The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 4, 2025

Antonio and Marco Manetti’s "The Diabolik Trilogy" (2021-2023) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include multiple documentaries with cast and crew interviews and original trailers. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for each film. Region-A "locked".

Antonio and Marco Manetti’s three Diabolik films do not excite for the same reasons the various Star Wars spin-offs are instantly forgettable. They produce characters that are not crafted correctly. They place them in a strange environment. They create an atmosphere, meant to be part of their identity, that is badly mismanaged. And yes, all three Diabolik films have the sterile, frequently off-putting appearance of made-for-streaming-platforms projects.

Despite resurrecting all of the famous comic characters and restaging a few well-known events, Diabolik (2021) has practically nothing in common with Mario Bava’s classic film. It heads back to the 1960s, to the fictional city of Clerville, where the mysterious villain Diabolik (Luca Marinelli) is constantly tracked down by his greatest nemesis, Inspector Ginko (Valerio Mastandrea). While trying to steal a notorious pink diamond, Diabolik meets the beautiful widow Eva Kant (Miriam Leone) and the two unexpectedly fall in love. As their romantic relationship blossoms, the two then become partners and hatch a plan to empty the vaults of Clerville’s biggest bank. But before they triumph, Diabolik nearly loses his head at the guillotine after Ginko discovers his secret lair, and a corrupt Deputy Minister of Justice (Alessandro Roja) attempts to steal Kant from him.

A large portion of Diabolik: Ginko Attacks! (2022) is dedicated to a different romantic relationship. While still trying to capture Diabolik (now played by Giacomo Gianniotti), Ginko is revealed to be in love with the beautiful Duchess Altea di Vallemberg (Monica Bellucci), who is in town and has requested his protection. A massive police operation to trick Diabolik into stealing The Armen Collection, whose jewels are priceless, then unleashes a series of unpredictable events that help Ginko discover Diabolik’s new lair and temporarily claim his fortune.

The final film, Diabolik: Who Are You? (2023), arranges several smaller stories into one big story. One of the smaller stories reveals crucial information from Diabolik’s past and his relationship with an infamous criminal named King (Paolo Calabresi). Another of these smaller stories is about a gang of robbers who capture Diabolik and Ginko, throw them in a cell, and vow to execute them at the same time. Another of these smaller stories reintroduces the notorious pink diamond and expands the romantic relationship between Ginko and the beautiful Duchess.

It is possible to claim that the Manetti brothers used the famous comic character Angela and Luciana Giussani created only as an inspiration for the star of their films, and did so rather well. However, it is impossible to praise the environment and atmosphere they created for him. The two are simply not right for him, and this is a very big, consequential problem.

The version of Diabolik that keeps outsmarting Ginko and various other supposedly formidable opponents while crafting and using seemingly flawless human masks does not have the impeccable pulpy style that the original character -- as well as John Phillip Law’s character from Bava’s film -- is famous for. He looks like Diabolik but is a modern criminal with a vicious side, dispatched to shine in an oddly sterile retro environment with an equally odd atmosphere. It does not help that this new version of Diabolik is played by two different actors with unique personalities, too.

Several other casting choices are also problematic. For example, Leone looks too young and uncomfortable as Diabolik’s trusted partner. As a seductress, while playing with Roja’s head, she is very unconvincing, too. Mastandrea constantly looks too jaded and cold, and is never able to convince that he cares about Bellucci, who, sadly, is also miscast.

The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Each film in the Diabolik trilogy is placed on a separate dual-layer disc. Diabolik is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Diabolik: Ginko Attacks! and Diabolik: Who Are You?. All three films have 1080p transfers.

I would not be surprised if it is revealed that the first film was also shot in 2.39:1 and then, for some reason, formatted in 1.85:1. There is an original Italian trailer for it on this release that has it framed in 2.39:1, like the other two films, and I think that the image composition looks really good. The 1.85:1 presentation looks fine, but often a lot of close-ups feel too big, taking up the whole screen.

All three films boast outstanding delineation, clarity, and depth. Of course, this is hardly surprising, because they were completed just a few years ago. Colors are quite subdued, but this is done intentionally to give each film a unique retro appearance. (For what it's worth, I found the stylization very unconvincing because the retro appearance is a modern minimalistic appearance that is incompatible with the colorful pulpy/kitchy environment in which Diabolik is supposed to roam free). Fluidity is good. I did not notice any encoding anomalies to report. (Note: All three Blu-ray discs are Region-A "locked". Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access their content).

The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Each film in the Diabolik trilogy is presented with Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed each film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Every film has good action material that sounds terrific. However, the third film has the most diverse material, and not because it overlaps material from the past and present. I think that more effort was put into it to create truly memorable dynamic contrasts. I was surprised that music, which Italian films usually use very well, was not used very well to help the desired atmosphere. All exchanges were very clear and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent, but the size of the English subtitles should have been bigger.

The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE - DIABOLIK

• VFX Breakdown - a short program highlighting some of the special effects that were used in Diabolik. Music only. (3 min).

• Trailer One - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Ginko Attacks!. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Three - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Who Are You?. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

BLU-RAY DISC TWO - DIABOLIK: GINKO ATTACKS!

• The Making of Diabolik: Who Are You? - this program offers a closer look at the production of Diabolik: Who Are You?. Included in it are interviews with Antonio and Marco Manetti, producer Carlo Macchitella, Valerio Mastandrea (Inspector Ginko), and star Giacomo Giannotti (Diabolik), amongst others. In Italian, with English subtitles. (16 min).

• Trailer One - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Ginko Attacks!. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Three - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Who Are You?. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

BLU-RAY DISC THREE - DIABOLIK: WHO ARE YOU?

• The Making of Diabolik: Who Are You? - this program offers a closer look at the conception and production of the three films in the Diabolik trilogy. Included in it are clips from interviews with Antonio and Marco Manetti, star Giacomo Giannotti (Diabolik), Miriam Leone (Eva Kant), and Monica Bellucci (Duchess Altea di Vallemberg), amongst others. In Italian, with English subtitles. (16 min).

• Trailer One - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Ginko Attacks!. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Trailer Three - an original Italian trailer for Diabolik: Who Are You?. In Italian, with English subtitles. (2 min).

The Diabolik Trilogy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you view the supplemental material with Antonio and Marco Manetti, you will quickly realize that they are terrific guys who genuinely wanted to thrill hardcore fans of Diabolik and create new ones. However, the brothers reimagine Diabolik and his environment in a way that makes it very difficult to praise the three films they directed. There is a lot in these films that looks lifeless and sterile, even foreign and oddly misplaced. (For example, the second film has a wonderfully choreographed opening that would have been great in a completely different project). The chemistry between the stars is very problematic, too. I did not dislike these films. I thought that some of the action during the heists was pretty decent. However, in the end, they only made me wonder again what could have been if Mario Bava and producer Dino De Laurentiis had figured out how to tolerate each other and make two more films like Danger: Diabolik.