Comics Come Alive: Danger! Diabolik + Quiz

Based on Milanese sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani’s iconic popular 1960s comic, Danger! Diabolik is a stylish cult classic riffing off the Bond phenomenon, now newly restored.  

Clad in a sleek, skin-tight black cowl, master thief Diabolik (John Phillip Law) and his glamorous accomplice Eva Kant (Marisa Mell) operate from a cavernous, high-tech underground hideout, plotting daring, often absurd, heists. They consistently outwit Inspector Ginko (a hilarious Michel Piccoli) and his league of not-so-extraordinary detectives. 

Danger! Diabolik was originally started under direction of British filmmaker Seth Holt, who was fired by legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis when he was unsatisfied with early footage. De Laurentiis employed celebrated craftsman of Italian giallo Mario Bava, who brought his distinctive colourful visual style and technical ingenuity to the project. Throw in Ennio Morricone’s wildly experimental score, which combines elements of psychedelia, disco, funk, free jazz, and rock opera, and you have a Pop Art masterpiece. Whilst the film suffered by comparison to De Laurentiis’ Barbarella, it has since become a cult classic for its wonderfully inventive Pop Art visual conceits, with musicians like Fatboy Slim and the Beastie Boys borrowing its campy spy-fi aesthetics.

Before the main feature, there will be a special pre-recorded introduction from director Edgar Wright. 

Quiz

Join us for a pre-screening quiz. More details to be announced soon. 

Comics Come Alive

Comics Come Alive brings together a selection of live-action film adaptations from a range of alternative comic-book sources - some may be familiar and hopefully some will surprise.

Cinema Rediscovered

Cinema Rediscovered on Tour is a Watershed project in association with Wiper & True and collaboration with principal sponsors Park Circus and StudioCanal. With support from BFI Audience Project Fund awarding National Lottery funding.