Director: Duccio Tessari
Year: 1971
Country: Italy/West Germany
Alternate Titles: Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After finding a dead body in a public park, a TV presenter is accused and convicted of the crime despite plenty of evidence to the contrary and is sent away for the crime, but when the series of killings continues, the police are forced to find the real killer before it’s too late.
Review:
This was a rather troubling if still somewhat enjoyable giallo. The main impetus for the film, whether it’s on the positive or negative side, is how the viewer responds to the first half of the film, focused on the trial itself. That we get the incident, the investigation into the crime, and the aftermath in the form of a lengthy, extended trial that takes place over multiple days, with multiple witnesses, and various accounts of what they think happened that are played out in the form of intricate flashbacks detailing everything, might be a bit much for some. This is something that is important to the proceedings and how the case is resolved, but it being as involved as it is with the amount of time it spends on this aspect of the story as the main issue here, managing to highlight the kind of impressive work done for the build-up that it accomplishes while still being too long for some fans of the style.
Once it’s done with the trial and moves to the aftermath, this one becomes far more fun with the exploits on display, offering some traditional genre material. With some stellar stalking scenes involving several victims stalked in their house or out in the community, with the victims stalked in the open, including parks or down alleyways, it becomes far more enjoyable to see that it incorporates those more traditional elements. The revelation about the actual killer and their motive might be a bit of a tough pill to swallow, with how the whole thing comes together in terms of purpose for framing the main guy, but it’s still a worthwhile enough setup that, in the film at least, becomes a logical throughline regardless of how believable it all is. Combined with the admittedly fun setup that manages to give the lengthy list of suspects some credible form of recognition for later in the film, these come together nicely enough to be quite enjoyable.
Overview: ***.5/5
A solid and likable enough unconventional giallo entry, this one has some likable factors involved here, so long as you’re aware of what’s going on in the film before giving it a chance. Those who are fine with those factors, are hardcore Eurohorror fanatics, or who are curious about it will want to give it a shot, while most others out there should heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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