I took in THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY (Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate - 1971) on SHUDDER recently and....I liked it? It's a strange little film and an interesting crime giallo (unlike some other more slasher giallo films) with a strong storyline that really keeps things moving, but in odd ways.
The spoiler free synopsis is that a young woman is killed and rolls down a hill in front of several witnesses. A man flees the scene of the crime and in true gialli style, we don't see who it is. The police investigate and the plot rolls out a series of trials to see if the man is guilty or not. Did he kill this poor 17 year old girl or is something else going on?
And things get rather odd from there. There are subplots all over and it's almost like watching two different movies at one time at one point. I was riveted as I tried to sort out what was happening and why. I was invested and I loved that I was!
Some giallo films are just a means to bloody endings of pretty men and women. There's some insane plot that has someone killing folks off one by one to hide their involvement in a crime or dastardly happening. There are often scenes of someone saying, "OH! It's YOU!" before being dispatched. However the Bloodstained Butterfly is really a straight crime procedural until the third act. An act that had me saying, "Wait...what?! Are you SERIOUS?!" out loud because I couldn't believe where things went. I really dug it.
On the production side, it's on more of the A list than the comical B list. The dubbing was well done, the camera work is rather good, and the acting is super solid. So, you won't be left giggling at comically goofy voice dubbing here. The director - Duccio Tessari - is probably best known for films like A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, but he also did a bunch of "sandal and sand" Hercules films in the 60s.
It may not be my favorite giallo movie, but I was happy that I made time to watch it. It's solid and well worth a viddy! Check it!
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