Danger: Diabolik

The movie is based on "Diabolik," one of the longest running - and most successful - Italian comic strips (known as "fumetti"). It was created by Angela Giussani and Luciana Giussani, two Milan sisters who built a small but very profitable publishing empire out of the King of Terror's success. In the comic version, "Diabolik" is much more sinister than its cinematic counterpart - he's a criminal fighting evil with evil, often resorting to murder to "punish" the evildoers he meets. The film was made assuming some knowledge of the fumetti, thus explaining the negative reaction it initially received outside Italy, although it has since been reevaluated as a classic of 1960s cinematic psychedelia and pop art.

Diabolik recovers emeralds from the ashes of a cremated body. Emerald, a type of green beryl, fractures and discolors when exposed to even mild flame (thus losing considerable value), and certainly cannot survive the intense heat of a crematorium.

The most widely seen version, seen on Mystery Science Theatre 3000, has trimmed many scenes so it could fit in the 2-hour time slot, along with the host segments.

Featured in Beastie Boys: Body Movin' (1998)