THE DEVIL’S MAN (1967)
aka Devilman Story
Article 4726 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-2-2015
Directed by Paolo Bianchini
Featuring Guy Madison, Luisa Baratto, Diana Lorys
Country: Italy
What it is: Pseudo-Spyghetti
A journalist investigates the kidnapping of a scientist. His trail leads him to a secret in an African desert.
Because our hero is a journalist rather than a superspy, this doesn’t entirely qualify as an example of “Spyghetti”. However, it could be argued that that is the only sticking point here; the way the movie is plotted is pretty much identical with one of those movies, and the hero could have just as easily been a spy. it does, however, have a significant degree of science fiction content above and beyond the usual gadgetry found in that genre; several of the villain’s minions appear to be under a hypnotic control, and the plot involves the creation of an artificial brain capable of being placed in someone’s head that is not susceptible to the flaws of our organic ones. I don’t want to be too hard on this one; it’s a bit of a rarity, and my copy is in fairly wretched shape, and that makes watching the movie a little difficult; however, based on what I can make out, the movie seems ordinary at best, and like yesterday’s movie, it feels churned out. I’d have to see a better copy before I could give a more detailed critique.
