WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: Danger: Diabolik 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.200 Hello, and welcome to Weird House Cinema. Rewind. Today we 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:10.719 are bringing you an older episode of Weird House Cinema 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:15.560 on the nineteen sixty eight super crime thriller Danger Diabolic, 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:20.720 starring John Philip Law and Marissa mel directed by Mario Bava. Ooh, 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:22.400 this is one of my favorites. So if you haven't 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.560 seen the movie, haven't heard the episode, I think you're 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:26.080 in for a real treat. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:31.720 Bon Voyage, Welcome. 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:36.360 To Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.840 Hey you, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.400 And this is Joe McCormick in. Today's movie on Weird 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:53.000 House is the nineteen sixty eight Mario Bava film Danger Diabolic. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.680 A movie that straddles many genres. It is a comic 0:00:56.680 --> 0:01:00.640 book adaptation, it is a crime thriller, it's an action movie. 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.320 And I've even seen people refer to it as a 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.280 spy movie or a euro spy thriller. This is sometimes 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:10.640 also called like spaghetti spy movies. These are all these 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.240 movies that came out in the sixties, I think somewhat 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.560 riding on the success of the first James Bond films, 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:20.360 that have characters named things like James Taunt or something. 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.880 And while that spy designation does not accurately describe the 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.400 plot of this movie, I can see why people say 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.920 that because Danger Diabolic takes part in a lot of 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.679 the same aesthetic trends you might find in sixties spy stuff, 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.240 like the early James Bond films, in these other continental 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.640 European espionage capers. So Danger Diabolic is about a thief, 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.440 but it feels like it's about a spy. But really, 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:48.960 more than anything, it's about love. 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:53.360 That's right. It's ultimately a movie about love. Though our 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.840 heroes are definitely criminals, there's no doubt about it, but 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:00.960 we'll discuss the flavor of crime that there really involved in. 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.040 I think ultimately you would classify this film as a 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.400 super crime movie. These are super criminals engaging in super crime. 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.760 They're not quite super villains per se, though I'm sure 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.720 that the people they're stealing from see them as such. 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:22.040 So yeah, it's interesting because on one hand, there's not 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.320 a speculative element here like this this is not really 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.840 a sci fi film or a horror, a fantasy, or 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.600 you know, the typical genres we cover here. But it 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:35.760 is still packed with plenty of weirdness. It reminds me 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.120 in our build up to this, you even brought this up, Joe. 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.880 You were like, I'm not sure it'll be weird enough, 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.639 but I think now that we've both rewatched it, we 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.920 have found there's plenty of weirdness to be had in Diabolic. 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.960 Well, I guess you know, we've always gone intuitively on 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.720 like what counts as weird for weird house cinema. Usually 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:57.480 it's got to have some kind of major anti realism 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:00.600 element in the plot. It's either got to be about 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:04.800 something kind of like magical or supernatural, or something sufficiently 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:10.720 has enough science fiction distance from reality that it's really weird. 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.440 Diabolic has. It takes place in a world of light 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.800 science fiction possibilities. Actually much like most spy movies, do 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.320 you know, kind of like James Bond or Mission Impossible 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.960 movies have very light sci fi elements, just sort of 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.760 slight exaggerations of what's possible in reality, And this is 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:33.880 kind of like that, except it has a much CARTOONI 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:39.200 or style that is free to more free to experiment 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:42.360 with what would be plausible in terms of like what 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.600 people would actually do, like would people actually make a 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.960 gold ingot the size of a tanker truck because reasoning 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.119 that it will be harder to steal that way. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:54.920 Well, this is I love that detail on the plot 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:59.920 because that particularly feels like folkloric or mythic. It seems 0:03:59.920 --> 0:04:06.280 like the kind of thing that various heroes in you know, 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.320 Sagas and Tales of Old would have engaged in. Oh, 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.320 you know, the trickster was going to steal the gold, 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.080 so we just made an enormous gold ingot. But ah, 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.839 the mighty hero Diabolic stole it anyway. 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.479 So I actually hadn't seen this movie until a couple 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.320 of weeks ago, and a good friend of mine has 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.080 been telling me about it for years. I can going 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.240 back probably a decade, him saying this movie is actually great, 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:34.560 and I think for a long time my expectations about 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:40.000 it were miscalibrated by the knowledge that this movie was 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.840 featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater three thousand, 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.280 which I've never seen. By the way, the very last episode. 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:50.120 You know, that's a show I love, But that places 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.919 this movie in strange company because Danger Diabolic is not 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:59.880 like Soul Taker. It is not like Final Sacrifice or 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.000 Mitchell or most of the kinds of movies that end 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.480 up on Mystery Science Theater. Danger Diabolic is a wonderful movie. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.120 In fact, I would even say that it possesses a 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:11.560 kind of genius. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:13.640 Yeah, yeah, I mean we could go in into an 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.640 entire tangent on MST three K movies and the fact that, Yeah, 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:19.440 I think there are a lot of great movies that 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:22.480 were riffed over the years, and I think there are 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:26.000 people out there who take offense sometimes on behalf of 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.159 movies that were riffed. I don't view it like that. 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:31.680 I think for me in particular, and for a lot 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:36.279 of people you are Slash were introduced to this whole 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.040 world of weird cinema through Mystery Science Theater three thousand, 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.080 and they taught in different ways to enjoy films. But 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.160 it Yeah, this was a film that I long associated 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:48.920 with ms th three K because it was episode one 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.920 ninety seven back in nineteen ninety nine. It was for 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.560 a very long time the final episode of MST three 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.760 K before it came back in twenty seventeen, and it's 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.440 still the final mic episode of MST three So it 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.120 was always bittersweet for that reason. Solid riffing but the 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:08.200 end of an Era. I had never watched Diabolic or 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.000 danger Diabolic as it's known in the West. I'd never 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.479 watched it unriffed until today. And it's, you know, like 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.240 a lot of these films, it's so much fun. It 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.200 certainly holds its own You don't need the riffing to 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.279 experience it. That can't be said of every film that 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.320 was a feature in MST three K. There are some 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.599 that are bad enough that you really need a little 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.200 something extra to get you through. It is a very watchable, 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.960 very fun, very sexy, good time. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:36.320 Absolutely all of those things. And also this is a 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:39.400 movie that I think has special appeal to people who 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:43.200 are interested in the process of filmmaking because it's one 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.080 of those movies where you can just you can just 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:51.160 feel the steady hand of a director working with absolute finesse. 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:58.640 Mario Bava's shadow hanging over this movie is just so powerful. 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.320 It's like, in some ways, I would compare it to 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.679 though I'm not really sports fan, but what I imagine 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.839 it's like to, you know, really appreciate an incredible athlete, 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:13.080 somebody who just does inhuman things with their muscles that 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:15.800 would be impossible for other people. To do, but they 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.840 make it look easy. That's what I would compare the 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:23.000 filmmaking in this movie too. It's just like it is 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:30.200 such an effortless, feeling display of absolute confidence and finesse 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.480 in how sets and costumes and color schemes are used 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.520 and how shots are framed. You just feel like he 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.840 is taking it easy and making a perfect movie and 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:43.040 not breaking a sweat. 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:44.160 Yeah. 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:46.640 Yeah, and he makes it seem easy, and at the 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.120 same time you're in awe of some of the shots 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.600 that he puts together and the way he approaches scenes 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.680 that would just be so throwaway in other films. I 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.720 will say that there are plenty of hypnotic shots in 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.880 this movie, but since this this one is more action 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.280 themed compared to the other two Mario Baba films that 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.480 we've talked about on the show, it has a different 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.960 feel overall to it. There may be fewer of those 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.080 like long hypnotizing sequences, but there's still plenty of moments 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:16.920 like that in the film. 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.760 So I want to formally apologize to my friend Ben 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.440 for taking like ten years or more to watch this movie, 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.800 which he's been recommending to me the whole time. You 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:28.080 were right, this movie is great. It's great. It's great. 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.680 And this is a caveat I sometimes have to issue 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.559 on the show. I sometimes fear that the more I 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:35.800 love a movie, the harder it is for me to 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:37.719 make a good Weird House episode about it. So I'm 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.760 going to try to do my best here and not 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.280 just let this turn into a NonStop, repetitive overt gushing. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.880 But yeah, please please understand. I feel like I'm working 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.479 with that handicap. I think I like this movie too much. 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:52.319 Yeah, I know the feeling sometimes if I come into 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.800 an episode and I'm like particularly attached to the film, 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:59.400 I worry how that's gonna impact the episode. But I 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.080 think it's going to be great. There's a lot to 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:01.680 talk about here. 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.520 Okay, what's your elevator pitch for Danger Diabolic? 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.160 I've got to channel a little meat Loaf here, and 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.199 I would say it is I would steal anything for love, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:16.120 and I will absolutely steal that because it's all for 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.440 love in this movie, Absolutely all for love. 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.760 Yes, Why else take down the largest shipment of dollars 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:24.800 in human history unless it's for love? 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.640 Yeah, And that's why. And that's one of the reasons 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.040 they call him diabolic. They're like we don't understand his motivations. 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.040 Why does he do the things that he does. Well, 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.280 it's because he's operating on a different wavelength from you 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.320 old fogies that are ruling the world on both sides 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.240 of the law. He has his own agenda and we'll 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:43.040 get into that. 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.720 That's right. They want the money because it's money. He 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.280 wants the money because it's his girlfriend's birthday. 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:53.080 Yes, all right, let's listen to a little trailer audio here. 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.080 I don't know if we'll listen to the full trailer, 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.200 and I do want to advise anyone out there that 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.000 if you're interested in watching this movie in full, don't 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.200 watch the classic trailer for it, because this is one 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.480 of those trailers that just spoils absolutely everything. Nothing is 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.079 spared visually anyway. 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.240 Warning that much like the trailer, we will get into 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.960 some spoiler territory. And but Diabolic has a lot of 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.000 excellent twists all throughout the movie, so things will be revealed. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:18.800 If you want to go into it knowing nothing, you 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:20.720 should watch it before you finish this episode. 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:22.679 All right, let's have a listen. 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:42.679 Me Diabolic a bank Robin Hood battles the cops. He 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:47.200 robs from the rich to give to the girls. Ask Eva, Oh, 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:50.880 you shouldn't have done it. She can't get a good 0:10:50.960 --> 0:11:19.880 night's sleep unless she's covered with money. Master Sportscar, Racer, Master, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:46.240 Skin Diver, Master Lover Master Askeeper Diabolic the absolute gold 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.800 plated end Askeeper. 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:06.880 All right, Well, if you want to go out and 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:11.720 watch Diabolic or Danger Diabolic before proceeding through the rest 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.800 of the episode, well, luckily for you. It's widely available 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.800 in all formats, including a nice twenty twenty Shout Factory 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.400 release on Blu Ray. And if you really like the music, 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:21.800 we'll get into the score in a bit. The score 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.199 is available on vinyl from Audio Clarity Great Score. 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.439 Should we start by talking about Mario Bava? How many 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.240 Bava films did you say? We've done? 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.480 This would be the third one. So we've watched what 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:40.840 Black Sabbath, and we've watched Planet of the Vampires Planet 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:42.400 the Vampires from sixty five. 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:47.360 Black Sabbath was the anthology horror film that we did. 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.040 Was it last October or maybe the October before? 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:51.440 It is? 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.920 So that's one that's got like three segments, and one 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:55.560 of them, the one that stuck with us the most, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.360 I think is the one that has Boris Karloff as 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.240 the Verduo loc this kind of of Serbian or Carpathian 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:06.400 mountain vampire type creature, and it has all those beautiful 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.960 shots where he's just like got purple light dripping off 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.040 of his face as he comes in from the cold 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.160 and looks menacingly at his HouseGuest. 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.240 Yeah. Yeah, And that was kind of a follow up 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:21.480 to the nineteen sixty black and white film he did, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.520 Black Sunday. But it is, you know, in many ways, 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.760 it's hard to imagine, you know, Mario Baba working in 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.000 black and white, because when I think of Bob, I 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.760 think of those rich colors, those rich gels, which he 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.960 used with a you know, a master's stroke. 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:38.640 Well, let me stand up for his black and white films. 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.080 Baba is best once the colors get pumping and he 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.480 can use yeah, the gel lights and all that. But 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.280 his black and white films look very good. He did 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.640 an early proto Jallo film that's kind of a murder 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.719 mystery thriller set in Rome called The Evil Eye or 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.000 The Girl who Knew too Much. Their title I think 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.600 those are titles. Ones for the American cut and ones 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.440 for the Channel cut. And that movie. It's not the 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.960 best of the ones I've seen because of some like 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:07.920 it's not the best script he's ever worked with, but 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.640 it's a fantastic looking film, even in black and white. 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.920 He uses very high contrast black and white and uses 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:19.640 makeup to a great effect. So there's always kind of 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:24.400 eyeliner and shading of the actors' faces and stuff. And 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.000 I assume a lot of that rests on makeup, though 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.120 probably some of it is use of light and shadow 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.560 as well. But that one looks great. Black Oh my god, 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.720 Black Sunday is amazing. I can't remember have you seen 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:36.280 that or not? 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:37.920 I haven't seen Black Sunday now. 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:40.280 Oh that one. It is also in black and white. 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.960 It is one of the most visually striking black and 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.800 white films I have ever seen. Also uses a lot 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.320 of high contrast. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.320 Well anyway you slice it. Yeah. Mario Bava legendary Italian 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:56.080 director with an unmistakable obsessive and at times just phantasmagorical 0:14:56.120 --> 0:15:00.440 emphasis on visual composition. Strong still from Abava film is 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:05.320 often just instantly identifiable. He lived nineteen fourteen through nineteen 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:10.400 eighty and was the father of director Lomberto Bava. We've 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:15.880 talked more about him on the previous episodes discussing his films, 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:17.920 and you know, I have a feeling we'll come back 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:19.360 for more Bava in the future. 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:21.840 I just looked it up to check. I thought, so 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.120 Lamberto Bava, his son is the director of Demons and 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:26.960 Demons too. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.800 Oh, there you go. Well, one way or another, we'll 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.000 come back to Abava at some point. All right. We 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:36.120 don't always mention the producer on a film, but this 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.840 one's notable because this is Dino di Laurents, who lived 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:45.760 nineteen nineteen through twenty ten. Delarentis legendary Italian and naturalized 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.360 American film producer, really one of the biggest names of 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.440 all time when it comes to production, both in Italian 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.040 cinema but also international cinema. Started producing in the late 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.920 forties and continued on till his death. Not everything he 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.800 was involved in was golden, but he had a hand 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.120 in the lavish, such lavish productions as sixty eight's Barberrella, 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:08.840 nineteen eighties Flash Gordon, which I would I would argue 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:12.720 those two films and Diabolic kind of are kind of 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:13.960 a stylistic trilogy. 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.880 I think you could absolutely say that, Yeah, there's there's 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.280 a lot of uh, there's a lot of sinew in 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.760 common there also, didn't he Wasn't he the driving force 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.560 between hiring David Lynch to adapt to Dune in the eighties. 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:28.000 I believe? 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:28.080 So. 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.800 Yeah, he was involved in David Lynch's Dune Conan the 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.240 Barbarian from eighty two, as well as the sequels and 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:38.120 also the sort of sequel Red Sonia. He was a 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.920 producer on Halloween two and three, so technically we have 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:45.720 covered one of his productions before, multiple Stephen King adaptations, 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:50.160 including Maximum Overdrive, and also all of the Hannibal movies 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.040 except for the Silence of the Lambs. 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:53.840 Oh, so he did all the best ones? 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.520 Yeah, well, you know, he did some. He was involved 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.760 with some good stuff. I mean Manhunter. Oh okay, yeah. 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.679 And I actually, you know, I have sort of a 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.119 soft spot for what's it called the sequel to Silence 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.639 of Lambs that had Julian Moore as hannihal Is starling Hannibal. 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.840 Oh it's just called Hannibal. Yes, yeah, that one. I 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.720 understand why critics didn't like it. It's got some flaws, 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.399 but there there's a lot to love about that movie. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.119 If memory served I'm just going off memory here, but 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:27.359 I believe his original working title. Harris's working title for 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:31.879 the novel was The Morbidity of the Soul, which I 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.560 think was ultimately a more fitting title for both the 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:38.880 book and the film a book. The book I kind 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.919 of hated when it came out, but I have a 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.320 feeling like if I went back and at least watched 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.520 the movie again, I would find a lot to love 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.240 about it. Like it is a very strange movie, it's 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:50.760 a very strange story overall. 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:52.360 Agreed, all right. 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:57.359 The writing credits for Diabolic for Danger Diboic here several 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:01.239 names involved here, So this movie is based on the 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:06.480 comic book of the same name by Angela Gusani and 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:12.400 Luciana Gusani. Angela lived nineteen twenty two through nineteen eighty 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.040 seven and Luciana lived nineteen twenty eight through two thousand 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.119 and one. They were sisters. They also share story credits 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.640 with Dino Mayori, who lived nineteen sixteen through nineteen eighty four, 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:27.640 Andreana Baraco who lived nineteen oh seven through nineteen seventy six. 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:32.360 Screenplay credits go to Bava Mayori, Brian Dagas, who lived 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.240 nineteen thirty five through twenty twenty and Tudor Gates who 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:37.320 lived nineteen thirty through two thousand and seven. 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.600 Okay, so we got a lot of writers going on here, 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.520 and that can often be a bad sign for a film, 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:45.800 but it turned out great here. And I guess with 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:50.239 the Jusani sisters, they were they were the creators of 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:55.200 the character Diabolic, who was a comic book character before 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:56.719 it was ever adapted to film. 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.760 That's right. They were inspired to create a grown up 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:04.560 com book for essentially for Italian commuters, something that could 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.480 be printed in in a small format you could easily, 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:09.359 you know, stuff in your pocket and then pull out 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:11.879 when you're on the train on your commute and read 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:16.800 offering kind of a Phantomus inspired crime adventure, that sort 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.640 of thing. So it ended up being a huge success 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.040 in Italy when it debuted in the early sixties, and 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:28.840 then also enjoyed international appeal afterwards. This was a French 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.600 Italian co production, so, like you know, the Italian popularity 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.760 is obvious, but it would have also been popular in France. 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.920 And I have to say they're still making Diabolic films. 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:41.959 I haven't seen any of them, but I looked up 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.120 some of the stills, and yeah, it's still clearly Diabolic. 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.000 It doesn't look like they're messing with like the basic 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:48.280 visual chemistry of the thing. 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:51.240 When I was in Italy in like two thousand and 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.480 seven or so, I bought a Diabolic comic book off 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.840 of a newsstand. Ah, and I knew nothing about it. 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:00.720 I just saw the art. I was like, that guy 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:04.160 looks cool. I like the mask, yeah, or the kind 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.479 of anti mask actually, because what Diabolic wears is like 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.320 a it's like the Domino mask in negative. His entire 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.800 head is covered in a skin tight mask except for 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:17.720 the area around the eyes and the top of the nose, 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:19.880 which is just his face is revealed. 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:22.680 That's right. Yeah, it's like the mask is so skin 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.800 tight that it's just ridiculous. It's like a vacuum seal 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:27.560 to his face. 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:31.800 Yeah. So I was reading a bit about Diabolic. So 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:33.720 the one I bought was in Italian, so I can't 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:38.639 read it. But I've been reading a bit about the 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.080 character Diabolic in the comics, and from what I understand, 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:47.679 he's originally imagined as a master thief who you know, 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.560 can steal anything and is constantly foiling the police and 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:53.080 their attempts to capture him, and he in a way 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:55.880 is he can do anything. You know, he knows all 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:58.520 the sciences, and he can make any kind of gadget, 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.600 and he can solve anykind of problems. So he's he's 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:03.919 one of these like superhumans, the kind of you know, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.320 pre Jason Bourne type person who can they can just 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:10.439 do anything. But then also what I've read is that 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.600 there's an arc, and we've talked about similar arcs in 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:17.199 films before on this show, where in the early in 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:23.040 the early Diabolic comics, he is closer to an evil alignment, 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:26.639 like he does crime and he'll just kill people whoever 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.480 gets in his way to steal the thing he wants 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.560 to steal. From what I've read, there is kind of 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.280 an arc. Where as the series of comics went on, 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:39.240 Diabolics nature became a little more like chaotic good rather 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:42.399 than than i don't know, neutral evil or something that 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:45.320 he became more of a Robin Hood figure who was 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:48.960 stealing from people who were understood to be powerful and 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:51.080 bad in some way. You know, he was stealing from 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:55.480 other criminals and crime lords, rich, rich, dangerous people and 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.240 often doing good along the way. But that was later 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:01.520 on and you know, there's a kind kind of there's 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:05.159 a kind of gravity pushing anti hero characters in that direction. 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:07.760 I think we were talking about this with the This 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:11.119 is a hilarious comparison with Riddick with Vin Diesel. You know, 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:13.879 you start off trying to make them look really hard 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.280 and they're really close to the evil designation, you know that, 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:21.320 the strong emphasis on the anti and anti hero, and 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:24.600 then over time there's this tendency to just make him 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:26.359 be like, ah, they're actually pretty good. 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:29.480 Yeah, I mean, coming back to Hannibal, you see that 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:33.040 with Hannibal Lecter to a certain extent, like by by Hannibal. 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:36.199 You know, he's he's awful, he's awful, He's he's a 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.320 serial killer. It's it's it's clear he's a cannibal. But 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:42.520 he's not as bad as Mason Viger. Mason Virger is 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:46.439 presented as like the ultimate evil in so many other ways. 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:56.920 Right, So yeah, he mostly kills other killers in that one. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.119 All right, Well let's talk who on earth do you 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.040 get to play the enigmatic diabolic? Well you get John 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:07.000 Phillip Law to do it. 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:11.399 This is a truly inspired bit of casting. John Philip 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:13.560 Law is perfect in this role. 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:19.480 Yeah, like just his physicality. He has this this wiry 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:24.360