The Butterfly Room

As soon as it got listed in the official program of the 30th annual Belgian Festival of Fantastic Films, I've been eagerly anticipating to see "The Butterfly Room". For obvious reasons, I presume, namely the return of horror diva Barbara Steele – the legendary beautiful and hypnotizing lead actress of such Gothic horror milestones as "Black Sunday", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "Castle of Blood". The casting of Steele is the undeniable highlight, of course, but writer/director Jonathan Zarantonello's whole incentive of making a thriller solely revolving on female protagonists is enormously respectable and, in fact, quite innovative as the horror genre still somewhat remains a masculine world where women are often degraded to inferior roles. Apart from Barbara Steele, Zarantonello managed to gather the dignified horror ladies Erica Leerhsen ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), Camille Keaton ("I Spit on your Grave"), Adrienne King ("Friday the 13th), PJ Soles ("Halloween") and Heather Langenkamp ("Nightmare on Elm Street"). To defend the honor of the male sex, there's also Ray Wise ("Twin Peaks"). I easily daresay this is the most remarkable and jaw-dropping ensemble horror cast since many years!

The plot itself also contains great thriller potential and a worthy amount of isolated moments of greatness, but sadly I have to admit that the wholesome is too often tedious and never appears to find a stable pacing. Steele is splendid as the aging but nevertheless still very stylish and fashionable Ann, a lonely woman who reverts to her hobby of collecting butterflies and exhibiting them in a sober room where only she's allowed to enter. Ann is always eager to babysit her neighbor's young daughter and she also takes obsessive custody of a girl she met at the shopping mall, because her motherly instincts remain unanswered. But Ann's caring personality also has a grim dark side that gradually comes to the surface. "The Butterfly Room" is 100% American produced, but the atmosphere feels totally European, more particularly reminiscent of those typically lurid Italian gialli and psychedelic dramas. The roots of director Zarantonello and the decades of Barbara Steele's horror experience are clearly detectable. Despite the brooding atmosphere throughout, the vast majority of the film is regrettably tame, but luckily this gets compensated with a neatly unsettling and grisly denouement. Beautiful imagery and tasteful photography complete this worthwhile effort that particularly comes recommended to admirers of strong feminine horror ladies and nostalgia.

A strange lady keeps butterflies mounted in a special room. She has an unhealthy interest in the children around her and is a Karen to the nth degree. She manages to get her hands on the little girls, except one little girl seems to have her hands on the butterfly lady. This is an ok story in an ok movie.

I had no idea what to expect with this movie. An insane and homicidal woman pays a teenaged girl so she can pretend she is her mother. Well, I'll give it credit for a storyline I've never seen before. The cast really shines well here, by the way. I can't say I'm a good judge of acting, but I can say that I was held captive by the principal actors performance. The movie lost a few marks at the end though. Mostly for some character actions and sequences that didn't exactly make sense, but overall it was still an enjoyable movie.

"The Butterfly Room" is a curiosity for the extraordinary casting it features of actresses from famous horror movies. There's Heather Langenkamp, from "Nightmare of Elm St", Adrienne King from "Friday the 13th", P.J. Soles from "Halloween", Camille Keaton from "I Spit on Your Grave". But of course, the real star of the show is Barbara Steele, who is famous for her roles in gothic horror films such as Mario Bava's "Black Sunday".

Other than that, it doesn't have much going for it. The story is undercut by liberal flashbacks that don't really add a whole lot, and a plot that is pretty badly told besides.

I kept watching basically for Steele's performance. Here, in her mid-seventies, she is still a magnetic performer.

😱 First Impressions: From the synopsis I thought it'd play out from the victim's perspective when she befriends the old lady for the first time. I was genuinely surprised that Ann instead was the main star.

Pros: 😋 Actress who plays Ann is very brilliant- she immediately exudes all the characteristics that make her character to be 'off' the moment we see her. It does not wear off until the credits roll...

😋 The story is well written and I could feel immense sympathy for the main character / antagonist. Who is mentally unstable yet emotionally (and financially) manipulated by the girls that ironically she eventually preys on.

😋 There are some very unusual kills in the movie. A constant air of creepiness and threat that never unsettles because you know never know what might happen next.

Cons: 😪 I had some reservations about the way the movie jumps back and forth between the past and present. Sometimes it does so without indication (which is great) but others it blatantlys uses a 'rewind' effect which just spells it out for the audience.

😪 The plot while quite original- I could actually see coming; a whole hour away when it came to the fate of the first girl. Yes, it's still shocking when it is eventually revealed but I thought it could have been handled better.

😪 The child actors and actresses sometime just ruin the scenes. That's not to say they don't shine either! They have their moments especially the actress who plays Alice who is probably the oldest among the children so it's understandable. Nothing too distracting though~

😇Verdict😈 I thoroughly enjoyed the unnerving and at the same time melancholic story of Ann. The pride and effort she takes in maintaining her collection is frightening. The only issue I had were some qualms about the direction and creative decisions. Overall, a solid thriller with a memorably developed antagonist who just for all we know needed some therapy and pills. It's so sad.