User reviews

The Blood Stained Shadow is the second – and last - giallo that Antonio Bido directed. His other one was Watch Me When I Kill (a.k.a. The Cat's Victims). While Bido may never be considered one of the masters of the genre, I actually think his two efforts are rather good and at the very least he should be considered one of the best purveyors of the genre in the late 70's. There are some aspects that do stand out in Bido's gialli, making them distinctive. Firstly, there is a somewhat slightly more serious tone and secondly, and most significantly, both films dispense with young sexy women as murder victims. In fact, in both movies it's middle aged characters that end up as the killer's targets. It might not sound like much to some but it is highly unusual, and both of Bido's gialli follow the same pattern. So hats off to the director for being a little bit different. Other than an obligatory sex scene, The Blood Stained Shadow has really no sleaze factor at all.

The story begins with a mysterious slow-motion murder of a young girl. Several years later a maths teacher returns to his home town, where upon a series of murders ensues. Events seem to revolve around a séance group of local bad eggs.

This is another one of those occasional gialli that is set in Venice. The off-season spookiness of the canal streets was also used to good effect in films such as Don't Look Now and Who Saw Her Die? This city does give off a unique ambiance, which is once again utilised well. The film also includes several other odd details in its plot that will be familiar to fans of gialli, such as the weird painting, the retarded boy in the cellar and the present being governed by a terrible event from the past. All of this is put together to construct a film which, while possibly a bit overlong, has a mystery that does actually work in that it isn't too obvious where it's going and there are some decent red herrings sprinkled throughout.

Lino Capolicchio leads the picture. Many of you will be familiar with him from his turn in Pupi Avati's stand-out giallo The House with Laughing Windows. He's an interesting leading man. He's doesn't have the machismo of a Franco Nero, or the shiftiness of a Tomas Milian nor is he as suave as Jean Sorel. He plays characters a little more nerdy, which isn't so common in giallo leading men. He's good and is definitely a good choice for this more serious minded example of the genre. His leading lady is Stefania Cassini, most famous for her turn in Suspiria. I find her really very attractive and a good enough actress. Unfortunately, like here, she is normally dubbed into English by voice actresses. This is a mistake, as anyone who has seen the cult movie Blood for Dracula can confirm she has a beautiful, extremely heavy Italian accent that sounds simply divine. Ah well! The other significant contribution is the music. Stelvio Cipriani is the named composer but seemingly the legendary prog-rock outfit Goblin were key collaborators. It does sound a little Goblinesque at times - though not as good as their usual output to be fair. Still, it's a good soundtrack overall.

The Blood Stained Shadow is definitely recommended to giallo enthusiasts.

As fans of this particular genre, "giallo", knows there are some characteristics that have to be included: POV-shots from the killer, black gloves and grisly, graphic murders and so on! The gloves are missing here but everything else is! The story is set in Venice where bizarre events are unfolding, leading to death-threats and murders. And everything is connected to an episode many years ago, concerning the strangulation of a young girl. There are echoes from many other giallos, like the classic "Deep Red", but unlike so many other imitators, director Antonio Bido (who made the inferior giallo "The cat's victims") has a true feeling for setting up the set-pieces. His actors are also quite good even if the dubbing, as always, may distract from the viewers pleasure. His knows how to place his camera to enhance the suspense and atmosphere. To complain a little, I too found, like a previous reviewer here, that the episodes between Casini and Capolicchio are a bit squirm-inducing. They are simply put, very boring together, and even a nude scene fails to give any sparks. And the boat trip they take together is a scene that should have been omitted (I do HATE those sunglasses) because it seems to belong in another movie altogether, like some travelogue movie. But otherwise a nice exercise in suspense and horror, even if it is talky in places (most gialli are) and takes some time to get the pace going.

In this heavily plotted Giallo from director / co-writer Antonio Bido, two brothers have a reunion that unfortunately goes sour when graphic murders begin to take place. Stefano D'Archangelo (Lino Capolicchio), the professor, works the clues while taking the time to romance Sandra (Stefania Casini), a new acquaintance, while his priest brother Don Paolo (Craig Hill) is worried that he will be among the victims when he witnesses an assault and soon starts receiving threatening notes.

Not all fans of Italy's Giallo genre may be too enamored with this one as it simply isn't as trashy as some of them. The murders do get fairly intense (one victim has their head shoved into a roaring fire), but the amount of bloodshed is minimal (title of the film notwithstanding). There is also a sex scene and nudity from Casini, but these are done in a tasteful manner, perhaps too tasteful for some viewers.

While Bidos' direction is good, he never lets style take over, preferring to concentrate first and foremost on telling the story. He lets his film unfold at a very deliberate pace; he devotes a fair amount of time to Stefanos' courting of the lovely Sandra, who works as a painter. As a result, one might grow impatient waiting for the next major set piece.

Still, when these set pieces come, they prove to be worth the wait, such as a sequence of Sandra being stalked as she heads home. The story twists are entertaining, and keep the audience guessing; there are of course red herrings, and the identity of the disturbed killer might come as a shock to some of you.

One of the strongest assets here is the way Bido utilizes the Venice setting; the sights and sounds are a pleasure to take in. The music score by Stelvio Cipriani runs hot and cold - sometimes it's quite atmospheric, at other times it's just too offbeat to really work, especially when it's used for suspense sequences.

The cast is solid, with Capolicchio and Hill making for a likeable sibling duo; Capolicchio is also a refreshingly different sort of hero as he has a real average Joe quality.

This isn't among the absolute best of its kind but it's still pretty good; aficionados should be reasonably satisfied. The ending is awfully abrupt, though.

Seven out of 10.

Watch Me While I Kill wasn't the best giallo in the world, so it's nice to Antonio Bido step things up a bit in this one, even though it's nearly two hours long.

In a place that isn't quite Venice but nearby, young Stefano returns home to stay with his brother, a local priest. Stefano suffers from flashbackitis, a disease where he keeps seeing a small crying child, but it's not all doom and gloom because it looks like local lass Stefania Casini is into him.

His priest brother is also a bit of a gossip, and fills Stefano in on the local freaks, including a phoney medium who may or may not be blackmailing her customers, which includes a backstreet abortionist with a dark secret, a doctor, and some rich gay guy who could also be a nonce. Then there's Andrea, the bereaved father of a girl we saw murdered at the start of a film, and Stefania Casini's crippled stepmother, who paints pictures, one of which sets off Stefano's flashbacks! Its like Eastenders, really.

After someone rather stupidly murders the medium in front of the priest's house, the priest starts receiving death threats, Stefano embarks on an investigation (while also putting the moves on Stefania Casini), and someone pulls on those old black gloves to do some murdering...

While overlong and very Argento-like, this is still a solid giallo with loads of twists and turns, and plenty of atmosphere too, due to the almost-Venice setting (I probably should have looked up where this takes place). There was enough going on to keep me entertained, and although I did eventually figure out who the killer was, I was still pretty satisfied by the proceeding.

You could also make a game out of what scene you've previously witness in a preceeding Giallo film: the Cemetary scene from Cat O Nine Tails, the crazy son hidden by his mother in Case of The Bloody Iris, the clue in the painting from Bird With The Crystal Plumage. Some people hate this one by the way.

Directed by Antonio Bido, this is by far his best film of his career (Though, admittedly, his only other film of any note is the 1977 Giallo "Watch Me When I Kill").

The film's narrative is relatively typical of a giallo: Someone is killing people in a small village and a priest tries to unravel the mystery of the killer's identity. What's atypical is the film's tone. The film is noteworthy for being one of the more serious and mature of the giallo genre. Bido avoids the giallo's often sleazy nature and embraces the Gothic and religious aspects instead.

Another interesting point is how the film focuses on two main protagonists, the priest and his brother, and how they collaborate with one another to discover the killer. Interesting narrative method having two focal points rather than one, not original but unconventional.

The performances are generally good with Craig Hill as giving an impressive performance as the priest. He exhibits a broad range of emotions from anger to sorrow, from determination to helplessness, and makes it totally convincing.

The cinematography is main feature of the film because it is its strongest trait. The visuals portray a wet and muggy Italy, with fog and mist enveloping the landscapes and rain falling, creating pools of water. This all builds a gloomy and foreboding atmosphere that conveys feelings of isolation, loneliness, dread, anguish, and death.

The characters are generally good as well, each with a strong history and believable relationships between one another. The greatest of which is the relationship between the priest and his brother, which is totally believable because not only of both of their performances, but also the development of their characters.

And lastly, the film features some wonderful aesthetic qualities through it's use of editing. Bido inter splices Catholic and Religious imagery to make comments about the characters and the religious institution as a whole.

The film has a few problematic issues. First of all, the narrative isn't clearly focused. The film appears to be more concerned with the visuals and the individual, isolated events in the film rather than the mystery as a whole. Thus, this damages the film's impact as it approaches the end, because here the mystery plays center stage but is underdeveloped.

The narrative also suffers from several of the genre's conventions and clichés, thus leading to a sort of predictability of the story. The film features the typical gloved killer, the extended stalking sequences leading to a gruesome death, the multiple red herrings, childhood traumas, and a host of other archetypes of the giallo.

Also, the final revelation stretches plausibility and thus may become unacceptable to some viewers, especially when one recalls the events that have transpired throughout the film.

Never the less, this is one of the better giallos out there.

Recommended to those who enjoy the mystery/thriller genre, though it is not essential unless you are a fan of the giallo genre. For the casual film viewer, there are better examples of the giallo genre and thus would recommend that you skip this and view one of the apexes of the genre such as Suspiria.

Not unlike the previous years offering from the same director, Watch Me When I Kill, this giallo is somewhat different from the usual genre fare and despite being as complicated as his other and once more with a red herring on every corner and not the bloodiest of kills, this is most enjoyable. The added benefit here is the Venice setting and not the chocolate box, pretty, pretty Venice but the more realistic representation with dark narrow alleyways, cold mist rising from the dark waters and gloomy buildings in various states of decay. There are even more scenes set in the evocative, off the beaten track, Murano. But no delicate glass blowing to be seen, more the back gardens, back alleys and backwaters, all adding to the gloom of this evocative and fascinating picture.

Nothing more than an honest italian giallo, this movie tells the torbid story of a string of murders in a small town in the Venice laguna. A young mathematician will find the answer to one of his early nightmares, but he will not like the taste of it. A good music and a good atmosphere don't totally hide a lacking script (a few of the acts of the murderer are without a real, logical explanation), but this is the norm in several of more routinely italian gialli.

(aka: The Bloodstained Shadow)

As far as giallos go, this one isn't too bad. It's got a fairly good script that doesn't insult my intelligence, although it does give away too many clues in the last 15 minutes, right before the climax which has a nice touch to it.

And it's a fitting end for the perpetrator that comes totally unexpected. Unfortunately the perpetrator falls into predictable giallo cliché that if you see enough of these films, it won't take long to figure out who the killer is. I only wish these 70s giallo films had a little more imagination in this regard.

The plot consists of a teacher from Rome visiting his priest brother in a town near Venice. There is a small séance group there that consists of unsavory townsfolk who are periodically being murdered off around the time our hero arrives in his brother's home town.

The murders aren't particularly bloody or use too many cheesy special effects, which in and of itself is surprising considering other films of this genre. I'm glad they showed some restraint here.

The Anchor Bay DVD is up to it's usual high standards using a pretty clean widescreen print along with a 12 minute commentary by director Bido.

I give it a 5 out of 10 for being predictable yet having a decent touch at the end.

"The Bloodstained Shadow" is a film that requires patience. Had I not seen several giallos already, I might have fallen asleep in parts of this one. That being said, for giallo fans, this one is a worthy addition to your collection.

It starts out with a professor going back to his hometown, a small Italian island, and reuniting with his brother, a priest. The two become entangled in a web of murder and deception and it is somehow linked to the murder of a young girl year earlier. The setting is remarkable, the music is great and the acting is over par.

Then, we have the 'required' giallo elements. A love story. A suspect. Two suspects. Red herrings. Vague clues. Flashbacks. It gets a little ridiculous. By the time we find out who the killer is, (the first person I guessed,) we're a little worn out. There is a cheap shot which I cannot reveal because I'd give away the movie, but lets just say it's not fair to the viewer.

All being said, a really good ambiance and awesome setting give this film some merit. I'd recommend it to a hardcore giallo fan.

PS: now we know where the Blue Underground theme song comes from.

6 out of 10, kids.

Set in and around Venice and heavily mired in the world of Catholicism, The Bloodstained Shadow is a dreary and unfulfilling giallo that brings nothing new to the genre. Director Antonio Bido allows the plot to unravel extremely slowly and often seems more intent on showing us the sights of Venice rather than telling a taut murder mystery tale.

The story revolves around a group of unsavoury characters who are being bumped off one-by-one (in a relatively bloodless fashion) by a lunatic who may be connected to a murder that took place many years before. In between the lacklustre death scenes and the travelogue-style footage of Venice, we get an uninteresting love story (with a gratuitous sex scene) and loads of talking. Even the score, performed by Italian rock group Goblin, failed to impress me.

By the time the identity of the murderer was revealed (and eagle eyed viewers will probably have guessed already), I was struggling to stay awake. The Bloodstained Shadow is one for giallo completists only.

Sounds a bit strange that Antonio Bido just had few movies as director until now, this second entry on Giallo where he co-wrote and directed, however was his final movie in this specific genre, here he brings a holy figure of the Church, a Priest Don Paolo (Craig Hill) when arrives nearby Venice his young brother Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) a professor stressed by strange visions of the past over an unsolved murder of a girl, Lino has an occasional meeting at train's cabin with Sandra (The eye candy Stefania Casini), Lino was received warmly by Don Paolo, implying a true fraternal feelings, the Priest introduces to Lino his worries over weird facts in the little community, about a small group consisting by a Medium, a Doctor, a Middle age woman and a decaying drunkard Count, soon starts other crimes, even linked on those small group pointed out by Don Paolo, wisely the Director puts countless clues trying deceives the viewer, also Bido exposes on slight portions two sensitive matter which the Church faces nowadays, one woman complains to the Priest that his boy has been abused by the Count Pedrazzi (Massimo Serato) on his confession, indeed the rotten Count probable did such backbiting, due it was widely clear on his odd behavior with your butler, further he presents the Priest as all we know recognize as an unambiguous character, good movie!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

BLOODSTAINED SHADOW begins with the slow-motion murder of a young school girl.

Some years later, Stefano D'Archangelo (Lino Capolicchio) arrives in Venice to see his brother, Don Poalo (Craig Hill) the local Priest, who seems to have nothing good to say about the townspeople or what they're up to! Especially, a medium and her group of followers.

It's not long before Don Poalo witnesses a murder committed by a black-gloved maniac. Threats, clues, and further homicides soon follow. Of course, the police are completely baffled.

SHADOW is an interesting giallo, complete with a menacing killer, haunting music, and tremendous use of the canals and architecture. Venice is an amazing place, and always makes the perfect setting for films such as this. There are also some nice, ominous touches, including a certain item left as a warning for Don Poalo.

A solid thriller / mystery with a "towering" finale!...

The Bloodstained Shadow doesn't do anything you haven't seen a million times over and the killer is so obvious from the start that you spend most of the overstuffed run time wondering why no one is calling out this person. It doesn't have the style, excess, or general unease of an Argento giallo and, instead, feels uncomfortably sandwiched somewhere in between a movie of the week and a less spirited episode of Murder, She Wrote: Jessica Goes To Italy.

There are a few attempts at the sleaze a lot of giallos are known for, but it's a mostly polite, too-classy affair with only the occasional instance of camp when a priest and child molesting piano teacher have a battle over who is more corrupt.

The characters are poorly drawn and uninteresting to follow and the film just doesn't seem to understand this and treats us to long sequences of them going about their day to day lives. Even worse, most of the murder scenes (the highlight of just about any giallo) aren't very creative or interesting.

Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) goes to Venice to visit his brother--priest Don Paolo (Craig Hill). While there certain people are being murdered for no rhyme or reason. Also Don Paolo is getting letters threatening his life.

Plot wise there's nothing new here. You've seen these characters (and situations) in giallos of the past. Also Capolicchio and Stefania Casini (playing his blank girlfriend Sandra) are pretty terrible actors. We're supposed to identify with them but they don't come across at all. And, of course, there's the obligatory pointless sex scene and a long trip through the canals that leads to nothing. Still this works. The cinematography here is just great--virtually every shot here takes your breath away. Hill is very good as Don Paolo--more of him could only have helped the movie. There's also a great score by the group Goblin--almost as good as the one for "Suspiria". The ending is effective too. So--it's no great shakes but you could do worse. See a wide screen print. I give it a 7.

"The Bloodstained Shadow" is Antonio Bido's second giallo in two years' time, and he actually makes the exact same mistakes here as he did with his previous effort "Watch me when I kill". The basic plot is mysterious and intriguing enough, and several of the murders are nicely gory and inventive, but the film contains way too many dull sequences and slow pacing, while the search for the killer's identity isn't involving enough for the viewer. The character drawings remain too vague, characters that are clearly important to the plot are only introduced late into the film and there's too much interval between the different murders in order to keep the story compelling enough. And last but not least, experienced giallo- fanatics will sadly notice that Antonio Bido is often a copycat director who borrows the vast majority of his ideas, whether in terms of plotting or stylistic, from other and more masterful directors like Argento, Fulci, Martino and others. Stressed-out college professor Stefano returns to his hometown, a little island community close to Venice, for a vacation and stays with his brother Paolo who's the town's priest. At night, Paolo witnesses a vicious strangulation from his bedroom window and begins to receive menacing little notes shortly after. More prominent community members are killed off and Stefano investigates the case, along with his new and lovely girlfriend Sandra. The murders lead back to the murder case of a young girl, which occurred many years ago but always remained unsolved. Admittedly the denouement and eventual revelation of the killer's identity are surprising, but not entirely satisfying and – as said – uninvolving. The already slow pacing is too often interrupted with pointless footage, like an awful "we are falling in love" montage (mainly taking place in a speedboat) and a boring sex sequence. It's best to focus on the few good elements instead, like two terrifically gruesome murders (one has to do with a burning fireplace and the other takes place in the canal), relatively good use of the narrow and atmospheric Venetian alleys and the musical score of the always reliable Stelvio Cipriani. But the absolute and undeniable highlight of the film is one particular scene in which a certain character goes berserk and mutilates a poor and defenseless doll. Only during this moment, Antonio Bido reaches the same quality as his aforementioned giallo role-models.

Arriving in a remote Venice community, a professor visiting his priest brother finds him implicated in the middle of a crime spree as a vicious serial killer strikes those around him for a special crime committed in the past and forces him to look into the ongoing spree to help his brother's sanity.

There was a lot to like with this effort. Among the film's best features is the use of its localized setting to help bring about a sense of communal harmony in the face of the murders. The notion of a closed-off society with a backward mentality when it comes to keeping everything contained within the confines of the community by a corrupt aristocracy creates the kind of regional community that lets the deranged secrets present build up into the fiery outburst shown here. This is every bit the kind of interconnected community that restricts involvement with each other and tends to look at everything outside as being suspicious and worthy of blame, except when it comes to the religious aspects. With the community mostly disinterested in what's going on, especially through the advent of a Church confessional for secret-keeping, there's a wholly intriguing and worthwhile setup here when it comes to the community present here. As well, the film generates plenty of fun times with its Venetian frameworks in the stalking and murder scenes. The instigating attack in the village courtyard through the driving rain is a classic genre sequence that is quite inventive and genius overall. Other scenes, where one victim is stalked through their house only to be speared to death while in a collection of armored statues, another finds a wheelchair-bound victim confront a break-in attempt that sees them shoved face-first into a fireplace or the spectacularly over-the-top sequence of the victim being crushed between two speedboats in the Venetian canals, come off with plenty of strong thriller elements and leave the film with memorable moments. Combined with technically impressive skills and a wonderfully engrossing mystery, there's a lot to like here. The film does have some negative aspects. One of the more obvious factors involved here is the exaggerated running time that makes this last far longer than necessary due to several unneeded sequences. A conversation with the girl on the train while arriving on the island goes nowhere and serves this no purpose other than a meet-cute that could've been arranged in other manners, much like the continuous trips back-and-forth to the Count's house for counselling on the mystery that result in his being thrown out for fear of using his visit as a chance to preach at him, leaving the entire excursion pointless. Such scenes conflict greatly with the more intense and focused investigation into the crime spree as those disappear for such long stretches of times that it feels somewhat leaden due to that. That also takes into account the finale, which is somewhat long and feels like it runs on forever after the revelations are made when it could've been shortened significantly to tell the same story. Overall, though, it's still a rather enjoyable entry.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Full Nudity, Language and a mild sex scene.