Danger: Diabolik - 1968
This is probably the BEST movie that has ever suffered the MST3K treatment. It's a weird movie, and I can see why Mike Nelson choose it, but this is NOT a bad movie. At least not in the sense that Manos, Hands of Fate is. This is a Mario Bava flick, for goodness sake. And what is the most amazing is that movie only cost $400K. It sure doesn't look like a low budget movie.
But then, no one has ever accused Mario Bava of being a great director. But everyone has to acknowledge that he was a BRILLIANT cinematographer. And a damn fine artist, as is evidenced by the glass paintings he used to such brilliant affect in this movie. Not until the Tim Burton Batman did we have a comic book movie that looked like a comic book.
The commentary on this disc is excellent as well. First off, it has John Phillip Law, the main actor from the movie. Joining him is Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog, who has written a biography of Mario Bava and is an outstanding expert in the field. It never ceases to amaze me how these people can recognise people from movies. If it wasn't for IMDB, I'd be lost. Hell, I can barely remember the names of the people I met yesterday, let alone the name of the guy who played an extra in a movie I saw last year.
Three beers out of five, and you probably ought to drink a couple before watching this flick.
The Eternal Evil of Asia - 1995
Man, you just won't see a movie with most of these elements made in the US anytime soon. A man calls a wizard a dickhead, so the wizard changes the man's head to be shaped like the head of a penis. Don't see that everyday. A husband and wife team of wizards attack, and use the "Mating Hex", where they fly thru the air coupling, which allows the woman (who is being taken from behind by her husband) to cast fireballs. A man is possessed by a "hungry ghost", and after attacking several patrons of the resturant he was in, eats his own right arm to the bone.
This is one wild flick, in the way that most chinese movies are. I listened to the Cantonese soundtrack, cause I like that "sing songy" tone that the language has. And it adds an even more humorous aspect to this movie. I laughed about half the time, and picked my jaw up off the floor the rest of the time. If you haven't become addicted to Chinese movies yet, Dirkmaster says Check 'em Out!
Three out of five beers, and bring a bottle to take shots everytime your jaw hits the floor.
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1 comment:
The Commentary makes me believe that the comic that this was based on was out before the Batman TV show, and that it is unlikely that Bava could have seen the American TV show before he conceived the "Look" of this show. But you are absolutely right, there is a certain "feel" that reminds one of that campy classic.
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