A Hyena In The Safe — A Hyena In The Safe( Blu Ray)
A Hyena In The Safe (Una Iena In Cassaforte) is a crime mystery/ crossbred with glamorously turned-out criminals, disturbingly heady breakdowns/ freakouts, and lots of double crossing/ backstabbing. The late 60s Italian film regards a group of six robbers meeting at a mansion- each with their own key- to open a safe full of diamonds, but one by one they get killed off. Here from Celluloid Films is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a new HD print, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
A Hyena In The Safe is from the year 1968, and was directed/ co-written by Milan-born Cesare Canevari. He had eight other feature credits to his name- these move from 007 parody Un Tango Dalla Russia(1965), spaghetti western Matalo! -Kill Him(1970), and Nazisploitation The Gestapo's Last Orgy(1977).
The film opens in a fairly confusing/ unbalancing manner- as we see a selection of characters make their way through flashing firework-lit carnival, to a gated and grand mansion. We find out that the six or so characters have gathered here some six or so months after a bank robbery, where they stole a safe full of diamonds. The safe has been hidden under a large ornamental pond since the robbery- each robber has a key, and together they will open it up.
We get a nicely varied selection of characters- there's a stripped-suited/well-spoken junky & his blond-haired girlfriend. A plump-faced, tight-suited, and cigar-puffing Spanish man. A blue-jacketed & long, greying-haired man, and a constant costume-shifting/ glittery make-up woman. Also, sometimes hovering above the house in a helicopter is another man who often chuckles maniacally.
The film slides in at just under the hour-and-a-half mark, and for the most part remains a fairly paced affair. Full of twisting & turning loyalties, high-spirited banter & bickering, and murder. The latter is fairly tame- taking in brief bloody stabbings, shootings, and most impressively a well-executed garage-based downing.
The most interesting/distinctive element of the pictures is the several occasions when characters go through mental breakdowns/ freakouts. These are done in a wonderful, darkly psychedelic manner- with spinning/ warping imagery, demented visual looping, and general tripped-out derangement.
A Hyena In The Safe makes for an entertaining, at times rewardingly pulpy ride, with the moments of unhinged psychedelia adding a wonderful unbalancing edge to proceedings.
This recently released region A Blu-ray features an HD print- this looks lovely, with great colour clarity, moments of sparkling jewellery, and more moody tones too.
On the extras side (I believe), it’s all new to this disc. First off, we have a commentary track by film critic Guido Henkel- this is a well-researched affair, with some great observations. He starts off by talking about how the film was one of the lesser-known/ heard of genre films of 1968- it was first shown in Italy on the 26th of July that year, then it rather disappeared without a trace, not getting releases outside of the country. We find out that it finally got its first DVD release in 2012, but this Celluloid Films is its first stateside release. We find out the film was shot between February and March 1968- at that point, snow was on the ground- so the crew blow-torched it away, and put down manure on the larger areas. The film had a tiny budget of around one hundred million dollars- this was kept so cheap due to them getting to use the mansion location for free. Later on, he talks about how every scene is full of intrigue and creativity. He debates whether the film is a giallo or not. And of course, much more. This is the first track I’ve heard from Mr Henkel, and I must say I was most impressed- I’ll be keeping an eye out for his name on feature releases.
Otherwise, we have 7 Guests for a Massacre ( 51.10) an Interview featurette with director/ writer Cesare Canevaro, Sandro Pizzochero, Ninì Della Misericordia, Adriana Morlacchi and Diego Pisati. Schrödinger's Diamonds: The Duplicitous Mystery of Hyena in the Safe (36.04) Video Essay by Andy Marshall-Roberts. The Mysteries of Villa Toeplitz (7.52), which looks around the film's location/ grounds now.
A Hyena In The Safe is a rewarding crime mystery/ giallo blend, with some very effective moments of dark/ sweaty psychedelia. This new Celluloid Films serves up a lovely print and a good selection of worthy extras.