Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

After seeing the high-fashion styling of the Giallo Nothing Underneath on Video yesterday,I got in the mood to play one of the Gialli DVDs that has been waiting for a viewing. Reading about the title for a number of years,I decided it was time to clean the blood from the shadow.View on the film:Caught off-guard by the producer demanding he makes a second Giallo straight away, co-writer/ (with Domenico Malan and Marisa Andalò) director Antonio Bido decision to turn an unpublished short story from a friend of his wife into a script gives the mystery a novel-like spine,via the film being divided between clues to the killer,and a rustic slice of life, showcasing the daily rituals between Don Paolo and his flock. Whilst sadly dipping into some of the worst stereotype of the genre, (they can't just be a killer,they have to be gay and a child abuser as well!) and going for a low body count, the writers build up the terror by going for a sub-section of Giallo based in the rural wilderness, where the viciousness of block glove murders is matched by an extremely cynical take on religion, and a dissection at the suspicions that the locals view all outsiders with.Limiting the number of set-pieces, Bido & cinematographer Mario Vulpiani makes each of them count by expanding on the brittle mood of the script,the stylishly first-person tracking shots are lit by grisly deaths from someone getting shoved face first into a fire,to a final tribute towards Don't Torture a Duckling. Cleverly using Murano to stand in for Venice,and having Stelvio Cipriani and Goblin both work on the great brooding score, Bido and Vulpiani give their Giallo a harsh Film Noir appearance,in thick lines of bloodstained shadows and rooms covered in decaying green creating a Jack the Ripper era vibe, along with Bido keeping the tracking shots narrow to subtly express the closed-off,isolated state of the town.Whilst most kept from getting fully involved in the mystery, sexy Stefania Casini gives a very good performance as Sellani,who Casini uses to offer the lone glimpse of warmth in the murky Giallo waters. Unable to rub a fractured memory away,Lino Capolicchio gives a terrific performance as D'Archangelo, thanks to Capolicchio capturing D'Archangelo awkwardness as an outsider around the locals and his god-fearing brother Paolo, (played by an excellent Craig Hill) which simmers into a mature feeling of doubt over how the town is run,as D'Archangelo steps into the bloodstained shadow.

A practically goreless giallo coming fairly late in that genre's cycle, "The Bloodstained Shadow" (1978) yet manages to provide all the requisite thrills that Euro horror fans might reasonably expect. This was the second picture from director Antonio Bido, whose initial giallo entry, "The Cat With Jade Eyes" (aka "Watch Me When I Kill"), released the year before, seems almost forgotten today. Drawing liberally from 15 years' worth of giallo tropes and conventions preceding it (Bido, on this Anchor Bay DVD, acknowledges his debt to Dario Argento during a modern-day, informative interview), the film remains a very worthwhile contribution to the genre.In it, the viewer meets a pair of brothers, Stefano and Paolo D'Archangelo. When Stefano, a college professor (played by Lino Capolicchio, who some may recall as the leading man in Pupi Avati's grisly giallo of 1976, "The House With the Laughing Windows"), comes to visit his older brother, a priest living on an island off the coast of Venice, he picks a rather unfortunate time to do so. On his first night in town, Paolo witnesses the murder of the local medium woman, although the murderer him/herself is not visible in the driving rain. Before long, Paolo (played by Craig Hill in a very intense manner) begins to receive threatening notes enjoining his silence, while the trio of regulars at the medium's seance get-togethers starts to meet very violent ends. To help his distraught brother, Stefano goes into Sherlock Holmes mode, accompanied by a woman whom he'd met on the train trip to the island, Sandra (played by Stefania Casini, whose barbed-wire demise in Argento's "Suspiria" the previous year will be recalled by many)....Filmed largely on the island of Murano, right off the northern coast of Venice, "The Bloodstained Shadow" certainly does have local color and ambiance to spare. The town where Stefano visits looks beautiful and at the same time run-down, engendering a seedy aura of old-world, decayed charm. Bido and his director of photography, Mario Vulpiani, treat the viewer to many glimpses of the town and its canals, as well as nearby Venice; add this picture to the list of horror films that transpire around Venice in the winter, such as "Don't Look Now" and "Who Saw Her Die?" Plotwise, Bido's film holds together fairly well, unlike many other gialli that I have seen (I'm thinking of you, "Death Walks at Midnight"!), although most viewers will benefit from a repeat viewing to appreciate all of the film's plot subtleties. As mentioned previously, this is not a particularly violent giallo picture, and even the queasiest of viewers will have no problem watching the murders--a strangling, a spear to the chest, an old woman being thrown into a roaring fireplace, a slaying via motorboat in a nighttime canal, a throat slitting--that the film dishes out. And adding hugely to the experience is yet another wonderful score done by the prog-rock outfit known as Goblin. Here, the band has arranged and performs music by composer Stelvio Cipriani, and those viewers who have enjoyed the band's contributions to the Argento films "Deep Red" and "Suspiria" will certainly be pleased with its work here. Goblin goes uncredited in the film, as does director Bido's cameo role, playing a cemetery surveyor around 4/5 of the way in. (On a side note, this viewer just recently saw yet another Italian horror film with a score by Goblin, the 1979 cult item "Beyond the Darkness," which I can also recommend. This film is twice as sick and 100 times as gruesome as "The Bloodstained Shadow," and is quite the unforgettable experience!) As for the Anchor Bay DVD itself, it looks just fine, and the 13-minute interview with the modern-day Bido reveals him to be a man with an engaging personality and a clear memory. The film has been excellently dubbed for this print (although subtitles would still have been preferable), and in all makes for a very nice evening's entertainment. Just one thing: Make sure you look up the definition of the word "breviary" before venturing in....

"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.

Dario Argento was,along with Mario Bava ,one of the two most influential forces as far Italian horror movies were concerned.As an user has already pointed out,the director desperately pretends he is Argento.Alas!Argento's sensational sense of space ,his non-Euclidian geometry cannot be imitated ,aped.Here the director tried to hold the cards and he dismally failed: horrible crimes ,strange characters(a priest that knows more than he claims,a gay /pedophile ,a medium), a scary painting (like in Argento's "Ucello dalle piume di cristallo"),and a young man whose past comes back to haunt him.Even Venice is ugly!It speaks volumes about the cinematography.