Review of The Bloodstained Butterfly

Very fine, if slightly unusual giallo. Unusual in the sense that this is far more serious than one might expect and the 'in your face' violence is less evident. This might have made the film less fun, especially as there is a fair amount of time spent following police procedures, plus courtroom scenes! But, it all works and one is totally involved from the killing at the start. There is not a lot of death but we see this first one several times through different people's eyes and the film holds together remarkably well, helped along by a great soundtrack, some of it Morricone. The film moves at a very good pace and even the police comings and goings and the trial are handled very well and if the ending seems a bit abrupt I think that is because it really is a bit of a surprise. Excellent stuff and a very good intro to the wonderful world of giallo.