Una iena in cassaforte

Well, this is fun and not at all anything like I was expecting. From the director of The Nude Princess and Gestapo's Last Orgy one might have expected something more rough, ready and extreme but this is very much a product of its year (1968) and I think I could describe it as a giallo comedy. Not laugh out loud funny but there are amusing moments and the film does not take itself too seriously. Just as well because it is all a bit ludicrous but done with such style and panache. Colourful, ever eventful and the lovely girls all look well in their many and various costumes, while the slightly convoluted (OK and slightly silly) plot unfolds. There are killings and if not particularly explicit or even always on screen there is alternative violence elsewhere including a startling strip search of Cristina Gaioni, I believe it was. Maria Luisa Geisberger is sensational in the main female lead role and I am stunned to discover it is her only screen credit. One of the most unusual and psychedelic tinged gialli.

I'm guessing if Quentin Tarantino were to direct a giallo, it would end up being something like this - A bunch of folks in one location, spouting endless dialogue. I'd imagine however if Quentin were to direct it, he would neglect to add in all the bizarre camera-work and camera angles and perhaps insert a monologue by Samuel L Jackson about how someone was racist to him and then he had to bum the racists son, or whatever crap he said in the Hateful Eight.

The set up of this one is very different from your usual sixties Italian film (if you discount the fact it's set in a big mansion) - A bunch of criminals gather together to split to haul nicked from a bank in Amsterdam. It's kept in a huge tank on the grounds of the mansion and each of the criminals have a key - except for one who seems to have lost it! That means they are all stuck there until the key is found.

This is one of those films where nothing is as it seems - to begin with, the owner of the house is dead and a strange lady has taken his place, one other criminal has been replaced by a sleazy Spanish guy, and some guy called the boss keeps hovering about in a helicopter screaming about his half of the money! Plus someone is watching everyone on a camera rig (never figured out who!) and someone else is watching folk from the house owner's grave!

Add in the hyperactive camera-work, the amount of mascara these women had to wear, and the groovy music, and you've got an out there giallo that's as groovy as all those folks partying outside of the mansion (nope, never figured out why they were doing that either).

crap fact: one of the characters was played by the son of famous writer Vladimir Nabokov - that's all the fun facts this week folks! Tune in next week for another edition of Why Are You Wasting Your Life Doing Something So Utterly Pointless?

"A Hyaena in the Safe" by Cesare Canevari is an obscure Italian giallo/fumetti that predates Mario Bava's "Five Dolls for an August Moon".Six keys.One of them is lost and the criminals begin to stalk and murder themselves in the web of deceit.I enjoyed this very psychedelic slice of Italian dementia.The acting is fine,the murder scenes are imaginative and some scenes are downright surreal.The women are very beautiful and lethal and there is even a little bit of nudity(a glimpse of breast).The film was obviously made on low budget and the result is impressive to watch.Unfortunately my Italian copy is worn-out,so it's the highest time to release the film on DVD.7 out of 10.For fans of "Ten Little Indians" inspired gialli.