Kilink in Istanbul (1967)
aka Kilink Istanbul’da
Article 5897 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-5-2020
Directed by Yilmaz Atadeniz
Featuring Irfan Atasoy, Pervin Par, Muzaffer Tema
Country: Turkey
What it is: supervillain/superhero antics

When his father is killed by the notorious villain Kilink, a man is visited by a mystical being and given superhuman powers he can use to take vengeance.

I don’t mind the opening titles sequence being abrupt and incoherent; they are just the opening titles. But when the opening scenes of the movie itself are abrupt and incoherent, either your copy of the movie is not in the best of shape or editing is still a somewhat primitive art in the region from which the movie harkens. Still, this movie is a sight to behold; the story borrows from Italian anti-hero/supervillain movies (Kilink is assuredly not the hero) crossed with American superhero culture; our hero can gain superpowers in the same way Captain Marvel does, and his outfit looks like a cross between the ones of Superman and Batman. But in style, the movie feels like a cross between silent movies, feature versions of serials, and Mexican wrestling movies. Our superhero is called Superhero, but that may be a choice on the part of those who did the subtitles; I hear a more direct translation is “Superman”. But all in all it’s pretty much a series of fight scenes, kidnappings, tortures, superhero scenes, all feeling like it was cut to ribbons in the editing room. And if the ending seems strange for this sort of thing, it’s best to remember that the title is KILINK IN ISTANBUL and not SUPERHERO IN ISTANBUL; that should clue you in on who the main character is. It’s a mess, but in its own way, delightful.