk about Diabolic and Eva's 0:48:26.320 --> 0:48:27.360 secret layer. 0:48:28.080 --> 0:48:30.799 Oh my goodness, it is amazing. It's like the It's 0:48:30.840 --> 0:48:34.600 like the bat Cave, except on some sort of groovy 0:48:34.640 --> 0:48:36.920 cocktail of sixties hallucinogens. 0:48:37.520 --> 0:48:41.120 Yes, so maybe before we get inside, I want to 0:48:41.160 --> 0:48:44.360 mention the door that opens to let them inside. So 0:48:45.080 --> 0:48:47.759 it's supposed to look like a hidden trap door in 0:48:47.800 --> 0:48:50.480 the earth, you know, so like they are just like 0:48:50.640 --> 0:48:53.000 rocks and earth. And then it opens up, pops up 0:48:53.080 --> 0:48:56.040 like the top of a pedal bin to allow them 0:48:56.040 --> 0:48:58.640 to drive down the ramp, and then it closes behind them. 0:48:59.160 --> 0:49:02.040 And this is a in the movie by I think, 0:49:02.360 --> 0:49:06.319 a very simple force perspective effect. It's a you know, 0:49:06.440 --> 0:49:09.880 little things popping up in the foreground, A little miniature 0:49:09.920 --> 0:49:12.080 door in the foreground pops up, and then they drive 0:49:12.120 --> 0:49:15.080 the car behind it. In the background, it looks like 0:49:15.160 --> 0:49:17.920 they're driving down into the earth. And the movie is 0:49:18.200 --> 0:49:22.840 full of effects like this that seem relatively cheap and 0:49:23.000 --> 0:49:27.640 easy to accomplish, and they're kind of the word might 0:49:27.680 --> 0:49:30.880 be kind of stagy. Like you can tell they're obviously 0:49:30.920 --> 0:49:34.160 not real if you're looking out for it, but if 0:49:34.160 --> 0:49:37.719 you're not, I don't know, if you're not applying a 0:49:37.800 --> 0:49:41.440 critical type of attention to it, they just wash right 0:49:41.520 --> 0:49:44.560 over you. Like so they fit into the action and 0:49:44.600 --> 0:49:47.239 the aesthetic of the film perfectly. And I would not 0:49:47.440 --> 0:49:51.400 want these beautiful, cheap, simple little effects replaced with higher 0:49:51.440 --> 0:49:55.000 budget counterparts, like they actually build a giant you know, 0:49:55.080 --> 0:49:57.560 door in the ground and drive into it, or replace 0:49:57.600 --> 0:50:00.200 it with you know, really realistic looking CGI or any 0:50:00.200 --> 0:50:04.120 of that. There there's something about these cheap, simple effects 0:50:04.400 --> 0:50:07.080 that is so nice and feels so good. It's like 0:50:07.120 --> 0:50:11.400 a real sense of confidence and finesse and playfulness in 0:50:11.600 --> 0:50:13.799 Bova's filmmaking instincts here. Yeah. 0:50:13.800 --> 0:50:16.520 Plus, I think we've mentioned before with Baba, there's a 0:50:16.520 --> 0:50:20.000 structural completeness to everything, so that when you have a 0:50:20.160 --> 0:50:24.120 lower budget effect in place, or you know, or even 0:50:24.160 --> 0:50:27.240 something that is that is maybe like that the writing 0:50:27.400 --> 0:50:30.280 is a little sub bar et cetera, Like everything else 0:50:30.640 --> 0:50:35.400 is positioned just so that nothing feels out of place 0:50:36.560 --> 0:50:39.360 and I think that definitely applies here as well. Yeah, 0:50:39.560 --> 0:50:42.480 now once we get down into the headquarters themselves, oh 0:50:42.520 --> 0:50:45.120 my goodness, it's it's it really has a sci fi 0:50:45.239 --> 0:50:47.440 feel to it. It feels like this is something that 0:50:47.520 --> 0:50:52.279 was built by aliens that were primarily interested in futuristic 0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:53.960 romantic interior design. 0:50:54.400 --> 0:50:57.280 Yeah, it's like a It's like a Bond villain layer 0:50:57.360 --> 0:51:00.680 in a way. It's a giant underground with all these 0:51:00.680 --> 0:51:04.600 elaborate structures and oh god, I wish I knew more 0:51:04.680 --> 0:51:06.880 of the terminology of style. I mean, I think it's 0:51:06.960 --> 0:51:10.000 kind of like a kind of a mod decor style. 0:51:10.760 --> 0:51:14.920 It's that cool, hip sixties looking decor with you know, 0:51:15.040 --> 0:51:17.880 weird choices about shapes and colors and all that. So 0:51:17.960 --> 0:51:23.719 it's just gorgeous. And so what we do next really 0:51:23.800 --> 0:51:26.560 is we spend some time at home with Eva and Diabolic. 0:51:27.040 --> 0:51:30.240 And I mean this in all seriousness. Diabolic and Eva 0:51:30.320 --> 0:51:33.720 are so sweet. I already said one of my favorite 0:51:33.719 --> 0:51:37.440 screen couples of all time. They are absolutely mad about 0:51:37.440 --> 0:51:42.080 each other. And really the whole elaborate crime plot is 0:51:42.280 --> 0:51:45.040 just about them being in love and trying to have fun, 0:51:45.760 --> 0:51:47.759 which in a way makes this kind of a perfect 0:51:47.920 --> 0:51:51.120 date movie. Couples should watch Danger Diabolic together. 0:51:52.160 --> 0:51:54.799 Yeah, absolutely, because it is I mean, it is a 0:51:54.920 --> 0:51:59.359 movie about the power of their love and how their 0:51:59.440 --> 0:52:03.000 love can be is tested but cannot be overcome by 0:52:03.040 --> 0:52:06.040 these other forces in the world. And then on top 0:52:06.080 --> 0:52:10.000 of that though, it's just extremely groovy. It's outrageous, you know, 0:52:10.120 --> 0:52:14.839 it's it's never too serious, you know, these two never 0:52:14.840 --> 0:52:18.520 getting into arguments or squabbles about anything. And yeah, we 0:52:18.520 --> 0:52:21.000 spend just a lot of time with them here at 0:52:21.000 --> 0:52:25.440 home in their super sexy sci fi luxury underground pad 0:52:25.800 --> 0:52:27.799 that feels like it must have been I don't know, 0:52:27.880 --> 0:52:33.760 built by again ancient aliens underneath the surface of another planet. 0:52:33.800 --> 0:52:34.239 I don't know. 0:52:34.880 --> 0:52:37.840 Yeah, it was built by the aliens from two thousand 0:52:37.840 --> 0:52:43.279 and one of Space Odyssey and Buckminster Fuller and the 0:52:43.920 --> 0:52:46.719 and I don't know the members of the who like 0:52:46.960 --> 0:52:51.320 it's how would you like their bedroom and their bathroom? 0:52:51.360 --> 0:52:55.160 Their bedroom, they have a giant like ring shaped bed 0:52:55.280 --> 0:52:58.319 that rotates on a motor, and then next to it, 0:52:58.360 --> 0:53:02.200 they've got these things that are just backed polygons. I 0:53:02.200 --> 0:53:03.680 don't even know what to call them. I don't think 0:53:03.680 --> 0:53:06.919 they're functional. They don't look like shelves. They're just polygons 0:53:06.920 --> 0:53:09.080 that are lit from behind, so they kind of glow 0:53:09.160 --> 0:53:11.719 with the soft white through all their corners. And then 0:53:11.719 --> 0:53:16.080 in their bathroom they have his and hers glass shower 0:53:16.280 --> 0:53:22.040 enclosures with planters full of living plants in the showers. 0:53:21.800 --> 0:53:24.480 That's a choice I've never seen before, but I love it. 0:53:25.080 --> 0:53:28.880 Yeah. And also each shower has like a blurry circle 0:53:28.920 --> 0:53:33.080 bit that covers them up from the camera's view, though 0:53:33.840 --> 0:53:37.040 it's certainly in Eva's case, like only barely. 0:53:38.320 --> 0:53:40.359 You can just tell that. As much as these two 0:53:40.600 --> 0:53:43.800 love to go out and get into dangerous adventures together, 0:53:43.880 --> 0:53:46.640 they also love chilling at home. You know, they have 0:53:46.719 --> 0:53:49.680 a great time, like putting on a movie or something. Well, 0:53:49.680 --> 0:53:51.480 I don't know, it's nineteen sixty eight. I don't know 0:53:51.480 --> 0:53:54.239 about home video yet, but they, you know, they watch 0:53:54.280 --> 0:53:56.879 the news on TV and make cracks about how we're 0:53:56.880 --> 0:53:58.080 going to steal that necklace. 0:54:00.160 --> 0:54:01.920 So we spend a long time with them, but then 0:54:01.960 --> 0:54:03.239 we have to cut out. We have to see what's 0:54:03.280 --> 0:54:04.319 going on in the rest of the world. 0:54:04.400 --> 0:54:07.400 Right, Yeah, time to check in with the squares. No, 0:54:07.719 --> 0:54:10.799 we got consequences for the cops. Inspector Jenko is in 0:54:10.880 --> 0:54:14.040 trouble with Terry Thomas, who is playing some kind of 0:54:14.080 --> 0:54:17.680 bureaucrat who's been deeply embarrassed by all of the crime 0:54:17.800 --> 0:54:20.560 and the theft of the ten million. He says, it's 0:54:20.600 --> 0:54:23.120 absurd that one man can make a laughing stock of 0:54:23.160 --> 0:54:27.040 the entire police force, and Terry Thomas says, you know, obviously, 0:54:27.560 --> 0:54:30.440 if you think about it, logically, Diabolic's next move is 0:54:30.480 --> 0:54:32.279 going to be to find a way to get the 0:54:32.400 --> 0:54:34.640 money out of the country, So maybe we can catch 0:54:34.719 --> 0:54:38.920 him that way. Inspector Jenko says, logical, sir, but not 0:54:39.120 --> 0:54:42.840 helpful in this situation. Diabolic, he plays by his own rules. 0:54:42.880 --> 0:54:45.640 He will find some other way to put that money 0:54:45.680 --> 0:54:50.160 to use, and then cut straight to Diabolic and Eva 0:54:50.520 --> 0:54:53.040 using the money as a bed, as sort of a 0:54:53.040 --> 0:54:53.640 love nest. 0:54:54.400 --> 0:54:57.799 Yes, that's right, it turns out presumably they stole all 0:54:57.800 --> 0:55:02.880 that money just so they could make love on it. Yes, 0:55:03.680 --> 0:55:06.880 because again, yeah, it's that you can't you can't approach 0:55:06.960 --> 0:55:09.880 Diabolic like any other criminal. His motives are not the same. 0:55:10.280 --> 0:55:12.719 He is not like the rest of them. But it's yeah, 0:55:12.760 --> 0:55:17.080 it completely is a great sequence, very tastefully done, and 0:55:17.239 --> 0:55:21.720 just completely outrageous. So again, something that elevates this film 0:55:21.719 --> 0:55:25.440 into the sort of the flash Gordon Barbarella realm of 0:55:26.160 --> 0:55:28.040 just you know, outrageous cinema. 0:55:28.160 --> 0:55:31.560 Yeah. Also, there's a very funny scene with a press 0:55:31.600 --> 0:55:34.799 conference where Terry Thomas comes out to announce that in 0:55:34.880 --> 0:55:38.080 order to crush the current wave of crime sweeping the country, 0:55:38.120 --> 0:55:42.560 the government has mercifully restored the death penalty. And at 0:55:42.600 --> 0:55:47.480 this press conference, Diabolic and Eva show up in hilarious disguises. 0:55:47.560 --> 0:55:52.960 Diabolic looks like that will Will Ferrell character on SNL 0:55:53.000 --> 0:55:55.400 where he had the tiny, the tic tac sized cell phone. 0:55:56.480 --> 0:55:57.880 Oh I don't remember this character. 0:55:58.120 --> 0:56:00.600 Well that's what Diabolic looks like. Here. He's got these 0:56:00.880 --> 0:56:05.200 square sunglasses and a turtleneck under a blazer. He looks great. 0:56:06.000 --> 0:56:09.440 Yeah. They do a lot of this, showing up really 0:56:09.480 --> 0:56:13.640 close to the heat in disguise as the most fashionable 0:56:13.640 --> 0:56:15.560 people present. 0:56:16.120 --> 0:56:20.840 And nobody blinks an eye but he Diabolic decides to 0:56:21.000 --> 0:56:26.840 humiliate Terry Thomas and Inspector Jinko by by releasing laughing 0:56:26.880 --> 0:56:29.600 gas in the room while the press conference is going on. 0:56:29.680 --> 0:56:31.520 He pretends, I guess to be a reporter and he's 0:56:31.560 --> 0:56:35.120 doing like, uh, you know, flashbowl camera photography and When 0:56:35.160 --> 0:56:37.200 the flash bowl goes off, it releases a kind of 0:56:37.239 --> 0:56:40.560 puff of stuff, and it turns out that is laughing gas, 0:56:40.600 --> 0:56:44.240 and everybody starts laughing, except, of course, Diabolic and Eva, 0:56:44.320 --> 0:56:46.880 who took antidote pills before they did it. 0:56:47.200 --> 0:56:48.600 They have everything figured out. 0:56:48.719 --> 0:56:50.880 Terry Thomas says, he's certainly not going to make a 0:56:50.880 --> 0:56:54.440 fool of me. Then I can't stop laughing. 0:56:54.880 --> 0:56:58.200 Yes, he looks. It looks very foolish. Great Terry Thomas sequence. 0:56:58.719 --> 0:57:01.440 All right, So after this, Inspector Jinco he's got to 0:57:01.440 --> 0:57:04.080 come up with a plan to stop Diabolic once and 0:57:04.160 --> 0:57:08.800 for all. So here the movie introduces the character Valmont. 0:57:08.920 --> 0:57:12.080 We learned about him through newspaper headlines linking him to 0:57:12.120 --> 0:57:15.920 a bunch of crimes, jim theft, drug dealing, all that stuff, 0:57:16.360 --> 0:57:19.320 and he seems to be kind of the ultimate crime kingpin. 0:57:19.760 --> 0:57:24.080 And now Inspector Jinco is looking for him. Maybe that's 0:57:24.280 --> 0:57:28.520 maybe somehow he can use Valmont to get to Diabolic. 0:57:29.040 --> 0:57:31.919 And here we get you know, somebody comes to Jenko 0:57:32.000 --> 0:57:33.720 and says, Inspector you know, we have a lead at 0:57:33.720 --> 0:57:36.840 one of Valmont's nightclubs. So here we're going to go 0:57:36.920 --> 0:57:42.080 see a swinging switched on sixties nightclub. I guess the 0:57:42.080 --> 0:57:45.560 movie isn't set in Italy, but I see some Italian 0:57:45.600 --> 0:57:49.360 sensibilities in how this this hippie night club is realized. 0:57:50.000 --> 0:57:52.360 As best I can tell, this movie takes place in 0:57:52.400 --> 0:57:56.920 the country of Europe, Like it's never really clear, and 0:57:56.960 --> 0:57:58.600 I guess you're not supposed to think too long and 0:57:58.640 --> 0:58:02.200 hard about it. But yeah, the nightclub sequence is amazing. 0:58:02.280 --> 0:58:08.080 We got go go dancers, medieval troubadours, blurry lighting, dope, 0:58:08.160 --> 0:58:13.040 smoke gels, just an overall miasthma of just hippie grooviness 0:58:13.320 --> 0:58:15.360 all through the Mario Bava lens. 0:58:16.200 --> 0:58:19.800 Yeah, the club seems to be part chemistry lab because 0:58:19.840 --> 0:58:23.360 there are glass beakers and tubes everywhere, but also a 0:58:23.360 --> 0:58:28.040 little bit secret Commonwealth themed, like there's over on in Titanya. 0:58:28.200 --> 0:58:31.280 They're dancing in the corner, and this is a club 0:58:31.280 --> 0:58:33.680 where if you're not careful and elf is going to 0:58:33.720 --> 0:58:38.200 make your cows sick. So we see various elfin and 0:58:38.320 --> 0:58:43.080 fairy looking people around. But then also there is a 0:58:43.120 --> 0:58:45.400 pirate playing guitar for good measure. 0:58:46.640 --> 0:58:49.640 Will let you. Lady chills out on a bed wearing flowers. 0:58:49.760 --> 0:58:52.600 Yeah, yeah, I think she's sort of one of the 0:58:52.640 --> 0:58:55.440 elf or fairy themed people. Like she's got the garlands 0:58:55.440 --> 0:58:57.800 of leaves and flowers all around her. She seems like 0:58:58.000 --> 0:58:59.760 a hidden folk of the forest. 0:59:00.560 --> 0:59:01.360 Yeah, that's right. 0:59:01.720 --> 0:59:04.720 But also the guy. So there's like loud music playing 0:59:04.720 --> 0:59:07.000 at the club because it's a dance club, you know, 0:59:07.120 --> 0:59:10.240 it's like deafening. And this guy's sitting here playing an 0:59:10.280 --> 0:59:13.040 acoustic guitar in a pirate hat. He can't hear himself 0:59:13.080 --> 0:59:15.080 play in this Why is he playing? 0:59:15.960 --> 0:59:17.720 You know, I guess it doesn't mean you can't noodle 0:59:17.680 --> 0:59:20.800 a little bit. He's probably he's probably on the wacky weed. 0:59:21.080 --> 0:59:24.280 That's true. Also, this place has xylophone stairs. I've never 0:59:24.320 --> 0:59:26.600 seen xylophone stairs in reality before. 0:59:27.760 --> 0:59:29.760 Yeah, this is great. And then all we get the 0:59:29.800 --> 0:59:32.800 greatest blunt passing scene in the history of cinema as well. 0:59:33.120 --> 0:59:36.760 Within the rotation is a guy who looks like William H. Macy. 0:59:36.920 --> 0:59:39.920 But then also a sequence of people who look like 0:59:40.080 --> 0:59:43.760 Mozart's Bad News Vienna Party friends in Amadaeus. 0:59:46.400 --> 0:59:49.480 So anyway, this is Valmont's club. But you know, we 0:59:49.480 --> 0:59:51.600 don't get a sense that the club is bad. The 0:59:51.640 --> 0:59:54.520 club seems hip and groovy and so forth. But uh 0:59:54.880 --> 0:59:57.120 uh oh, something's about to happen. 0:59:57.240 --> 0:59:59.840 Here come the fizz. I think there's some drugs and 1:00:00.080 --> 1:00:02.000 this club. In fact, I know there are because we 1:00:02.080 --> 1:00:05.560 saw that blunt rotation. So there is a police rate 1:00:05.640 --> 1:00:10.320 on the club and this this gets the attention of Valmont, 1:00:10.400 --> 1:00:15.920 who again this is the largo from Thunderball Adolfocelli. So 1:00:16.080 --> 1:00:18.760 Valmont is finding out that the police are onto him 1:00:18.800 --> 1:00:22.800 and he does not like that. So we go see 1:00:22.880 --> 1:00:25.080 Valmont on his boat and as we said before, you 1:00:25.360 --> 1:00:28.160 Valmont is just he's the worst. You know, he makes 1:00:28.240 --> 1:00:29.439 Diabolic look great. 1:00:30.480 --> 1:00:31.560 Yeah, he's just a complete pick. 1:00:32.120 --> 1:00:35.320 So Valmont calls up Inspector Jinko with a proposal. In 1:00:35.400 --> 1:00:39.440 exchange for leniency in his own police troubles, Valmont offers 1:00:39.480 --> 1:00:43.720 to help Jinko catch Diabolic. After all, it takes a 1:00:43.760 --> 1:00:47.480 thief to catch a thief, and Jinko is intrigued. So 1:00:47.640 --> 1:00:50.280 we get a scene on Valmont's airplane where he's meeting 1:00:50.320 --> 1:00:53.800 with the other members of his criminal syndicate and they're 1:00:53.840 --> 1:00:56.760 going to vote on whether to proceed with the plan 1:00:57.360 --> 1:01:01.280 to catch Diabolic, and you can tell there's there's some descent. 1:01:01.440 --> 1:01:03.440 There are those who vote against the plan because you 1:01:03.440 --> 1:01:05.760 don't want to mess with diabolic That's right. 1:01:05.760 --> 1:01:08.240 I mean, this is a dangerous guy. Not everyone wants 1:01:08.280 --> 1:01:10.960 to wants to toy with him. You know, let's let it, 1:01:11.040 --> 1:01:13.000 let him do his thing. We just hope he ignores 1:01:13.000 --> 1:01:13.880 our stuff. 1:01:14.280 --> 1:01:17.760 So several members of the criminal sindicit vote against the plan, 1:01:17.880 --> 1:01:22.040 and Valmont responds by shooting them, and he also he shoots. 1:01:22.040 --> 1:01:24.400 He accidentally shoots a hole in the fuselage of the plane, 1:01:24.400 --> 1:01:26.680 which one of his henchmen plugs with chewing gum. 1:01:27.120 --> 1:01:30.080 Yeah, this is Joe, I believe cool. Joe is henchman. 1:01:30.720 --> 1:01:33.280 Yes, Valmont. Also he tries to shoot one guy, but 1:01:33.320 --> 1:01:35.960 I think he misses, and then the guy is begging 1:01:36.000 --> 1:01:39.680 for mercy. He's like, please, please, don't shoot, and Valmont says, 1:01:39.720 --> 1:01:42.480 since you said please, I won't shoot. So instead he 1:01:42.560 --> 1:01:45.120 presses a button on his desk which opens a trap 1:01:45.160 --> 1:01:47.960 door beneath the guy's feet and drops him out of 1:01:48.000 --> 1:01:53.800 the airplane. Ten out of ten bond villain trapdoor deployment. 1:01:53.840 --> 1:01:57.560 Here love a villain with a trap door. Absolutely, that's 1:01:57.720 --> 1:01:59.320 key villain infrastructure. 1:02:00.080 --> 1:02:01.920 Yeah, and it's going to come. It's going to be 1:02:01.920 --> 1:02:03.200 important later on as well. 1:02:03.400 --> 1:02:07.840 That's right, So, so you know, now what's going on 1:02:07.920 --> 1:02:10.440 is we've got a dangerous and ruthless collection of violent 1:02:10.480 --> 1:02:13.480 crime bosses who are working together under Valmont's command to 1:02:13.640 --> 1:02:26.880 capture Diabolic and turn him over to the police. So 1:02:27.080 --> 1:02:29.120 on to the next act. We gotta have another heist. 1:02:29.160 --> 1:02:30.960 It's been a bit since we had a heist. So 1:02:31.400 --> 1:02:35.520 Diabolic and Eva are watching TV together and he's like, oh, hey, 1:02:35.560 --> 1:02:37.360 your birthday is coming up. What do you want for 1:02:37.400 --> 1:02:40.320 your birthday? And right then we see a news report 1:02:40.520 --> 1:02:44.120 there are visiting diplomats i think from the UK coming 1:02:44.160 --> 1:02:48.200 to Europe wherever this is uh and one of them 1:02:48.360 --> 1:02:53.240 is going to be wearing the world famous Axon emerald necklace. 1:02:53.760 --> 1:02:58.040 And if this is a necklace with eleven totally unique 1:02:58.120 --> 1:03:01.280 giant emeralds in it, of the most valuable pieces of 1:03:01.360 --> 1:03:03.960 jewelry in the world, and they'll be staying at Saint 1:03:04.200 --> 1:03:06.400 just Castle. So the news report is like, here's where 1:03:06.440 --> 1:03:08.080 you can find them if you would like to steal 1:03:08.120 --> 1:03:11.840 these emeralds, and Ava she sees them. She's like, ooh, 1:03:11.880 --> 1:03:15.560 those emeralds, and you can just see Diabolic he squints. 1:03:15.600 --> 1:03:18.040 He's he's working it out already in his mind. 1:03:18.560 --> 1:03:21.160 Again. He will steal anything for love, and he will 1:03:21.240 --> 1:03:22.600 absolutely steal that. 1:03:22.600 --> 1:03:26.920 That's right. So uh, Next we see Diabolic and Eva 1:03:27.000 --> 1:03:30.040 doing some kind of role play outside the castle. He 1:03:30.160 --> 1:03:33.280 like drives up in a car. She apparently has disguised 1:03:33.320 --> 1:03:36.720 herself as a sex worker and done some recon inside 1:03:36.760 --> 1:03:40.120 the castle and it's full, she reports, Okay, here's what 1:03:40.160 --> 1:03:43.000 she figured out. Is full of police. They're disguised as waiters, 1:03:43.000 --> 1:03:47.080 many of them wearing wigs. Uh. There are guards outside 1:03:47.080 --> 1:03:52.200 with rifles. There are CCTV cameras everywhere. Looks basically impossible, 1:03:52.600 --> 1:03:53.840 but not for Diabolic. 1:03:54.400 --> 1:03:58.160 Yep. They just love the challenge. They're in it for 1:03:58.160 --> 1:04:00.320 the fun. They're they're they're in they enjoy there. 1:04:00.280 --> 1:04:03.880 Were that's right, and he oh. She says, I didn't 1:04:03.880 --> 1:04:07.120 see Inspector Jenko there, And he says, if you didn't 1:04:07.160 --> 1:04:08.680 see him, that means he's there. 1:04:10.800 --> 1:04:13.000 The reverse is also true. I guess, I guess so. 1:04:14.960 --> 1:04:17.320 But so oh, it's not just the police who were 1:04:17.400 --> 1:04:21.720 involved in this trap. Valmont has recruited women who saw 1:04:21.840 --> 1:04:25.560 Eva snooping around snooping around the castle, and he knows 1:04:25.640 --> 1:04:28.360 that this woman they saw must be the infamous Eva 1:04:28.440 --> 1:04:32.600 can't partner in crime to diabolic himself. He figures that out, 1:04:32.680 --> 1:04:34.960 so he's like, if we can find her, we can 1:04:34.960 --> 1:04:37.560 get to him. So he wants the women who saw 1:04:37.600 --> 1:04:42.600 her to describe her, and then we get this bizarre looking, 1:04:42.760 --> 1:04:47.800 amazing animated scene where they're doing like a forensic reconstruction 1:04:48.080 --> 1:04:50.520 of Eva's face with the help of this computer. 1:04:51.760 --> 1:04:54.960 Yeah. I didn't remember this sequence from the MST three 1:04:55.040 --> 1:04:56.960 K episode, which I hadn't seen in a very long 1:04:57.000 --> 1:04:58.680 time anyway, so I don't know if it was in 1:04:58.720 --> 1:05:01.400 there or it was cut. I was when they started 1:05:01.480 --> 1:05:03.120 rolling this out, I'm like, Okay, we're going to have 1:05:03.160 --> 1:05:07.000 a forensic sketch sequence and whatever. I mean, maybe I'll 1:05:07.080 --> 1:05:10.480 check my notes, but no, it's amazing. It's like whoever, 1:05:10.560 --> 1:05:14.120 I don't know whose decision this was and and everything, 1:05:14.160 --> 1:05:16.600 but like they this is this is great. This is 1:05:16.600 --> 1:05:20.040 a great use of what would otherwise be a throwaway sequence. 1:05:19.960 --> 1:05:23.840 Totally fast cuts, mixing and matching different facial elements. It's 1:05:23.920 --> 1:05:26.720 kind of like rapidly clicking the randomized button on a 1:05:26.840 --> 1:05:29.360 video game character creator mm hmm. 1:05:29.600 --> 1:05:30.360 Yeah. 1:05:30.400 --> 1:05:33.240 But then finally they zero in on a drawing of 1:05:33.280 --> 1:05:38.080 Eva that's her and Valmont's the next part. I've seen 1:05:38.120 --> 1:05:40.400 this couple of times recently, and I still never caught 1:05:40.480 --> 1:05:44.040 exactly how he does this. Valmont manages to somehow get 1:05:44.080 --> 1:05:48.919 in contact with Eva's doctor, and he's going to use 1:05:49.040 --> 1:05:52.520 Eva's doctor to find Eva and then use Eva to 1:05:52.560 --> 1:05:54.040 catch diabolic Yeah. 1:05:54.080 --> 1:05:58.160 I'm not sure what the connection here is. Like there's 1:05:58.360 --> 1:06:01.360 did he go to every doctor in and said, Hey, 1:06:01.400 --> 1:06:03.440 I'm looking for this lady. Have you seen this lady? 1:06:03.560 --> 1:06:05.920 You're a doctor, right, you see, lady patience. I don't know, 1:06:06.000 --> 1:06:08.320 it's not explained. There's a lot that's not explained in 1:06:08.360 --> 1:06:11.640 this movie, but most of it you don't really pause to. 1:06:11.720 --> 1:06:14.120 Question, Yeah, don't worry about it, and yeah, and. 1:06:14.120 --> 1:06:15.640 I guess this, you might as well just roll with it. 1:06:15.640 --> 1:06:19.200 But somehow he's able to make some connection and he 1:06:19.240 --> 1:06:21.400 starts knocking on who turns out to a guy who 1:06:21.400 --> 1:06:24.240 turns out to be her doctor, and ask hey, have 1:06:24.280 --> 1:06:25.040 you seen this lady? 1:06:25.920 --> 1:06:28.160 He tries to cover for her. He tries to lie 1:06:28.200 --> 1:06:30.600 and say no, I don't know her, but that'll come 1:06:30.600 --> 1:06:32.080 back to bite him. 1:06:32.400 --> 1:06:34.680 I think maybe the idea is he's a doctor who 1:06:34.720 --> 1:06:36.680 only works with criminals. I don't know. 1:06:36.840 --> 1:06:37.880 Oh, that might be it. 1:06:38.000 --> 1:06:42.600 Yeah, but even then this is a tenuous connection at best. 1:06:42.880 --> 1:06:45.160 Okay, Meanwhile, the heist has got to go on, so 1:06:45.200 --> 1:06:47.640 we got to check back in with Diabolic and Eva 1:06:47.680 --> 1:06:49.720 as there. You know, he's gonna Diabolic is going to 1:06:49.760 --> 1:06:52.680 be trying to get into the Just Castle. And there 1:06:52.760 --> 1:06:54.720 was a cool moment I don't know if you caught this, 1:06:54.800 --> 1:06:57.560 where there's like a juxtaposition of showing Eva in the 1:06:57.640 --> 1:07:01.280 car with her eyes reflected in the rear view mirror, 1:07:01.400 --> 1:07:04.160 and there's like all this dark shadowy stuff outside of 1:07:04.240 --> 1:07:06.800 the windshield ahead of her, and it's kind of framing 1:07:06.840 --> 1:07:11.560 her eyes the same way that Diabolic's suit frames his eyes, 1:07:11.680 --> 1:07:13.880 and then it like cuts between them. So I thought 1:07:13.880 --> 1:07:14.400 that was cool. 1:07:14.960 --> 1:07:16.800 Oh yeah, that was cool. And then also, I mean 1:07:16.800 --> 1:07:20.200 it also bears mentioning that Mario Bava. You know, you're 1:07:20.240 --> 1:07:21.800 in a Mario Bava film when you have a lot 1:07:21.800 --> 1:07:26.280 of these shots of things seen through other portals or windows, 1:07:26.520 --> 1:07:30.240 a lot of shots of things seen in reflection. He 1:07:30.320 --> 1:07:32.040 really makes great use of these effects. 1:07:32.240 --> 1:07:35.080 All right, So Diabolic swims up to the shore outside 1:07:35.120 --> 1:07:38.120 the castle and he goes onto the beach. He takes 1:07:38.160 --> 1:07:40.520 out some of the guards and here maybe we should 1:07:40.560 --> 1:07:44.400 discuss the morality of Diabolic in this movie, because Diabolic 1:07:44.600 --> 1:07:47.760 does kill people who are not necessarily like criminals or 1:07:47.800 --> 1:07:51.000 people trying to kill him. This is a harder edged 1:07:51.080 --> 1:07:54.480 criminal anti hero than we might be used to. So 1:07:54.520 --> 1:07:57.840 he throws knives into guard's throats to and kills them 1:07:57.920 --> 1:07:59.800 just to get past them, to get to the neck 1:08:00.080 --> 1:08:03.040 u And in this scene, with like the framing and 1:08:03.080 --> 1:08:06.600 the costume, he looks absolutely evil, and clearly he is 1:08:06.640 --> 1:08:10.280 supposed to. So I don't know, I feel like the 1:08:10.280 --> 1:08:15.440 tendency now for anti heroes is to is to have 1:08:15.520 --> 1:08:18.439 them be less anti, you know, to be they wouldn't 1:08:18.520 --> 1:08:20.120 kill somebody who wasn't in the game. 1:08:20.479 --> 1:08:22.519 Yeah, they wouldn't shoot first, right, that's yeah. 1:08:22.600 --> 1:08:24.960 But he does. He does. He's just like, these are 1:08:25.000 --> 1:08:27.799 just people in his way and he's throwing throwing knives 1:08:27.840 --> 1:08:28.599 into their necks. 1:08:29.240 --> 1:08:31.880 Was like your observation earlier. Yeah, he's a bird of prey. 1:08:32.240 --> 1:08:35.200 He is dangerous. He's a loner though outside of his 1:08:35.600 --> 1:08:38.920 life mate, you know, no one else really means anything to. 1:08:38.960 --> 1:08:44.519 Him, That's right. So this Diabolic is not Robinhood yet. 1:08:44.240 --> 1:08:47.920 Right, And he'll only kind of later on the film, 1:08:47.920 --> 1:08:50.800 he may get into some Robinhood territory, but not because 1:08:50.800 --> 1:08:52.880 he really just wants to help everybody. There are other 1:08:52.920 --> 1:08:54.800 motives and situations that lead to that. 1:08:55.040 --> 1:08:57.400 Yeah, maybe he wants to help people. Maybe he just 1:08:57.439 --> 1:08:58.439 wants to get revenge. 1:09:00.280 --> 1:09:03.000 Oh but this is when we get limited edition white 1:09:03.040 --> 1:09:05.800 Diabolic because he's in the black suit. 1:09:06.080 --> 1:09:08.519 Yeah. Do you think that was supposed to be functional? 1:09:08.560 --> 1:09:10.960 Like he blends in better with the wall that he's 1:09:11.000 --> 1:09:12.479 going to be climbing in the white suit. 1:09:13.040 --> 1:09:15.400 I think that's the idea. But also, of course it's 1:09:15.400 --> 1:09:18.080 just visually appealing. It's like it's just snazzy. 1:09:18.479 --> 1:09:20.360 Okay, here we are at the heist. He comes to 1:09:20.400 --> 1:09:22.599 the tower where the diplomats are staying at the top 1:09:23.000 --> 1:09:25.280 and the emeralds are on the table in their room. 1:09:26.160 --> 1:09:29.160 But the emeralds have been placed in a very special location. 1:09:29.520 --> 1:09:31.559 Inspector Jinko is in there and he's going he plays 1:09:31.600 --> 1:09:35.479 them right in front of a police CCTV camera. So 1:09:35.840 --> 1:09:38.280 how is Diabolic going to get them? Well, first, how's 1:09:38.320 --> 1:09:39.439 he going to get up that wall? 1:09:40.320 --> 1:09:42.920 Well, he pulls out some suction cup devices. We were 1:09:42.960 --> 1:09:46.000 just talking about this in our our episodes on Stickiness. 1:09:46.439 --> 1:09:48.679 He has these suction cup things that are you hold 1:09:48.720 --> 1:09:52.320 with your hands, and they allow him to stick to stone. 1:09:53.439 --> 1:09:55.559 Yeah, I don't know about that. I think the stone 1:09:55.600 --> 1:09:57.679 looks a little too rough for a suction cup to work. 1:09:58.720 --> 1:10:00.920 But within the context of the film, it works, and 1:10:00.960 --> 1:10:04.920 he's able to scale that the sheer surface of that tower. 1:10:05.400 --> 1:10:07.880 He's diabolic, he can do anything. So yes, the suction 1:10:07.960 --> 1:10:10.800 cups work. He climbs the tower. He goes in through 1:10:10.840 --> 1:10:14.320 the window. He hears the diplomats argue is the it's 1:10:14.360 --> 1:10:17.120 the husband and wife who are the diplomats and they're 1:10:17.120 --> 1:10:20.400 in the bedroom arguing. The old guy says like, have 1:10:20.479 --> 1:10:23.839 you arranged my toy soldiers again? Where is my general 1:10:23.960 --> 1:10:25.960 under the bed? And she goes, you can play with 1:10:26.000 --> 1:10:27.160 your general in the morning. 1:10:27.920 --> 1:10:30.080 I don't know why he brought his minis on a trip. 1:10:30.120 --> 1:10:32.280 I mean, it's always tempting, but you gotta you gotta, 1:10:32.479 --> 1:10:33.400 you gotta scale back. 1:10:34.000 --> 1:10:38.000 So Diabolic goes into the room with the emeralds. But 1:10:38.080 --> 1:10:42.479 he realizes that the necklace is being monitored by CCTV camera, 1:10:42.760 --> 1:10:45.720 So how's he gonna get him? Obviously he's going to 1:10:45.760 --> 1:10:47.519 be seen if he goes to get it. What's he 1:10:47.560 --> 1:10:49.600 gonna do photo trickery. 1:10:50.400 --> 1:10:53.599 Sneak up there, get take a polaroid, and then use 1:10:53.640 --> 1:10:57.000 a little doudad to position the polaroid in front of 1:10:57.120 --> 1:10:59.240 the camera. I feel like this is this is a 1:10:59.280 --> 1:11:01.800 scheme that is been utilized in some other films as well. 1:11:01.840 --> 1:11:03.880 I just can't remember which ones off hand. 1:11:04.040 --> 1:11:05.719 Oh, they do the same thing in all the modern 1:11:05.720 --> 1:11:09.160 Mission impossible movies. Oh they Yeah, They'll put like a video, 1:11:09.720 --> 1:11:12.679 a video playback or a picture or something in front 1:11:12.760 --> 1:11:16.759 of a of a security camera and it works every time. 1:11:17.320 --> 1:11:17.760 All right. 1:11:18.960 --> 1:11:22.280 So Diabolic gets the necklace, but then soon after he 1:11:22.320 --> 1:11:24.160 gets it, the police are onto him and a chase 1:11:24.200 --> 1:11:27.640 breaks out. He is pursued up the spiraling stairwell to 1:11:27.680 --> 1:11:29.840 the roof of the castle and then he gets there. 1:11:29.840 --> 1:11:32.400 He's cornered. The police are they'll be there any second. 1:11:32.439 --> 1:11:34.240 He's on the roof. What's he gonna do? How will 1:11:34.240 --> 1:11:38.000 he escape? And then suddenly we see Diabolic lock eyes 1:11:38.080 --> 1:11:42.960 on a catapult. For a moment, I was like what, 1:11:43.400 --> 1:11:46.360 And so the police rush up on a rush up 1:11:46.360 --> 1:11:49.040 onto the roof. We see the catapult fling out something 1:11:49.080 --> 1:11:52.479 that looks like Diabolic and they shoot at it and 1:11:52.680 --> 1:11:55.519 they They're like, I think I got him. But then 1:11:55.640 --> 1:11:57.840 as they as they leave the roof, we get a 1:11:57.880 --> 1:12:02.240 catapult fake out where a naked Diabolic now peaks up 1:12:02.320 --> 1:12:06.519 from behind the catapult and he apparently launched his limited 1:12:06.640 --> 1:12:11.240 edition white Diabolic catsuit by itself in the catapult and 1:12:11.280 --> 1:12:12.799 they just shot his clothes. 1:12:13.120 --> 1:12:16.280 Oh wow, perfect, perfect master of strategy. 1:12:16.560 --> 1:12:19.120 So Diabolic and Eva escape by car. I guess they 1:12:19.200 --> 1:12:21.320 got a new black Jaguar after they blew up the 1:12:21.400 --> 1:12:22.000 last one. 1:12:22.360 --> 1:12:24.040 Oh they have, Yeah, they have, Like they buy him 1:12:24.040 --> 1:12:26.760 by the dozen. We saw the whole rows of them 1:12:26.880 --> 1:12:28.280 in the Layer. 1:12:28.520 --> 1:12:30.680 The vibes in this movie and in this scene are 1:12:30.760 --> 1:12:33.800 so good. The feeling of freedom and fun as they 1:12:33.840 --> 1:12:36.479 are escaping with the emerald necklace in the scene, and 1:12:36.760 --> 1:12:40.519 as they like put up a this like mirror across 1:12:40.560 --> 1:12:43.920 the roadway to fool the cars that are chasing them. 1:12:44.240 --> 1:12:48.519 Yes, yeah, all the wonderful technology they utilize, and yeah, 1:12:48.560 --> 1:12:52.240 the youthful rebellion energy of this film is really strong, because, yeah, 1:12:52.280 --> 1:12:55.120 certainly there's the hippie vibe and all of the late sixties, 1:12:55.160 --> 1:12:58.080 but also at heart we have a pair of young lovers, 1:12:58.320 --> 1:13:01.439 our power couple here, for whom all this crime is 1:13:01.520 --> 1:13:04.240 mere for play, for whom money is a mere tool 1:13:04.400 --> 1:13:07.360 in their romance, while at the same time money is 1:13:07.479 --> 1:13:11.880 just the all consuming and all corrupting power of the 1:13:11.880 --> 1:13:15.280 elder authorities on both sides of the law. So their enemies, 1:13:15.920 --> 1:13:19.240 law and crime, now united and maybe not that dissimilar, 1:13:20.240 --> 1:13:23.960 are coming after their love. But I think we'll find 1:13:24.000 --> 1:13:28.320 that they underestimate the power of their love. So very 1:13:28.360 --> 1:13:31.719 strong our love versus the world vibes in this movie. 1:13:31.840 --> 1:13:35.559 I think that's an excellent, correct and profound interpretation. Yeah, 1:13:35.600 --> 1:13:39.000 that's exactly what's going on. So the only real threat 1:13:39.080 --> 1:13:43.080 to Diabolic and Eva is a threat to their integrity 1:13:43.120 --> 1:13:46.599 as a couple. So here we get the next attack. 1:13:47.120 --> 1:13:49.280 The next act, Eva is kidnapped. 1:13:50.479 --> 1:13:53.880 Yeah, the whole doctor's angle thing pays off, and he 1:13:53.960 --> 1:13:57.400 shows up with his goons. They murder the doctor and 1:13:57.439 --> 1:13:58.360 they kidnap Eva. 1:13:59.240 --> 1:14:02.000 That's right of Valmont personally shows up at the doctor's 1:14:02.040 --> 1:14:05.160 office to kill the doctor by shooting him with a 1:14:05.200 --> 1:14:08.840 machine gun in an ex pattern, and I think he says, 1:14:08.880 --> 1:14:11.000 like I told you, I would mark your name off 1:14:11.000 --> 1:14:15.360 of the human register. And so, of course, now Eva's 1:14:15.360 --> 1:14:18.559 been kidnapped, Diabolic will do anything to save her. So 1:14:18.680 --> 1:14:22.280 he calls Valmont. Apparently Valmont placed like an ad in 1:14:22.320 --> 1:14:26.519 the classifieds trying to sell her jaguar, her jaguar, and 1:14:26.600 --> 1:14:30.120 that is how Diabolic knows who to contact. He calls 1:14:30.160 --> 1:14:33.280 him up, he says, what do you want? And Valmont says, 1:14:33.320 --> 1:14:36.840 I want ten million dollars plus an emerald necklace, and 1:14:36.920 --> 1:14:41.360 so Diabolic says, I will pay. So Valmont lures Diabolic 1:14:41.439 --> 1:14:44.080 onto his private airplane, the one, the one with the 1:14:44.080 --> 1:14:46.120 trapdoor in the floor that will launch you out of 1:14:46.120 --> 1:14:49.759 the fuselage. So a Diabolic brings the money, he brings 1:14:49.800 --> 1:14:53.360 the necklace. But what happens here? We get another great reversal? 1:14:54.200 --> 1:14:58.040 Oh yeah, because you know, Valmont could shoot him right 1:14:58.040 --> 1:15:00.000 there on the plane, right he could drop him out 1:15:00.000 --> 1:15:02.760 out of that trap door, and it looks like that's 1:15:02.760 --> 1:15:05.879 where it's going. But then no, I mean, he's Valmont's 1:15:05.880 --> 1:15:07.559 too cruel and evil for this. He has some other 1:15:07.640 --> 1:15:09.840 kind of scheme in mind, it would seem. But on 1:15:09.840 --> 1:15:12.040 the other level, we also know he's working with the police. 1:15:12.439 --> 1:15:16.920 He this whole thing, this whole uh, this whole cooperation 1:15:17.120 --> 1:15:21.280 is about turning Diabolic over alive to law enforcement. So 1:15:21.320 --> 1:15:23.120 He's like, no, if you want Eva, you need to 1:15:23.160 --> 1:15:25.639 take this parachute and jump out of the trap door. 1:15:26.120 --> 1:15:30.560 He opens the trap door, but then oh crap, Diabolic 1:15:31.040 --> 1:15:34.040 has he has the the parachute on and he grabs 1:15:34.120 --> 1:15:37.080 Valmont and then pulls him with him as they both 1:15:37.240 --> 1:15:40.480 fall out of the airplane, and then as they're plummeting, 1:15:40.680 --> 1:15:42.559 the airplane explodes above them. 1:15:42.920 --> 1:15:46.439 That's right, so Diabolic says, I brought a magnetic I 1:15:46.439 --> 1:15:48.920 guess a bomb with him to blow up the airplane. 1:15:49.520 --> 1:15:52.800 And now he's got Valmont. He's like interrogating Valmont as 1:15:52.840 --> 1:15:55.760 they're plummeting through the air about like you know, who's 1:15:55.960 --> 1:15:58.240 are the police down there? And he admits, yes, they are. 1:15:58.360 --> 1:16:00.920 Is Eva down there? And he says, yes, is. So 1:16:01.000 --> 1:16:04.040 they parachute into this trap and Diabolic does manage to 1:16:04.080 --> 1:16:07.160 rescue Eva, but the police are waiting for him, so 1:16:08.080 --> 1:16:10.240 he sends Eva off on her own to escape while 1:16:10.240 --> 1:16:12.639 he draws the fire of the police, and then there's 1:16:12.640 --> 1:16:15.839 a big shootout the police and the Valmont, the Valmont, 1:16:15.880 --> 1:16:18.679 the police and Valmont on one side, Diabolic on the other. 1:16:18.720 --> 1:16:22.599 They've got him surrounded and at one point Diabolic seems 1:16:22.640 --> 1:16:25.679 out of Ammo or something maybe, but he has an idea. 1:16:25.760 --> 1:16:27.600 You see him look at like the clip on his 1:16:27.720 --> 1:16:31.040 machine gun, and then the voices going backwards up the 1:16:31.080 --> 1:16:33.759 slide play and ooh, you know, the hair is raised 1:16:33.760 --> 1:16:36.000 on the back of my neck. Something good's gonna happen. 1:16:36.520 --> 1:16:40.120 Diabolic pops out and he shoots Valmont dead, and then 1:16:40.160 --> 1:16:42.360 you see him take some kind of pill. So the 1:16:42.400 --> 1:16:45.760 police come and find him, and Diabolic himself appears to 1:16:45.800 --> 1:16:49.360 be dead when they find him, and we see Inspector 1:16:49.439 --> 1:16:52.080 Jenko later he's talking to a colleague of his and 1:16:52.120 --> 1:16:54.280 saying in a way it says, though he's become part 1:16:54.280 --> 1:16:57.439 of my life. I can't believe he's really dead. And 1:16:57.479 --> 1:17:00.280 you know what, Inspector, I can't believe it either. I 1:17:00.360 --> 1:17:01.360 don't think he is. 1:17:02.120 --> 1:17:04.439 We thought he was dead at least one other time 1:17:04.439 --> 1:17:06.320 in the film, and it seems like it's probably something 1:17:06.360 --> 1:17:08.400 that happens every time he pulls. 1:17:08.200 --> 1:17:10.760 Off high that's right. So we later we're in the 1:17:10.800 --> 1:17:14.800 morgue and we see doctors preparing diabolics body for an autopsy, 1:17:15.160 --> 1:17:17.200 but just as the scalpel is about to go in, 1:17:17.320 --> 1:17:22.360 his eyes pop open. Oh is still alive, and one 1:17:22.400 --> 1:17:26.040 of the doctors is Eva in disguise, and we get 1:17:26.040 --> 1:17:30.000 a whole explanation. Diabolic says he used a pill that 1:17:30.320 --> 1:17:34.080 was I think originally used by Tibetan lamas to enter 1:17:34.120 --> 1:17:36.519 a state of apparent death. And he says, if you 1:17:36.600 --> 1:17:39.400 let it go for twenty four hours without the antidote, 1:17:39.520 --> 1:17:43.400 the death becomes permanent and real. But Eva delivered the 1:17:43.439 --> 1:17:45.920 antidote just in time to save him. She got there 1:17:46.000 --> 1:17:47.960 just like with seconds to spare. 1:17:48.600 --> 1:17:50.120 They like to play it close to the edge. 1:17:50.320 --> 1:17:51.920 Oh, but then he gets back on the table and 1:17:51.920 --> 1:17:53.679 they cover him up with the cloth and she wheels 1:17:53.760 --> 1:17:56.200 him out through the crowd of police and reporters, which 1:17:56.240 --> 1:17:59.679 was hilarious. Then if that wasn't a good enough twist, 1:18:00.080 --> 1:18:03.760 second twist, which is just amazing. So there's a moment 1:18:03.760 --> 1:18:06.679 where the police are talking about Valmont's death as well. 1:18:06.680 --> 1:18:09.160 They're like, oh, we got the reports from his autopsy. 1:18:09.520 --> 1:18:13.360 Turns out he died of eleven gunshot wounds. And then 1:18:13.400 --> 1:18:16.559 Inspector Jenko, you see, if we get like his inner monologue, 1:18:16.600 --> 1:18:21.000 he says, eleven bullets, eleven emeralds. There were eleven emeralds 1:18:21.000 --> 1:18:24.800 on the necklace, and then cut to Diabolic already at 1:18:24.800 --> 1:18:28.920 the morgue, pretending to be a relative of Valmont's, talking 1:18:28.960 --> 1:18:31.200 to the funeral director, saying like he was, he was 1:18:31.360 --> 1:18:37.120 really a good boy Valmont's. He's there to collect Valmont's ashes, 1:18:37.160 --> 1:18:41.880 which now contain the emeralds that Diabolic I think somehow 1:18:42.000 --> 1:18:45.840 used as bullets to shoot into Valmont's body back in 1:18:45.880 --> 1:18:47.639 the desert that they parachuted into. 1:18:48.080 --> 1:18:50.360 And now I think I think that's the idea. As 1:18:50.439 --> 1:18:52.439 ridiculous as that is, I think that's what happened. 1:18:52.800 --> 1:18:56.799 That is that's an all time, like top five movie twist. 1:18:57.840 --> 1:19:00.000 We don't understand it, but we're not as good with guns. 1:19:00.160 --> 1:19:02.040 Diabolic like he knows what he's doing. 1:19:02.240 --> 1:19:05.920 He used the emeralds as bullets. So wait a minute. 1:19:05.920 --> 1:19:07.920 The main villain is dealt with, and there's like a 1:19:07.920 --> 1:19:09.519 whole other act of the movie to go. 1:19:10.360 --> 1:19:12.320 Yeah, I mean, a lot of film's gonna just call 1:19:12.439 --> 1:19:16.400 it here, but it's clearly not presented with that kind 1:19:16.400 --> 1:19:19.960 of like movie capping finale kind of a feel to it. Yeah, 1:19:19.960 --> 1:19:21.040 clearly there's more to go. 1:19:21.520 --> 1:19:24.639 There's also a great lovely scene back at the hideout 1:19:24.640 --> 1:19:27.639 where Diabolic and Eva are. You know, they're reunited, they're 1:19:27.680 --> 1:19:31.200 hanging out by the pool, and Diabolic like like sticks 1:19:31.240 --> 1:19:33.280 all of the emeralds to Eva. He I guess he 1:19:33.320 --> 1:19:35.600 doesn't have the necklace part, but he has all of 1:19:35.640 --> 1:19:37.719 an emerald, so he just like sticks him to her skin. 1:19:38.360 --> 1:19:40.920 Yeah, tells her heavy birthday, and then they start kissing, 1:19:40.960 --> 1:19:43.080 and then they like fall into the water and presumably 1:19:43.400 --> 1:19:45.559 all those emeralds just fall right off of her chest 1:19:45.560 --> 1:19:47.519 and sink to the bottom of the pool, which is 1:19:47.560 --> 1:19:51.000 totally in keeping with their vibe because those emeralds have 1:19:51.080 --> 1:19:54.360 no intrinsic value to our power couple outside of their 1:19:55.400 --> 1:19:57.559 their role in enhancing their romance. 1:19:57.680 --> 1:19:59.840 Right, They're not going to sell these on a secondary market. 1:20:00.000 --> 1:20:02.679 We don't care about the cash value of the emeralds. 1:20:02.760 --> 1:20:06.000 They only matter as a token of love, that's right. 1:20:06.920 --> 1:20:09.040 So the last heist I am going to cover in 1:20:09.160 --> 1:20:13.160 less detail, but this one has a really fun, ludicrous 1:20:13.200 --> 1:20:16.960 premise as well. So the new plan to catch Diabolic 1:20:17.080 --> 1:20:19.879 is there's a one million dollar reward for his capture, 1:20:20.760 --> 1:20:24.519 and in response, Diabolic destroys all of the government's tax 1:20:24.600 --> 1:20:28.120 offices and records. And then we see Terry Thomas coming 1:20:28.120 --> 1:20:31.479 on TV actually kind of again squirming and saying I 1:20:31.520 --> 1:20:35.760 APPEALTLS sense of national pride. Please pay your taxes. You 1:20:35.800 --> 1:20:38.439 know we don't have any record of what you owe anymore. 1:20:39.200 --> 1:20:40.920 I know you will not turn your back on. 1:20:40.960 --> 1:20:45.280 Me, he says, absolutely hilarious. Yeah, we're on the honor 1:20:45.320 --> 1:20:46.840 system now right. 1:20:47.400 --> 1:20:49.879 And for some I don't remember the mechanics they explained, 1:20:49.880 --> 1:20:53.519 But this leads to the creation of the ingot, one 1:20:53.520 --> 1:20:57.080 of the funniest plot devices I can think of any movie. 1:20:57.200 --> 1:21:00.679 They say they're going to create a single giant ingot 1:21:00.720 --> 1:21:03.240 of gold. It's like the size of a tanker truck. 1:21:03.720 --> 1:21:06.799 I think the idea is that it will be harder 1:21:06.840 --> 1:21:07.880 to steal this way. 1:21:08.360 --> 1:21:10.360 Yeah, it's just too big to steal. He could steal 1:21:10.520 --> 1:21:13.479 a lot of little gold bars, or maybe some amount 1:21:13.479 --> 1:21:14.960 of the gold bars, but if we just made one 1:21:14.960 --> 1:21:18.080 gigantic gold bar, surely he would not be able to 1:21:18.120 --> 1:21:21.400 steal this. Again, this is just like almost folkloric and 1:21:21.439 --> 1:21:22.760 mythic qualities to it. 1:21:23.040 --> 1:21:26.360 Can diabolic steal it? Of course he can diabolic and 1:21:26.400 --> 1:21:29.559 Eva together they do some great tag teaming. They work 1:21:29.600 --> 1:21:34.520 together to this one involves like car chases and submarines. 1:21:34.560 --> 1:21:37.920 There is some underwater stuff, but it's not too much 1:21:38.040 --> 1:21:38.920 underwater stuff. 1:21:39.280 --> 1:21:42.080 Yeah, they keep it to sub thunderball levels to maintain 1:21:42.120 --> 1:21:42.639 our interest. 1:21:42.920 --> 1:21:46.120 Right, So eventually Diabolic and Eva get the gold and 1:21:46.160 --> 1:21:48.640 get back to the secret hideout. But how are they 1:21:48.680 --> 1:21:51.439 going to get the gold out of the steel case 1:21:51.560 --> 1:21:54.920 that it has been enclosed in. So the plan is 1:21:55.000 --> 1:21:57.200 they like drill a hole in the case and they're 1:21:57.200 --> 1:21:59.840 going to melt the gold out of there, so it'll 1:22:00.120 --> 1:22:03.479 run out through the hole. And Diabolic is going to 1:22:03.560 --> 1:22:05.880 do this using a suit, he says, with such thermal 1:22:05.960 --> 1:22:08.000 protection that it would allow you to walk on the 1:22:08.040 --> 1:22:09.280 surface of the sun. 1:22:09.600 --> 1:22:10.479 No questioning that. 1:22:10.920 --> 1:22:14.799 But uh oh, police raid on the hideout. They finally 1:22:14.880 --> 1:22:17.440 discovered Diabolic and EVAs. 1:22:18.200 --> 1:22:22.160 They radiated part of the gold or the container won 1:22:22.360 --> 1:22:25.720 so that they could track him. And so now the 1:22:25.760 --> 1:22:28.240 gig is truly up, Like the police are starting to 1:22:28.360 --> 1:22:29.479 raid the bat cave. 1:22:29.600 --> 1:22:32.280 That's right. So the police come there, they're shooting at 1:22:32.320 --> 1:22:34.479 him and all this there's a big final showdown with 1:22:34.520 --> 1:22:40.200 the police in which the molten gold from the ingot 1:22:40.320 --> 1:22:45.000 gets like splattered out of the case all over Diabolic 1:22:45.280 --> 1:22:48.720 in his thermal protection suit. So the gold is like 1:22:49.000 --> 1:22:52.519 flung over him like ribbons. That sort of harden in place, 1:22:52.960 --> 1:22:55.720 and he is frozen in this pose with his arm 1:22:55.840 --> 1:22:58.679 up over his head and apparently dead. 1:22:59.200 --> 1:23:02.120 Eva has destroy Yeah, we see part of the face 1:23:02.360 --> 1:23:05.360 that the glass, you know, the clear face plate of 1:23:05.439 --> 1:23:08.639 the suit there, and we see his eye just staring 1:23:08.680 --> 1:23:13.920 out his face, you know, totally totally still seemingly dead. 1:23:14.400 --> 1:23:16.880 And yeah, then they start doing a press conference around this, 1:23:17.160 --> 1:23:20.680 and you know, the inspector Jenko is like, oh, you know, 1:23:20.680 --> 1:23:22.880 it feels feels weird to parade his body like this. 1:23:23.080 --> 1:23:26.080 You know, this was an honorable foe and so forth. 1:23:27.479 --> 1:23:29.840 But then we get you know, the final twist, and 1:23:29.880 --> 1:23:33.479 it's absolutely great because in this moment, it seems like, 1:23:33.920 --> 1:23:36.439 you know, like their love has been defeated, you know, 1:23:36.479 --> 1:23:40.479 the powers that be seem victorious. Diabolic is entombed in gold, 1:23:40.880 --> 1:23:44.880 and as the crowd begins to depart, Eva arrives dressed 1:23:44.920 --> 1:23:49.920 all in black to grieve. But even this separation is 1:23:50.000 --> 1:23:52.840 temporary because if she's looking up, what does she see? 1:23:53.479 --> 1:23:56.200 She sees suddenly there's movement and he winks at her. 1:23:56.560 --> 1:23:58.880 I knew it was coming, but still it felt like 1:23:58.920 --> 1:24:00.120 It's such a pleasing. 1:23:59.800 --> 1:24:03.439 So absolutely yeah, and of course if you take it 1:24:03.479 --> 1:24:06.960 literally this is quite outlandish and unbelievable, but you know 1:24:07.000 --> 1:24:10.559 it really takes on this almost supernatural air death cannot 1:24:10.560 --> 1:24:13.720 separate them and defeat their love. Only instead of this 1:24:14.040 --> 1:24:16.880 being presented in kind of like a religious manner or 1:24:16.920 --> 1:24:19.320 certainly a horror themed flavoring, we see this kind of 1:24:20.040 --> 1:24:23.519 thing occurring with like our occult power couples a lot. 1:24:24.120 --> 1:24:28.400 But instead it's cloaked in style and super science, super crime, 1:24:28.439 --> 1:24:32.479 super science. You know, where our anti hero has been 1:24:32.520 --> 1:24:36.599 turned into art by splattering gold. But no, he's still 1:24:36.600 --> 1:24:39.479 alive in there, and even as that Eva is taken 1:24:39.520 --> 1:24:43.240 away then by the inspector, it's clear they're still hope, 1:24:43.439 --> 1:24:44.919 not only hope, their certainty. 1:24:45.520 --> 1:24:47.880 In fact, you just know she's going to find a 1:24:47.880 --> 1:24:50.720 way to get him out. That's right, And then they'll 1:24:50.760 --> 1:24:53.080 steal more. They'll steal more, by god. 1:24:53.320 --> 1:24:56.040 Yes, they'll just keep stealing. And then that's the end. 1:24:56.400 --> 1:24:58.120 And it's not at the end with a question mark. 1:24:58.160 --> 1:24:59.720 I thought they were going to show the question throw 1:24:59.720 --> 1:25:01.160 the question mark in there. But I think we do 1:25:01.200 --> 1:25:03.120 get one last diabolical laugh, don't we. 1:25:03.640 --> 1:25:06.519 I think so. I couldn't be sure, but yeah, that 1:25:06.600 --> 1:25:07.120 sounds right. 1:25:07.560 --> 1:25:09.880 If it's not there, it's implied because yeah, I think 1:25:09.880 --> 1:25:13.799 he looks at the camera, he winks again, he will. 1:25:13.560 --> 1:25:16.840 Be back danger diabolic. This has got to go on 1:25:16.840 --> 1:25:19.599 my best of list. This is one of my favorite 1:25:19.640 --> 1:25:22.439 films we've covered on Weird House Cinema. And yeah, it 1:25:22.520 --> 1:25:26.040 may not have that sci fi or supernatural speculative element, 1:25:26.080 --> 1:25:29.240 but it's also just for style reasons, one of the 1:25:29.320 --> 1:25:32.280 weirdest films we've done. It's pure joy. 1:25:33.240 --> 1:25:36.520 Absolutely, it's a really fun one, so I highly recommend 1:25:36.680 --> 1:25:39.599 you check it out. All Right, as we close out here, 1:25:39.600 --> 1:25:42.599 we're just gonna remind everybody that, yeah, as usual, stuffed 1:25:42.600 --> 1:25:44.759 to blow your mind as a science podcast with core 1:25:45.000 --> 1:25:48.400 episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on Fridays we set 1:25:48.400 --> 1:25:50.840 aside most serious concerns to just talk about a weird 1:25:50.840 --> 1:25:53.880 film here on Weird House Cinema. If you want to 1:25:53.920 --> 1:25:55.479 see a list of all the movies we've covered over 1:25:55.560 --> 1:25:58.639 the years, I blog about these movies at Sumudi music 1:25:58.680 --> 1:26:02.200 dot com. Also, you can go to letterbox dot com. 1:26:02.200 --> 1:26:03.760 It's L A T T E R B O x 1:26:03.840 --> 1:26:07.000 D dot com. You'll find our profile there Weird House 1:26:07.040 --> 1:26:08.599 and there's a whole list of all the movies we've 1:26:08.640 --> 1:26:10.120 covered over the years, and you can do lots of 1:26:10.160 --> 1:26:12.920 neat things like divide them up by year and genre 1:26:12.960 --> 1:26:15.080 and so forth and see what we've talked about. 1:26:15.439 --> 1:26:19.040 Huge thanks, as always to our regular audio producer Jjposway 1:26:19.080 --> 1:26:23.080 and to our guest producer today Chandler Mays. If you 1:26:23.120 --> 1:26:25.680 would like to get in touch with us with feedback 1:26:25.720 --> 1:26:28.799 on this episode or any other, to suggest a topic 1:26:28.880 --> 1:26:31.200 for the future, or just to say hello, you can 1:26:31.240 --> 1:26:33.960 email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind 1:26:34.040 --> 1:26:41.320 dot com. 1:26:41.439 --> 1:26:44.400 Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 1:26:44.479 --> 1:26:47.280 more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 1:26:47.439 --> 1:26:50.680 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.