Italy's answer to the James Bond of the swinging '60s was Diabolik, the star of a popular fumetti, a comic strip for adults. But while Bond is famously in Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diabolik is a bank-robbing terrorist who eventually tries to bring down society itself. And he does it all for the love of a good woman, for the money, and just to take on authority.

In 1968, superproducer Dino de Laurentiis brought Diabolik to theaters with director Mario Bava, a master of Italy's golden age of horror. What ended up on the screen is still almost unbelievable to the eye, a combination of shots, angles, and colors that you didn't see before and don't see today, a course in cinematography that's also funny, campy, and at times so bizarre it lurches into outright fantasy.

John Phillip Law is Diabolik, the terrorist supercriminal who prances around in a full latex bodysuit, with only his eyes (and wildly expressive eyebrows) bare. The eyebrows and his, well, diabolical laugh are his trademarks as he jumps from heist to heist, daring the authorities to catch him.

The movie opens with Diabolik trying to steal 10 million dollars from a heavily guarded Rolls Royce. It's a trap set by Ginko, the policeman who's vowed to catch him, but Diabolik gets away clean. His partner, the beautiful Eva (Marisa Mell), is waiting for him in a tunnel, where they switch from one of his fleet of E-type Jaguars to another and send the first car sailing over a cliff. When the ground opens to reveal a ramp into his underground lair, you know you're in for a good time.

It's awash in swinging '60s decadence, with glassed-in showers (only a dangling circle of smoked glass covers Eva as she cleans off), a rotating bed covered in money, and elaborate walls of lights and switches -- a top-flight lair if you've ever seen one.

Diabolik's robberies become more daring and spectacular, and more embarrassing to the authorities. Ginko goes in with a shady crime boss who says he'll get Diabolik in exchange for his own crimes being ignored. When the police put a million dollar bounty on his head, Diabolik goes after the government itself, bombing official buildings and destroying the tax records, reducing the Finance Minister to asking people to pay their taxes voluntarily.

Kidnapping, a chuteless jump out of a plane, a fake death, emeralds hidden in a corpse, footmen in powdered wigs with machine guns, a twenty-ton ingot of gold -- everything is over-the-top and flamboyant, and great fun. But while the story rollicks along, it's the visuals that are the real star.

The cinematography is stunning, stylish, and inventive, with every shot framed for maximum visual impact. The screen may be broken up by bookshelves, or faces reflected in sunglasses, or Diabolik framed between Eva's legs, and uncommon lenses like fisheyes can make even everyday scenes look unusual. (The theft of an emerald necklace from a castle is an amazing piece of work, with a wide shot of the ocean that pulls back to show Diabolik scaling a castle tower with suction cups.) The music is fantastic too, with an edgy, dissonant score from the great Ennio Morricone, all snaky guitar lines and airy crooning.

Despite being a big European hit, Danger: Diabolik flopped in the United States (unlike Barbarella, the other 1968 de Laurentiis comic adaptation, which also starred John Phillip Law). After disappearing for decades, the film finally began showing up at midnight screenings and influencing a new generation. Roman Coppola's CQ borrows from Danger: Diabolik, along with other late '60s Italian films, and the Beastie Boys' 1998 video for "Body Movin'" lifts whole scenes, interspersing the long shots of Jaguars and dolls falling out of planes with their own close-ups, featuring Ad-Rock as the superthief. (A masterpiece of appropriation, the video is included on the DVD release.)

Diabolik is still a star in Italy, appearing every week in new fumetti and showing up on lighters, wine bottles, even a special edition Fiat. But Mario Bava's tour de force is just as striking as it was forty years ago and should be on every movie fan's must-see list.

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