A Hyena In the Bank Vault might have the best looking fashions I’ve ever seen in a giallo. Oh man, glitter eyeshadow, furs, striped suits, insane patterns — I’m in love.
Four thieves — Klaus from Germany, Albert (Sandro Pizzochero, So Sweet, So Dead), from France, Juan from Spain and Carina from Tangiers — have met up in what they think is an isolated castle to split up some diamonds. That said, their dead boss’s wife Anna is throwing a party. Complicating matters further, all five keys must be used at the same time to open the vault, so everyone has to keep getting along, even when Albert’s new girlfriend Jeanine annoys everyone. And when people start getting killed, how will anyone get their reward?
Cesare Canevari is probably better known for his scummy side, with movies like A Man for Emmanuelle, Killing of the Flesh and The Gestapo’s Last Orgy on his resume.
I kind of love these kinds of pre-Argento giallo that haven’t started aping his style and instead are all over the place in influence. This is the kind of movie that I wished had showed up in Vinegar Syndrome’s last Forgotten Gialli set, because I want more people to see it. It’s got the brightest colors, the furriest upholstery, the most theatrical makeup and a soundtrack that swings. It is, well, everything.
