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Satanik
Satanik
Directed by	Piero Vivarelli
Story by	Eduardo Manzanos Brochero
Starring	Magda Konopka; Julio Peña; Umberto Raho;
Cinematography	Silvano Ippoliti
Edited by	Gianmaria Messeri
Music by	Romano Mussolini; Roberto Pregadio;
Production; companies	Rodiacines; Copercines;
Distributed by	Variety Distribution
Release date	1968 (Italy);
Running time	86 minutes
Countries	Italy; Spain;

Satanik is a 1968 film directed by Piero Vivarelli.^[1] It is based on the Italian comic series Satanik and was released to a moderate financial success in Italy.

Plot

Dr. Bannister (Magda Konopka), an ugly and disfigured woman, is summoned by a colleague of hers who has recently discovered a serum for rejuvenating living beings. The colleague shows Bannister the miraculous result of his experiments, injecting the serum into an animal close to death. In a few seconds, the animal is reinvigorated, showing vigor and health.

The colleague, however, does not intend to use the serum on human beings, as some experiments remain to be conducted. In a moment of distraction Bannister kills the colleague, following which she drinks the serum he had developed.

After a series of convulsions, the woman falls unconscious to the ground, but shortly thereafter awakens rejuvenated and beautiful. The murder of the colleague will be only the first of a long series: Bannister, in fact, will kill again to hide her secret. Moreover, the woman will need to reckon with the fact that the effects of the serum are only temporary.

Cast

Magda Konopka as Marnie Bannister
Julio Peña as Inspector Trent
Umberto Raho as George Van Donan
Luigi Montini as Dodo La Roche
Armando Calvo as Inspector Gonzalez
Mimma Ippoliti as Stella Dexter
Isarco Ravaioli as Max Bermuda
Nerio Bernardi as Professor Greaves
Pino Polidori as Albert
Antonio Pica as Louis
Piero Vivarelli as Police Commissioner

Production

Satanik was filmed in 1967 shortly after Piero Vivarelli's film Avenger X was released.^[3] The film is credits state that the film was scripted by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero.^[3]^[4] Despite being based on the character from the Satanik comics, the film ignores most of the stories and characters and only keeps Marny Bannister's transformation from an old woman to a slim young woman from the original stories.^[4]

Release

Satanik was released in Italy in 1968.^[1] Film critic and historian Roberto Curti described the box office as being "moderately successful" in Italy.^[4]

The film was released on DVD by Retromedia and also part of Image Entertainment's "Euro Fiends from Beyond the Grave" compilation along with The Faceless Monster and The Red Headed Corpse.^[5] It will receive a Blu-ray release in 2024 by Terror Vision Records and Videos. ^[6]

Reception

From retrospective reviews, Roberto Curti noted the film was "perhaps the most disappointing of the flicks based on the fumetti neri phenomenon."^[4] Curti found the film to be poorly scripted and paced and criticized the weak acting performance by Magda Konopka.^[4]

Future film director Pupi Avati was an assistant director on the film for its scenes shot in Italy.^[4] Avati later commented his experience on the set stating that watching Vivarelli taught him how to not direct a film.^[4]

References

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Curti 2016, p. 118.
^ Cowie & Elley 1977, p. 325.
^ ^a ^b Curti 2016, p. 121.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Curti 2016, p. 122.
^ Curti 2016, p. 123.
^ Satanik (1968) Blu-ray -- Terror Vision Records and Video

Sources

Cowie, Peter; Elley, Derek (1977). World Filmography: 1967. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN 0498015653.
Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.