Terreur sur la lagune

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.