You might imagine that the first wave of movies based on comic books is a 21st century phenomenon. Every year more films from the Marvel and DC Universes hit the screens. But it turns out that the first waves of comic book character movies struck in the mid-60s. The obvious example is Batman that brought the TV show starring Adam West to the big screen. In Europe, there were dozens of movies produced except they weren’t all about normal heroes. These characters didn’t get approved by the Comic Book Code. They were edgy in their own ways. The four biggest Euro titles were Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik, Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise and Umberto Lenzi’s Kriminal. The last film in the batch is finally getting a premium release on 4K UHD to restore Kriminal’s comic book pop feel.
The mysterious Kriminal (Glenn Saxson, The Magnificent Texan) life of crime appears to be coming to a drastic end. He’s been caught after stealing the royal jewels of England. Everything is set to hang him. But this wouldn’t be much of a film if the anti-hero is swinging on a rope in the first few minutes. Kriminal escapes his death sentence and the big house in a thrilling and dramatic way. Inspector Milton (Andreas Bosic, Manhattan Baby) must track down the criminal Kriminal again. Although the lawman does get a surprise package from his target. The pursuit leads to a chase across Europe including a few James Bond hotspots. Kriminal isn’t going to lay low until the heat is off. He’s already planned his next big heist. He puts on his black and yellow skeleton suit and stakes out his next victims. The outfit is very effective and spooky when he creeps around at night. His next big caper involves a lot of jewels except he needs the assistance of a casino operator (Helga Liné, Law of Desire). Can he pull it off with the Inspector hot on his trail?
If Kriminal reminds you of Danger: Diabolik, it’s not a coincidence. Both comic books were created by Magnus and Max Bunker. Both men are thieves who wear bodysuits when they are doing crimes. The big difference is Diabolik has a cool girlfriend that he can trust. Kriminal merely has an ex-wife. This must have been a bit startling to audiences in 1966 when divorce was a stigma.
Umberto Lenzi is part of a generation of Italian directors who knew how to roll with each cinematic wave in Italy. He directed pirates and Greek demigods. He pioneered giallo with his films starring Carroll Baker. He covered the streets in lead with his poliziottesco including Gang War in Milan. He bit into the Cannibal craze with Eaten Alive and Cannibal Ferox. Lenzi even came to Virginia to make Hitcher In the Dark with a future Melrose Place star. So it makes total sense that Lenzi would get into the comic book adaptation and choose a character from the fumetti neri. While it might be hard to believe from the guy who made two of the best cannibal flicks, Lenzi did tone down the source material. In the comic book, Kriminal is not merely a thief, but a sadist with the ladies. The film came out in 1966 before the ratings code came to America so things couldn’t get that graphic on the screen. Lenzi makes his Kriminal more discreet and seductive. There’s a suave element to the film since this was at the height of the Swinging ’60s. He also employes the comic book panels for the opening and closing of the film so we know the source.
Everything works about this film as the diamond scheme grows. Glenn Saxson has a glow when he peels off his skeleton mask. Helga Liné pulls off a double role as tanned twins. Should be pointed out that the Spanish actress had a long career that stretch from 1950 until working with Pedro Almodóvar on his early ’80s films. She appeared in Monte Hellman’s China 9, Liberty 37 with Warren Oates. This is the western that’s brought up in the Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession documentary because programmer Jerry Harvey wrote the script. I wonder if Z Channel had a month long festival to Helga? If Alexander Payne is reading this review; please let us know if you have the answer. The most important answer to this review is that Umberto Lenzi keeps Kriminal a fun film to watch.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 4K restoration of the original negative. Things look comic book on the screen as the Kriminal puts on his skeleton suit. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono in both English and Italian. The movie is subtitled in English.
Blu-ray with the movie and bonus features.
Audio Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani & Troy Howarth has them talk about finally seeing the English credits. The version of the film they’d seen were the Italian. Eugenio Ercolani interviewed Lenzi a few times about the film and shares the director’s answers. He also lets us know that 33 different films based on comics were produced in Italy.
Armed to the Teeth (88:40) is a documentary about director Umberto Lenzi’s career. They have video of an interview with Lenzi as the basis of his story. Lenzi passed away in 2017. He was a bit fan of Hollywood Noir films especially Laura. He started a cinema club at school. Lenzi talks about working in so many genres over the decades. There’s a lot of talk about Kriminal since it is viewed as a summary of what he’d done until 1966. He admits toning down the character for the screen because he feared it being censored. We also learn why he didn’t direct the sequel. Eugenio Ercolani put the documentary together and appears in the film discussing the director’s early years and experiences. He also reads the Lenzi section from his book Darkening the Italian Screen.
Camera Nostalgia (37:34) is an interview with star Glenn Saxson. He talks about going leaving Holland to make movies in Italy. He originally found plenty of work in Spaghetti Westerns including being Django in Django Shoots First. He lied about his mom being from Texas when they asked if he could ride a horse. He did a crash course at a stable after getting the part. He also did work in photoplay books. He talks about the only major stunt he did in Kriminal since stuntmen did the work while wearing the skeleton suit. He is a bit shocked to discover that Lenzi also made a few Westerns in his over 30 feature films.
The Sound of Krime (24:48) interviews music historian Pierpaolo De Sanctis about the soundtrack and music in the film. We get to see pages from the original Kriminal comic. The movie was made at the peak of Swinging Rome musical scene. He explains the true identity of “Raymod Full” that’s listed as the composer. Turns out the real composer is the son of an extremely infamous Italian which probably explains the name change for the English credits. You’ll have to watch the bonus feature to learn the answer. There’s quite a bit of talk about how the son was nothing like his father.
Isolated Score so you can watch the film and just hear the jazzy music.
Original Italian Credits (2:55) has the comic characters speaking Italian in the word balloons.
Original Italian Theatrical Trailer (3:38) is subtitled in English.
Promotional Gallery (2:37) includes posters and lobby cards.
Cult Epics Trailers include The Key, P.O. Box Tinto Brass, Don’t Play With Fire and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. All releases have been reviewed by InsidePulse.
Cult Epics present Kriminal (2 Disc Edition). Directed by Umberto Lenzi. Screenplay by Umberto Lenzi. Starring Glenn Saxson, Helga Liné, Andrea Bosic, Ivano Staccioli & Esmeralda Ruspoli. Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 22, 2026.
