Such a frustrating disappointment

Don't Believe the Hype

best movie i've ever seen.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An unlikely cross between two of the hottest crime-fighters of the '60s – TV's Batman and cinema's James Bond – KRIMINAL is in fact a film based on a popular Italian comic strip. The twist is that our hero isn't a hero at all, instead a fully-fledged bad guy, a thief whose ideal pastime is to steal jewels and make tons of money from his criminal exploits. Along the way, there's time for plenty of romance a la Bond as Kriminal wanders around and takes advantage of a succession of beautiful women. It all sounds pretty good and, being made in the '60s, it's absolutely loaded with style in everything from the music to the fashions on display. But there's something detached and routine about this film that stopped me from enjoying it one bit.I'll admit that the genre of Italian spy movies left me somewhat cold. I didn't mind early Bond films – GOLDFINGER is a classic – but the slavish devotion of the countless rip-offs I found utterly boring. Now the Italian superhero movies of the late '60s – this was much more to my liking. Outlandish good guys like Argoman, Superargo and the Three Fantastic Supermen would bound around on screen and tackle waves of bad guys with knowing smirks and plenty of panache. I was hoping KRIMINAL would be like the latter films, but this is really a Bond-style movie masquerading as a superhero flick. It's an interesting precursor to Mario Bava's DANGER DIABOLIK but that's all.My biggest regret is that this film has virtually no action to recommend it – I can't remember our hero fist-fighting a single villain! He kills a few off but it's all very stately and routine. One of the biggest sells is that he dresses up in a cool skeleton outfit to commit his robberies, but even these admittedly fun scenes are few and far between (although the house climb is a highlight). Glenn Saxson is the Hungarian hero, and he's very Aryan and good-looking, but he's also without charisma and it doesn't help that his character is pretty vicious, unpleasant and self-motivated. Helga Line – who I ADORED in HORROR EXPRESS – plays a dual role and is fairly attractive in an icy way, while Ivano Staccioli is a suitably greasy villain-type. Best of all is Andrea Bosic, playing the Scotland Yard inspector hot on Kriminal's heels, who has an absolute ball in his comic relief supporting performance.The action shifts from London to Istanbul, with time for sightseeing on the way, but it's all very dated and routine. The film feels overlong and the ending is a damp squib – some nice train stunts but that's it. More action, less po-faced seriousness and KRIMINAL might have been good; as it is, the Turkish rip-off films featuring skeletal hero Kilink had the right idea purely because they were sillier. Umberto Lenzi is a fantastic cult director and he puts in good work here, but this is middling stuff. A sequel, THE MARK OF KRIMINAL, followed in 1968.

From the stylish comic book style credits at the beginning we know this is not to be taken too seriously and that a good time could be had. And indeed it is. Nothing too special but a slight story involving the theft of some jewels is much enlivened by Lenzi's enthusiastic direction. Everything, from the skeleton like costume the 'Kriminal' dons to the fine costumes worn by the great Helga Line (in a double role) and the wonderful London and Istanbul location photography, this keeps happily moving in its own colourful way from start to finish. So outlandish and likable in parts that this is laugh out loud funny at times and there is certainly never a dull moment as our dashing hero seduces, deduces, makes time for a little lovemaking and crucially when the situation demands, kills. All action, all smiles fantastically decorated 1966 minor gem from one of Italy's most able directors.

Kriminal, a famous English thief, whose actual identity nobody knows, steals some diamonds of Lady Gold, a rich English woman. While he is leaving England by train, the police tries to capture him and he loses the diamonds jumping out of the train. After some hours walking he meets a beautiful woman who gets him a passage with her car. But she is a policewoman… This is a boring Italian film inspired to a famous comic strip called precisely "Kriminal". I think it is more interesting than the film although the film is rather faithful as for the characters and Kriminal's costume is the same of the comic strip.Filmed in England and in Turkey it has a good soundtrack even if it is very similar to "Flashman" another Italian B action film. Among these kind of films it is worth remembering "Diabolik" that is the best in my opinion. Kriminal has original dialogues some in Italian and some in English then dubbed for the Italian market. By the way Glenn Saxon who plays Kriminal, is a Holland actor overall famous in Italy for some Italian westerns. In the role of a police superintendent we recognize Franco Fantasia who is a good Italian stuntman.

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)...