Cast

John Phillip Law ... Diabolik
Marisa Mell ... Eva Kant
Michel Piccoli ... Inspector Ginko
Adolfo Celi ... Ralph Valmont
Claudio Gora ... Police Chief
Mario Donen ... Sergeant Danek
Renzo Palmer ... Minister's Assistant
Caterina Boratto ... Lady Clark
Lucia Modugno ... Prostitute

In a generic European country of the late 60's, Diabolik is an anti-hero whose life consists on preparing schemes to steal government money and make a fool of the entire police department. Helped by his gorgeous girlfriend Eva, Diabolik begins by stealing a few dollars, but his duel of wit and audacity with police inspector Ginko will take them both to some extreme consequences. Based on the Italian comic books by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani. Written by Daniel Poeira

Having heard of the latest robbery by the masked thief, the Minister of the Interior (Terry Thomas) arranges for a press conference. But Diabolik and Eva sneak into the conference disgused as reporters where, using their flash bulbs on their camera, they set off some 'exhilarating gas'. When the Minister informs the press of this latest theft and preaching to the reporters that he is not to be made a fool of, the Minister is reduced to just that when the gas reduces everyone in the room to hysterical laughter, while Diabolik and Eva quietly leave unnoticed.

Following the press conference, Inspector Ginco attempts to resign. But his boss (Claudio Gora) refuses to accept his resignation. Ginco reluctantly agrees to stay on the police force, and is subsequently put in charge of the current plan to put all criminals behind bars. With tireless precision, Ginco and his men clean up the city. Mobsters are put behind bars, and then executed. When a drug den is raided, the jaded hippies and drug addicted are carted off.

Ralph Valmont (Adolfo Celi), the head of a large crime syndicate which is responsible for most of the murders and drug trafficking in the country, learns about the raid on one of his establishments, and makes contact with Inspector Ginco. In exchange for his life, Valmont promises to help Ginco capture Diabolik.

When the visiting British finance minister and his wife are honored at a gala party in a large castle by the beach, the press, encouraged by Ginco, play up the wifes recent acquisition of a rare emerald necklace, which is to be unveiled at the celebration. Ginco knows that Diabolik will not pass up the chance to steal the valuable jewelry, so he and his men lay in wait all around the castle for Diabolik to show up. Diabolik does show up, by scaling the seaside wall of the castle to the living quarters of the finance minister's wife where he steals the necklace, and makes another clever escape by constructing a makeshift catapult, but tricks Gino and the police into thinking he used it to eject himself to safety, when he really hides underneath it and simply walks out of the castle dressed as a policeman.

Meanwhile, Valmont and henchmen recognize Eva at an Esso filling station, and they kidnap her. After making contact with Diabolik though a local newspaper, he promises to hand over the emerald necklace in exchange for Eva. Valmont wants to meet Diabolik aboard his private airplane. The following evening, Diabolik meets with Valmont's henchmen who herd him aboard Valmont's plane which takes off. But it is revealed that this is all part of Ginco's plan for once the plane reaches a destined spot, Valmont is to release a trap door on his plane which will literally drop Diabolik into the inspector's lap. But the plan backfires greatly when Diabolik figures out what is going on and in the subsequent shoot-out aboard the plane, Diabolik frees Eva, and he and Valmont stuggle in which they fall through the trapdoor, but Diabolik leaves behind a bomb which explodes, killing all of Valmont's henchmen. The three of them parachute to safely on the ground near the police rendezvous spot where in a continuation shoot-out, Diabolik kills Valmont by shooting him before apparently committing suicide when Ginco and the police close in on him.

Ginco is saddened by Diabolik's death for he never got the chance to really arrest him. But Diabolik is not dead. During the shoot-out he took a drug which slowed down his heart and matabolsim to the point where he appeared dead. At the mourge, Eva, disguised as a nurse, arrives and administrates the antidote. Diabolik awakens, and kills the coroner before making his escape.

Unaware of Diabolik's most recent escape, Gino is puzzled over the missing emeralds. Upon reading Valmont's death certificate, an idea puzzles him. All totaled, there are eleven emeralds missing. Valmont died form eleven bullet wounds. Ginco realizes that Diabolik is clever enough to use the jewels as bullets, therby proving a very safe hiding place for them. Ginco runs over to the crematorium to inspect Valmont's ashes. Diabolik, disguised as Valmont's elderly brother, has already arrived to lay claim to his brother's ashes. When the morgue attendant begins to scoop the ashes into a urn, he is shocked to find the emeralds. But before he can do anything, Diabolik knocks him out, and makes his escape with the emeralds. As usual, Ginco arrives at the morgue missing Diabolik by a matter of seconds.

With no other alternatives open, the police offer a $1 million rewards to anybody to is able to lead them to Diabolik, Ginco realizes the foolishness of this plan, but his superiors refuse to listen him because of his string of bad luck in trying to catch Diabolik. Soon after, Diabolik sends a note to the government saying: "in view of the bad use of the government is making of the public's money, I shall take steps to remove it from circulation." In a matter of days, he blows up all tax offices, federal banks, and treasury buildings to smithereens. The former Minister of the Interior, now working as the Minister of Finance, makes another comic appearance on television where he reveals that with the destruction of the tax offices, the tax records of all citizens have been destroyed. He employs everybody to come forward voluntarily and pay the tax they think they owe. His speech elicts nothing but more laughter from the TV viewers.

With the government now strapped for money, Ginco decides to put one last plan into action. He has the entire gold reserve melted down into a 20-ton ingot so that it can make up for the lost taxes. Yet he realizes that Diabolik is going to attempt to steal it too. Rather than be outwitted again, Ginco has the container of the gold partially 'radio activated'. In this way, once it is stolen, he will he able to use radioactive detectors to lead them to Diabolik's hideout, and leading him to all of Diabolik's stolen goods.

The next day, the ingot is duly stolen by Diabolik who sabatoges the train carrying it by blowing up a railroad bridge, in which the railroad car containing the large ingot falls into the river. Diabolik and Eve, donning wet suites, then use inflatable underwater balloons to transport the large container though an underwater passage to their hideout.

At Diabolik's hideout, he dons a protective heat suit and plans to melt down the gold into gold bricks. But as he's doing so, Ginco and his men follow their radiation tracker devices to the underground lair and make their entry. For the first time, Diabolik is caught off-guard by the advancing police, but not entirely unprepared as he decides to flood the entire cavern therby destroying himself and everyone in it. But unaware that the ingot container is partly radioactive, Diabolik leaves his electric drill on the container in which the extreme heat from the drill makes the container glow red hot. Just as Diabolik is about to pull a lever to flood the cavern, the container explodes, showering him in molten gold.

The police are finally delighted to have finally disposed of Diabolik, and allow reporters and the public into Diabolik's cave to put on display Diabolik. But Ginco is not at all pleased by the decision to display the body, which now is a picturesque gold statue for the general public. The police and workers begin to haul all the stolen appliances and loot out of the cave. Later when the cavern is now deserted and empty, Eva, who had earlier fled at Diabolik's instance, comes out wearing a black funeral dress to play her respects to her lover. Ginco appears and places Eva under arrest, but allows her for a few minutes alone with the body. When Ginco leaves for a minute, a distraught Eva catches sight of Diabolik's still exposed left eye. Amazingly, it winks at her. The protective suit he is wearing has prevented him from being burned alive, though he is now trapped in his gold shell. The inspector arrives to take her away. Soon after they leave, a diabolical laugh rings out in the dark, empty cave. (IMDB)

Diabolik is a fictional character, an anti-hero featured in Italian comics. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black and white digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from Italian and French pulp fiction.

Diabolik is a ruthless master thief. He typically steals from criminals (and has no issue with killing them if need be, but rarely, if ever, kills the innocent or the police), and has a set of lifelike masks which he uses to fool his opponents, assuming every identity at his will. He seems to have a deep knowledge in many scientific fields, including chemistry, mechanics and computers. In his first appearances, Diabolik was a more straightforward villain who did not hesitate to murder anyone in order to accomplish his deeds. He was later given a more “Robin Hood”-like persona and was shown stealing essentially from criminals, in order to soften the series’ violence and amorality.

He was raised as an orphan on a secret island hideout of a criminal combine, where he learned all his criminal skills, including developing his special masks, before killing the head of the combine. Diabolik’s true name had never been revealed in the series, and he doesn’t know it himself. Diabolik took his name from a dangerous black panther that the head of the combine killed on the secret island. From issue #3 of the series, Diabolik is aided by his “moll,” Eva Kant, who has gained an increasing role as his partner and lover.

04-Fiat 500 Diabolik by StudioTorino

Source: StudioTorino

Overview (WIKI) Mario Bava (July 31, 1914 – April 25, 1980) was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.

Director:

• 1970s
• 1960s
• 1950s
• 1940s

1. La Venere d'Ille (1979) (TV)
2. Beyond the Door II (1977)
   ... aka "Schock" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "Shock" - USA (video title)
3. A Man and a Boy (1974)
   ... aka "Cani arrabbiati" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "Kidnapped" - Italy (restored version), USA (DVD title)
   ... aka "Rabid Dogs" - , USA (literal English title)
4. Lisa and the Devil (1974) (also as Mickey Lion)
   ... aka "Lisa e il diavolo" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "The House of Exorcism" - International (English title) (recut version)
5. Four Times that Night (1972)
   ... aka "Quante volte... quella notte" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "Four Times That Night" - , International (English title)
6. Baron Blood (1972)
   ... aka "Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga" - West Germany (original title)
   ... aka "The Torture Chamber of Baron Blood" - , USA (long title)
7. Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
   ... aka "Reazione a catena" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "A Bay of Blood" - International (English title) (uncensored intended title), USA
   ... aka "Ecology of a Crime" - International (English title) (informal literal title)
   ... aka "The Antecedent" - USA (informal title)
   ... aka "The Last House on the Left, Part II" - USA (reissue title)
8. Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970)
   ... aka "Roy Colt e Winchester Jack" - Italy (original title)
9. Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)
   ... aka "Il rosso segno della follia" - Italy (original title)
   ... aka "An Axe for the Honeymoon" - International (English title) (informal literal title)
10. 5 bambole per la luna d'agosto (1970)
    ... aka "Island of Terror" - USA (dubbed version)