The Deathless Devil

Year releasted: 1972

by Keith Phipps
October 19th, 2005

Also known as: Deathless Man, Yilmayan Seytan

Plot: Madmen: Why must they always try to take over the world? Maybe their names have something to do with it. For instance, take Dr. Satan, the Fu-Manchu-like villain of the 1972 Turkish adventure film The Deathless Devil. Was he ever going to set up a quiet medical practice with a name like that? Likely not, so it's fortunate that there's a hero named Copperhead to stop him. As the film opens, Dr. Satan has been riding high after a few Copperhead-free decades. But that streak ends when the unfortunately named Kunt Tulgar learns that his father used to don a mask and fight crime under the name Copperhead. ("He had no gun. He settled scores with his fist. A very interesting guy," Tulgar's adoptive father tells him.) Soon, Tulgar is off to save the world, fighting Dr. Satan and his clunky-but-deadly robot.

Key scenes: In an early indication of the film's none-too-subtle approach, Copperhead's comical sidekick Betik announces that he will help get to the bottom of the mystery by becoming "Sherlock Betik." He then spends the rest of the film chewing on a pipe and wearing a deerstalker hat. Elsewhere, many of The Deathless Devil's key moments are set to musical cues that play fast and loose with international copyright law. Much of the score comes from Ennio Morricone, there's a sexy striptease set, confoundingly, to an easy-listening version of "Wichita Lineman," and the final scene is accompanied by Hot Butter's jaunty Moog novelty "Popcorn." Keen-eared listeners will also be able to pick out Henry Mancini's none-too-obscure Pink Panther theme.

Can easily be distinguished by: Many films feature cheap-looking superhero costumes, villains with giant mustaches, and clunky-looking robots. But how many have all three?

Sign that it was made in 1972: An early sequence involves a killer in a powder-blue jacket. Although this scene ostensibly takes place years before the primary action, he looks like he could be on his way to a Carpenters-heavy prom.

Timeless message: Try as you might to avoid your fate, if you're the son of a masked avenger, at some point, you're going to have to become a masked avenger.

Memorable quotes: Laughing beside a flame he thinks signals his ultimate triumph, Dr. Satan wastes no words: "Fire destroys everything!"