Kriminal (Criminal)

Umberto Lenzi

DVD-R

Cinema De Bizarre

Kriminal (aka La Mascara de Kriminal) is a superb crime/Giallo action tale from the master filmmaker Umberto Lenzi, who is primarily remembered for Cannibal Ferox, which is a shame as this is a real winner. The origins of the Kriminal character can be found in the 1964 comic book of the same name created by Roberto Raviola and Luciano Secchi using the pseudonyms Magnus and Max Bunker. Kriminal (1966) is the first of two films, it was followed two years later by Il marchio di Kriminal (1968). It is a very significant film as film critics see that it was the inspiration for Mario Bava’s Danger Diabolik which is still believed to be the very epitome of stylish crime cinema.

Kriminal is a very different sort of anti-hero, he is a dark James Bond, who dresses like a skeleton and uses whatever means necessary to get to his goal. He does not “steal from the rich to give to the poor” but simply steals because it is in his nature. He is amoral, attractive and talented. He effortlessly seduces women if the desire so takes him and kills without a second thought, normally with quite some panache. He is sly and mischievous, killing a woman in her sauna and making it look like a heart attack and putting acid in a shaving cream bottle to disfigure a rival, the latter being part of his larger plan to take his victim’s identity and steal some diamonds.

The film opens as Kriminal is on death row being prepared for execution, however, there is a hitch, he has stolen the crown jewels and they cannot be found! When he escapes execution, he gives the police following him the slip, returns the crown and moves onto a new caper.

The whole feel of Kriminal is unique, he is such an unusual character, we want to like him and yet he is so utterly narcissistic and beyond any standard of normal morality. The skeleton suite he wears gives him a real gothic touch. It is tight and body hugging, extenuating his beauty but at the same time makes him strangely deathlike. When he climbs into Alex’s house to steal a key he is like some sort of demonic Spiderman crawling up the edges of a wall in the dead of night. This may be a comic book figure but not the sort of saccharine Hollywood hero we are used to, this is a dark, brooding dangerous character who is always one step ahead of the law.

The cinematography is impressive with marvelous locations in London, Madrid and Istanbul. The exoticism of Istanbul matched with the beauty of the woman and the high rolling parties and casinos give it a superbly cosmopolitan feel. The score by Romano Mussolini is jazzy and groovy and makes this a real Sixties classic.

While not strictly defined as a Giallo, it comes pretty close. It is a crime thriller with all sorts of twists and turns including a rather nice sub plot involving identical twin sisters (who are identically beautiful since they are both played by Helga Liné) involved in a diamond heist. The way in which everyone has their own agenda and no-one can be trusted being ready to double cross everybody else at the drop of a hat makes this a very entertaining and action packed work of cinema.

Strangely this is a very hard to find film, we were lucky to discover an excellent DVD-R edition from Cinema De Bizarre (http://cinema-de-bizarre.com). The print is very clear, the score and dialogue has excellent clarity. The subtitles are in solid white and very easy to read.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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