Kriminal (1966)

Overrated and overhyped

one of my absolute favorites!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

After escaping a hanging for stealing the British Royal Crown, mysterious super-thief Kriminal (Glenn Saxson) sets his sights on some jewels being taken from London to Istanbul. Everything goes smoothly until he subdues the courier (Helga Liné) and finds out her jewel box is empty. He figures out that the owners were looking to swindle the insurance company, so he heads to Turkey to blackmail them and also steal the real jewels if at all possible. Close on his heels is Inspector Milton (Andrea Bosic). Oh man, Umberto Lenzi adapting a popular Italian comic character who dresses like a skeleton? Filmed widescreen in England and Istanbul? This has to rock, right? Uh, no. While watching this I realized around the one hour mark that I'd heard a lot of talk about diamonds, but very little actual action. It isn't until the 70 minute mark that the plan goes into effect and is laughable at best, relying on a bank actually letting a guy enter their safe deposit box vault with his head wrapped in bandages. What I was hoping would be in the vein of DANGER: DIABOLIK (1968) ended up being more along the lines of very dry Bond knockoff. One problem is there is very little action that one would expect. A car chase? Hell, a foot chase? Nope. The Kriminal costume is very cool, but he only wears it three times throughout the movie and never during actual robberies, just when he likes to creep up on women. This is the film's other major problem as Kriminal is a pretty mean character, even for an anti-hero. I figure the filmmakers want you to root for him, but it is hard when he slaps women around and tries to blow up his ex-wife. Saxson is handsome as the lead, looking a bit like Richard Harrison. He returned in the sequel THE MASK OF KRIMINAL (1968) a couple of years later.

"Kriminal" explodes immediately with awesome, mega-cool opening credits. They're half comic-book and half live-action, guided by a gloriously psychedelic and rhythmic tune. This is an anti-(super-)hero movie in the same vein as Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolik", and that just happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. It's colorful, swinging, boisterous and just downright ecstatic! The plot is convoluted and you have to remain quite alert to keep up with all the plot twists. Glenn Saxson, who sometimes looks like he could be the twin brother of Franco Nero, plays the title role. He's a masked anti-hero who kills in the most incredible and imaginative ways. He seduces old horny women and subsequently boils them in their own saunas paid by they money they inherited after the suspicious death of their husbands. Kriminal is also a regular David Copperfield! He makes the best exits and I never saw someone vanish in the crowd without being noticed like he does. Last but not least, Kriminal wears the coolest outfit ever. He's dressed like a skeleton. That looks reasonably creepy and it glows in the dark, which comes in quite handy during his nocturnal escapades. Screw Batman and Spiderman, the Kriminal skeleton is the way to go! It's a bit of a shame that this film isn't more commonly known, because the outfit would make a terrific costume for kids to wear on Halloween. Speaking of which, I wouldn't be too surprised if Kriminal's outfit stood model for the character of Jack Skeleton in Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Too bad the outfit is criminally – pun intended – underused. Considering the time of release, the film is also stuffed with obligatory James Bond imitations, like sequences set inside casinos and villainous characters that resemble Ernst Blofeld. Luckily enough the script is solid and intelligent enough to stand alone as an independent success, full of action, humor and lewdness. Director Umberto Lenzi might be most commonly known for his repulsive cannibal flicks ("Cannibal Ferox", "Nightmare City") and excessively violent cop thrillers ("Almost Human", "Violent Naples"), but this rarely seen so- called crime caper is definitely worth seeking out.

Fun caper which anticipated Mario Bava's DANGER: DIABOLIK (1968) - which I rewatched the very next day via Paramount's SE DVD - but isn't nearly as stylish! Glenn Saxson is a wooden lead (I should be watching him again soon in a Spaghetti Western, DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST [1966]), though Helga Line' - in a dual role! - is an attractive foil. Raymond Full's score is infectious and appropriately playful, while Angelo Lotti's pleasing cinematography takes in picture-postcard views of London, Madrid and Istanbul.Still, even though Kriminal's skeletal costume may work on paper (the film originated as a comic-strip), it feels rather silly when displayed on the screen - and, ultimately, has been infrequently used! The film, however, creates some pretty exciting set-pieces (including the ruse of exchanged identity towards the end) and even concludes with a nice twist, opening the way for an eventual sequel - which arrived in the form of IL MARCHIO DI KRIMINAL (1968)...

True to the comic, Obviously noir, The story is of a Robber "Kriminal", who dresses like a skeleton and goes out ot steal diamonds, etc... Being this is an Italian from the 60's, it's full of style, with a linear, and especially very, very very Smooth plotline. This movie is full of double crosses, and everything a typical spionage had back in the day. I recommend it