Leofwine_draca THE BLOODSTAINED SHADOW is an engaging if lesser giallo from director Antonio Bido. The problem with the film is its story, which is all too familiar from movies that came previously, in particular Argento's DEEP RED which is a big influence here. The Venice setting is a decent one but the film can't help but resemble Nic Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW at times and of course it can't hope to hold a candle to that particular masterpiece.Otherwise this is a watchable enough piece with a story that resembles a jigsaw puzzle, with the viewer required to put the whole thing together. Some unexplained murders are assailing the main cast members, who are two brothers, a priest and a professor. Historical crimes, romance, mental illness, and a typical gloved murderer are all elements of the story. The cast is generally good, giving solid turns to sometimes clichéd characters, but the real star is Bido, who brings style rather than gore to his movie. The best parts are the atmospheric stalking sequences that precede every murder.

hwg1957-102-265704 A young professor goes to stay with his brother who is a priest and murders start to occur following on from the previous murder of a schoolgirl many years before. Not quite a full blooded giallo but the narrative is clear and all loose ends are tied up satisfactorily. The acting is decent. The two best things are the lovely location photography in Murano, Venice (some shots could be framed as paintings) and another fine music score from the prolific Stelvio Cipriani.It is however too long and could have been cut by 20 minutes at least. Too much time is given to the romance between Sanda and Stefano. Shots of them walking the streets are pretty but just hold the film up needlessly. Not in the Argento league but not bad.

gridoon2018 Antonio Bido came late to the slasher party, and didn't bring many presents to it. Looking up his filmography on IMDb, I discovered that - by chance - I have seen his other giallo ("Watch Me When I Kill" ) as well, although I don't remember anything about it! But, looking at the IMDb comment I left less than a year ago, I called it "dull". That's the same main word I would use to describe "The Bloodstained Shadow", too: nearly every scene in this movie seems to be padded to three times its necessary length. It's an ordeal to watch. Only the offbeat, sometimes experimental score and a couple (literally) of killings may wake viewers from their slumber. The ending, if you get that far, is pretty garbled as well. The English dubbing on the Blue Underground DVD version is generally poor (in an unintentionally funny moment, the leading man screams at the top of his lungs "PAOLO, CALM DOWN"!), but the picture quality is fine. *1/2 out of 4.

Red-Barracuda 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.