April 29: Europsy — Watch a Xerox of Bond, James Bond.

In the 1960s, Mario Bava gave us the candy-colored, pop-art explosion that was Danger: Diabolik. Now, in the 2020s, the Manetti Bros. (Antonio and Marco) have made three movies about the King of Terror that have him more like the comic book version — cold and calculating. After 2021’s Diabolik and 2022’s Diabolik: Ginko Attacks!, we’ve reached the final chapter of their trilogy: Diabolik: Chi Sei? (Diabolik: Who Are You?).

Our story kicks off with Diabolik (Giacomo Gianniotti) and his lover, Eva Kant (Miriam Leone, born to wear a high bun and a catsuit), planning to lift some ancient coins from Countess Wiendemar (Barbara Bouchet!). Eva goes deep undercover at the Central Bank, but things go sideways when a gang of actual, low-rent thugs, led by the respectable lawyer Diego Manden, bursts in. They don’t just rob the bank. They kill the Countess and ruin Diabolik’s perfect plan.

Inspector Ginkgo (Valerio Mastandrea, looking perpetually like he needs a nap and a cigarette) is on the case, but his obsession leads him right into a trap. He infiltrates Manden’s villa alone and gets bagged. Diabolik, also hunting the gang to reclaim his loot, blunders into the same trap. For the first time in sixty years of comic history, the ultimate competitors are chained together in a basement, facing certain death. With the clock ticking, Ginko asks the question we’ve all wanted to know: “Diabolik, who are you?”

The film shifts gears into a gorgeous, high-contrast black-and-white flashback. We see a baby saved from a shipwreck and raised on a hidden island of super-criminals ruled by King (Paolo Calabresi). Diabolik grows up nameless, learning chemistry and the art of the mask. When King tries to double-cross him, our protagonist goes full nature vs. nurture, kills his mentor, steals his fortune and adopts King’s stuffed black panther’s name.

While the boys are bonding over trauma in the cellar, the real powerhouses take over. Altea (Monica Bellucci!), worried about her secret lover Ginko, teams up with Eva Kant. It is the crossover event of the century: the Duchess and the Thief, working together to storm the villa and take down Manden’s gang.

The Manetti Bros. aren’t trying to out-Bava Bava. This is a love letter to the original Sisters Giussani comics. It’s slow-burning, it’s stylish, and it treats its source material with the reverence of a holy relic. By the end, Ginko finally stops hiding his love for Altea and Diabolik and Eva go right back to what they do best: stealing shiny things and looking better than everyone else while doing it.

You can get this — and the other two films in a box set — from Kino Lorber.