Grindhouse regulars must've been shocked in l965 when this way-above-average exploitation film began its cycle on the marquees of theaters along 42nd Street.
Scream of the Butterfly is strikingly photographed by Ray Stickler who used bright, white lighting that brings out the stunning beauty of its female star--the incomparable Nelida Lobato, famous at that time as a dancer and singer. She gives us an unforgettable portrait of a man-eating temptress who has no hesitation bedding down a gorgeous hunk although she has only been married for a few weeks.
She's shown here as the immoral sex-pot Marla who marries a rich man but who grovels and swallows her equally gorgeous boy toy, Nick Navarro. The latter was also an aberration in the soft-core flicks of that era because he was so gorgeous and sexy looking.
Most of the male leads in those soft-core flicks were heavy, middle-aged looking slobs, buddies of the film makers.
Nelida has several crowd-pleasing moments when her perfectly proportioned body is revealed. The strongest and most unforgettable moment in the film comes when Marla and her stud make love in the surf as a thunderstorm rages. The lushly romantic music is perfectly crafted to enhance this moment and raises this well-done movie to memorable heights. As was typical of that era, although Nelida is completely nude in her love scenes, her boyfriend always keeps his pants on, even while rolling with her in the waves. This is a stunning sequence in this unforgettable film noir that should have been better promoted and distributed to mainstream theaters.
My only complaint is the way too much dialogue scenes in the office of the district attorney as they argue and argue about the fate of the young killer. But--that ending is a big jolt--we don't see it coming which makes this movie even more fascinating.
Eber Lobato, who produced this movie, was the lucky husband of the silver-haired sex queen who never made another film--what a shame and a loss. Another factor which raises this art house erotic classic is that both Nelida and Nick were not the usual soft-porn performers mostly male audiences saw at that time. Both were unusually beautiful--which makes their absence from movies thereafter a shame. Both performers were worthy of big studio careers. Nelida died at the shocking age of 47 in her home in Buenos Aires. Nick Novarro vanished totally from the scene. Wherever he is now, he should be proud of his haunting presence as the beautiful David in an extraordinary cult movie that definitely deserves a bigger audience.
