Overview: Kriminal follows the king of thieves, a cunning criminal mastermind responsible for some of the greatest heists ever committed. Working alone and remaining one step ahead of the law, he moves through a colorful world of deception, danger, and swinging 1960s style, proving deadly to anyone who obstructs his plans.

Directed by cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi and starring Glenn Saxson and Helga Liné, Kriminal is a live-action adaptation of the Italian pulp comic and a defining entry in the fumetti neri tradition. By placing a masked villain at the center of the story, the film combines comic-book action, crime, mystery, and thriller elements with the visual energy of contemporary European popular cinema.

Presented as the film’s world premiere on 4K UHD, this two-disc edition features a 4K transfer and restoration from the original negative. The UHD disc includes HDR, original English and Italian 2.0 mono audio, an audio commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, and the original theatrical trailer.

The accompanying Blu-ray presents the restored 4K transfer, original stereo English audio and Italian 2.0 mono audio, the Ercolani and Howarth commentary, and Armed to the Teeth: The Cinema of Umberto Lenzi, a feature-length documentary examining the director behind Orgasmo, Cannibal Ferox, and An Ideal Place to Kill.

Additional Blu-ray supplements include Camera Nostalgia, an interview with actor Glenn Saxson; The Sound of Krime, an interview with Pierpaolo De Sanctis; an isolated score; the original Italian credits; the original theatrical trailer; a promotional gallery; and additional trailers.

The collector’s packaging includes a slipcase and a reversible sleeve featuring the original Italian poster artwork, making this edition particularly suited to admirers of Italian comic-book action, Danger: Diabolik, Barbarella, Satanika, giallo cinema, and James Bond adventures.

The Telltale Mind awarded the film four out of five, noting that its villainous protagonist is central to its appeal.

4K Blu-ray Verdict: After escaping a hanging for stealing the British Royal Crown, mysterious super-thief Kriminal (Glenn Saxson) sets his sights on some jewels being taken from London to Istanbul. Everything goes smoothly until he subdues the courier (Helga Liné) and finds out her jewel box is empty.

He figures out that the owners were looking to swindle the insurance company, so he heads to Turkey to blackmail them and also steal the real jewels if at all possible. Close on his heels is Inspector Milton (Andrea Bosic).

Oh man, Umberto Lenzi adapting a popular Italian comic character who dresses like a skeleton? Filmed widescreen in England and Istanbul, this has to rock, right? Uh, well, not quite, but enough to wholly satisfy, that’s for sure, yes.

While watching this I realized around the one-hour mark that I’d heard a lot of talk about diamonds, but very little actual action involving them. Indeed, it isn’t until the 70-minute mark that the plan goes into effect and is, well, somewhat laughable in its deployment, relying on a bank actually letting a guy enter their safe deposit box vault with his head wrapped in bandages!

Being a huge fan of films and movie companies such as this, what I was personally hoping for would have been more in the vein of DANGER: DIABOLIK (1968), but it ended up being more along the lines of being a somewhat powder-dry Bond effort, I guess. Not much on the action front to report either, and with no chases or even a solid foot chase toboot.

Nope, for that is not this kind of movie, as we all know by now, and for which I have made my peace with a long time ago, trust me. The Kriminal costume is very cool, but he only wears it three times throughout the movie and never during actual robberies; well, just when he likes to creep up on women!

This is the film’s other issue, that Kriminal is a pretty mean character, even for an anti-hero. I figure the filmmakers want you to root for him, but it is hard when he slaps women around and tries to blow up his ex-wife! Saxson is handsome as the lead, looking a bit like Richard Harrison. He returned in the sequel THE MASK OF KRIMINAL (1968) a couple of years later and which was in and unto itself a better movie, in my humble opinion.

All that said, what you get with Kriminal is plenty enough to rank it high on the cinematic memory charts of 1966, that’s for sure. Sure it could have used more style, but Umberto Lenzi’s direction is beyond visionary here at time within certain sequences. Not overall on a par with the thrills and spills of some of the director’s that were behind those magnificent 70’s crime movies, on the plus side, Kriminal offers bright cinematography and appealing eye candy provided by Helga Line and Mary Arden (Blood and Black Lace).

4K UHD Special Features:
4K Transfer (from the original negative) & Restoration + HDR
Original English & Italian 2.0 Mono
Audio Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani & Troy Howarth
Original Theatrical Trailer

BLU-RAY Special Features:
4K Transfer (from the original negative) & Restoration
Original Stereo English & Italian 2.0 Mono
Audio Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani & Troy Howarth
Armed to the Teeth: The Cinema of Umberto Lenzi – Feature-length documentary
Camera Nostalgia – Interview with actor Glenn Saxson
The Sound of Krime – Interview with Pierpaolo De Sanctis
Isolated Score
Original Italian Credits
Original Theatrical Trailer
Promotional Gallery
Trailers
Slipcase: Reversible Sleeve w/Original Italian Poster Art

Official Purchase Link