La jena di Londra

HYENA OF LONDON is a gothic mystery very much along the lines of THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER aka HORROR which came out about the same time. I'd call it part of the cinema of meaningful glances.

For fans of Tony Kendall, here he plays an ineffectual hero for a change. He's the secret lover of the local doctor's daughter, whose house is full of conniving servants and suspicious characters, like Luciano Pigozzi. They all stay very busy lying, cheating, and sneaking around the old dark house. Mysterious murders begin to occur in the vicinity and everyone points fingers at each other until the twist ending reveals an actual surprise.

This is an atmospheric, nicely photographed trifle that I always enjoy watching but never seem to remember much about later.

The Italians made many excellent and highly atmospheric Gothic thrillers during the 1960s. "Hyena of London" was produced in 1964, at the peak of the genre's popularity. Like the films of Bava, etc., it benefits from historic European locations, authentic costumes, fine manners and moody scoring.

What prevents this entry from being as popular as say, "Castle of Blood" or "The Whip and the Body" is its script. Though marketed as a thriller most of the film is straight drama, with the macabre scenes confined to the film's beginning and end.

Watching this made me recall "Terror Creatures from the Grave," which originally was the bottom half of a 1965 double feature with "Bloody Pit of Horror." It had much of the same film noir ambiance and class.

"Hyena of London" is definitely not for everyone, but a good bet for fans of '60s Euro-thrillers or Tony Kendall.

Who would ever have thought that an isolated, dark, gothic estate could be such a hot bed of illicit trysts with secret lovers? Aside from the patriarch Dr. Dalton, virtually the entire staff of the mansion are steaming up the windows.

Aside from the frothy soap opera subplots, there are heinous murders being committed off camera. Has the "Hyena of London" come back from the grave?

Without spoiling the ending, there is a minor scifi element revealed in the denoument.

This movie is a little seen rarity. There's a reason for that.the action is decent, the outdoor photography is excellent and the directing up to par. As far as the plot goes, did I mention the outdoor photography?Aren't you glad I sit through dreck like this so you don't have to?

The dreaded killer "The Hyena Of London" is finally strung up for his crimes in the late 1880's. But his body mysteriously vanishes.Soon afterwards a string of killings occur in the small village of Bradford.You know that there is a tie in to the incidents. At this point you should settle in for a nice nap.

You start watching the clock about 7 minutes into this film.The only thing that would liven this PUPPY up is some old fashioned plot.You'll HOWL with indignation at this film.You'll GIGGLE at the inane dialogue.You'll convulse with LAUGHTER at the bald headed ladies' man.

Skip this one. It pees on the carpet.

A serial killer is hanged in London and his body is seemingly stolen. In Bradford (of all places!) a woman is murdered and her husband is thrown in jail, accused of the murder even though he was blacked out due to the drink. Another corpse is found nearby, so has the killer returned from the grave, and brought his strangling gloves with him?

We'll find out eventually, but before that the film kind of descends into Emmerdale Farm: The Giallo territory as we are introduced to a lot of characters and a lot of drama, starting with Henry (Tony Kendall), who is knocking boots with the daughter of the rich giant mansion owner who is conducting experiments with disgraced scientist Finney, who in turn is in love with the rich guy's daughter. Meanwhile, the hired help are doing just as badly as groundskeeper Luciano Pigozzi and his wife are ripping off the old guy, but the wife is having it off with the butler. Yeesh.

Of course, Henry gets caught lurking around the grounds of the mansion so he's the one that gets the blame for the killings, but who really is the killer? Is it you? The film starts off with a nice mystery, lags a bit, then picks up a bit at the end with a lot of the cast being killed in quite a short time. Not that there's any gore or anything you'd expect from a giallo made ten years later, mind.

One reason to watch the film is to find out the killer's motive for doing what they did, because it's hilarious and brain damaging at the same time. I guess you could say that this is the best giallo ever to be set in Bradford!