Butterfly Murders

Startlingly different to other Chinese martial arts films of the time, Tsui Hark's directorial debut is a lost gem. Combining traditional Chinese ghost story elements with plenty of action, atmospheric settings (the caves under the castle are particularly menacing), and a complex murder plot based around killer butterflies, this film is both entertaining and engaging. My main criticism would be the rather disjointed plot and uneven pacing, reminiscent of the average Italian Giallo, and the rather undeveloped motivation of the main villain. Neither of these however spoiled my enjoyment. I'd love to see this in a restored version.

Butterfly Murders This is an early Tsui Hark film with a neat mystery at its core. The basic story concerns the investigation of a series of death said to have been caused by deadly butterflies. It's a investigated by a journalist who enlists the aid of a couple of monks who then journey to a monastery to see what's going on. There's more to it than that, a clash of clans and a newly discovered manuscript of an important writer also figure into the mix. As a mystery this is quite good. The idea of killer butterflies is more than enough to intrigue even the most jaded mystery lover, heck it hooked me. The film also boasts some very good martial arts sequences, especially a villain in a unique suit of armor. The problem is that the two halves don't really mesh. There are times when both the mystery and the martial arts seem out of place. It's as if Hark didn't know which way to turn and put in a fight or a plot twist because he had to move things along. The seeming uncertainty makes the pace of the film uneven with moments where it moves along a good clip and others where you look at your watch wondering when its next going to move forward. Still it's a good movie. Certainly worth a look if you want to see a mystery with a unique twist or a martial arts film that's not your typical run of the mill.

This is a movie that I never heard of until prepping for the Podcast Under the Stairs' Summer Challenge Series. One of the other hosts recommended it. Now I recognized the director of Hark Tsui. I've seen a remake of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires that he did which was named Vampire Hunters. The only time that I saw that, I wasn't fully prepared for what I got. That is one I need to revisit, having broadened my taste more.

Synopsis: a journalist trying to solve a mystery in 'Martial World' enlists the aid of a master fighter and a woman named Green Shadow (Michelle Yim). They go to a mysterious castle where they come across poisonous butterflies and a black-leather-clad killer.

Now I'm not going to name all the characters as they went fast and I watched this in its native language with subtitles. What I did catch is that there have been major wars within a 36-year period. Many died and they're now in a quiet period. We see a man walking through a desert before shifting over to a pond. We follow a man from it who wants to get the memoirs of Fong published. He was supposed to be great at the martial arts. After the wars, there is less that known. The publisher is interested, but he points out this is a fake. He is then murdered. The man accused flees.

We then shift over to Fang Hongye (Siu-Ming Lau). He meets with No.10 of the Red Flags (Kuang-Li Hsia). This group fights under the banners of Tian Feng (Shu-Ton Wong). They're summoned as something has happened at Shen Castle. They are to get to the bottom of it. The rumor was that poisonous butterflies came and killed everyone. They're joined by Green Shadow.

Arriving at the castle, the spy they sent is found dead. There are tiny bites all over him. As they search the castle, they discover a servant who appears to be deaf and mute. She leads them to a secret tunnel where the residents are hiding. They're led by Shen Qing (Kuo-Chu Chang). Tian and his group try to solve the mystery of these killer butterflies. The truth of the matter will expose secrets that are hidden within the labyrinth that is under the castle.

That should recap the story and introduce some of the characters that we are working with. Where I want to start is that we have an odd blend of a martial arts movie with eco-horror. This has a fantasy feel with the minimal cast that we get. I like this setting up that this could be taking place in our world, but it also doesn't pin-point an exact location. The fantasy elements also come from the fight sequences we get in the movie. There aren't a lot of them and most of that is near the end of the movie. I'll be honest, I used to hate movies like this. People flying around while fighting and what not. I've come to appreciate it and visually it makes things more interesting.

There is an interesting mystery here. Tian and his crew are called in to get to the bottom of what happened at this castle. There are talks of a curse, which piques my interest. The aftermath of when they attack someone looked good. Butterflies aren't something that is scary and I'll be honest, this is the first movie I've seen utilize that. I like the idea though of a poisonous version at the crux here. We learn more about why they're attacking and it fits with what I know about movies from the area. They love to have characters in tune with nature and that works for me. I'm a fan of eco-horror so this fits in that.

Something else that I found interesting while on the Internet Movie Database page. They have giallo and Hong Kong giallo listed as keywords. I can see that. At the most basic concepts, we have a murder mystery here. There isn't a black glove killer, but we do get one that is in a black leather outfit. When this character shows up and a fight sequence happened, it made me think of the martial arts films I love growing up. This fighter seems unstoppable and no one can harm him. This moves into more mythology about an elite group of four called 'The Thunders'. They were secret and the best at what they did. Their lore comes into play for the end of the movie as well.

That should be enough for fleshing out the story elements. I'll take this over to the filmmaking aspects then. The first will be the acting. I thought that we had some distinct characters that were interesting. It is hard to sync them up by their names via the IMDb page, but while watching this I knew who everyone was. I did enjoy that and I'd say across the board they were good. This movie is shot well. It doesn't use a lot of the over-the-top fight scenes with wire work, but we do get some of that. The effects we do get are solid enough. What impressed me most out of this though was the soundtrack. Looking back, I could see gialli elements there. It stood out in a way that I enjoyed.

In conclusion, this is a wild movie and one that I'm glad I can say I've seen. We aren't getting the most complex story, but the elements we get work. I can even see how some could consider this a Hong Kong giallo. We have a killer in black leather who is picking off different people in this castle. There is a mystery to solve as to their identity. I think this is well made as well. The acting is solid. The effects we get are good, including the fight sequences. Soundtrack though impressed me the most there. I would say that after this first viewing, I'd say this an above average movie. I will come back to this one though with how much fun I had.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

The film debut of legendary Hong Kong director and producer Tsui Hark, The Butterfly Murders is a blend of everything and anything into what I'm going to say is an 88-minute new-wave wuxia murder mystery spectacle. If I'm honest, whatever you thought going into this film with a title like that, will not be what you get. Hark's visual style and later hallmarks are on clear display but also tangled up in a plot so confusing that if you look away for a second or even blink, you'll miss vital details and thus the whole story. There is one thing you can infer from the title, however... the butterflies do indeed kill people.

The movie begins with the mysterious death of a the paper mill owner, causing the attention of the Tien Clan into the incident. In the meantime, the owner of Shum Castle invited the people of Tien Clan and Fong Hung Yip (a chronicler of jiang hu history) to stay in their castle, telling them about the butterfly murders that has been going on there. But before Fong and Tien had found out why the butterflies are out killing people, the owner of Shum was murdered by those butterflies. As a result 3 more Jiang Hu leaders were called to the Shum Castle and the mystery of the butterfly murders gradually unfolded.

The story was filled with twists and turns, and the middle of the movie was like a detective story as Fong and the Green Shadow (an unexpected guest at the Shum Castle) were investigating the murders. An extremely interesting and entertaining plot. The set decoration was done exquisitely, especially the labyrinth-like underground tunnel and the place where butterfly specimens were displayed. Unlike other movies in the same genre, the weapons used by the characters (no swords involved) and their costume were all creatively designed. So there is a certain degree of novelty in the movie, even though it was shot in 1979. In fact to some extent, a lot of the recent Hong Kong jiang hu movies had copied the art designs of this movie.

The butterfly invading the Shum castle scene as well as the butterfly killing people scenes were beautifully shot, and reminds me a lot of Hitchcock's The Birds (the difference between the two movie is that this film explains towards the end why the butterflies are killing people).

This film was said to have opened the new page for the Hong Kong New Wave movement in movies. It also proves that Tsui Hark is quite an expert with jiang hu movies. In fact this one is better than some of his later works, like the Blade.

This is an extremely worthwhile movie for the Jiang Hu martial arts fans to watch, especially those who like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.