June 17, 2005
Saturday, June 18 2005

Savant's new reviews today are

Danger: Diabolik  Paramount
The Edward R. Murrow Collection   DocuRama and
Prime Cut  Paramount

Paramount has bestowed special edition status on one of Savant's very favorite films. In his resources-challenged attempt to collect 16mm movies in the 70s, Savant only found three prints he could afford: It's a Wonderful Life, Major Dundee (which turned out to have a missing scene) and a ragged copy of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock. A fourth acquisition was Danger: Diabolik, also a bit beat-up but a cherished possession. Its price was far too high but Savant didn't care. I don't know what will become of the prints, as after August all but the Freda horror movie will be on DVD. 30 years of enjoyment isn't bad.

Danger: Diabolik always brings back memories of college. I rented the film at least three times and was told by my Films Incorporated booker that I was one of the few who did. That, of course, gave me the common film student delusion that because so few people were aware of the movie, I  had to be somebody really special to have latched onto it. My Films Inc. prints, by the way, always had the dope-smoking scene, leading me to think that some creep in the Chicago Films Inc. exchange personally censored the copy that Tim Lucas and friends were renting. I've never seen it cut the way Lucas claims, and I saw it at Air Force base screenings that censored everything.

Thirty years later, the Comic Book Ethic that was so fresh in Danger: Diabolik now seems to be the order of the day. We have serious films (people stare and look anxious) and action movies (people dodge explosions) and a tiny minority of films that can really surprise us. So many ultra-violent and boringly 'stylish' movies nowadays only wish they had the inventive spirit of Mario Bava's movie. -- Glenn Erickson

Posted by DVD Savant at June 17, 2005 11:42 PM