The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971) aka Una Farfalla Con Le Ali Insanguinate

2 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Written by: Gianfranco Clerici, Duccio Tessari
Actors include: Helmut Berger, Giancarlo Sbragia, Ida Galli
Genre: Horror, Giallo, Mystery, Thriller
Length: 105 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I was surprised how little I liked this, it literally put my Husband and I to sleep three times (so maybe our judgement is effected by the fact that we watched it in 3 pieces over 2 days). Still it was the dullest giallo I've ever seen, all technical chatter about the solving of crimes and then a trial that was excruciating to sit through. The subs on this were extremely small so I felt like I'd read a novel by the end and usually I don't even notice subs. The film also seemed to skip out on the gratuity of other gialli and the colors and humor and violence...all not there. The actors were fine, it was nicely filmed and the scenery was lovely...that is the only good I can think of here. The story is about a girl who turns up murdered, then they go through the nonsense to find who they think is the killer. Then we watch the court trial. Then the story picks up slightly afterwards but it's too little too late by that point. I know this is a well regarded film amongst fans of giallo so you probably don't want to take my opinion on this one.

Availability:  On DVD

L'Antichristo (1974) aka The Antichrist aka The Tempter

3 / 5 Aug '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Alberto De Martino
Written by: Gianfranco Clerici, Alberto De Martino
Actors include: Carla Gravina, Mel Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy
Genre: Drama, Horror
Length: 112 minutes
Banned: Finland

Review:
Another Italian clone of The Exorcist, and heck it's not even one of the better imitations. It has some amusing things going on including loads of pea soup vomit, and one heck of a demonic performance from Carla Gravina as Ippolita a crippled Woman. Ippolita is given past life regression and of course discovers that she was a witch who was burned because she took in the devil as her lord. Once again she's tempted with the option as he offers her the ability to walk again. Before you know it she's freaking out, yelling things, using different voices and soon she's trying to bed and destroy Men! Oh and there is a goat scene that must be seen to be believed. The film is overly long and so much of it should have been condensed, and although it's not a happy film, it's not as dark as it should have been. It's not very satisfying on a horror front either, it's not even creepy at all and since it's all rehash it's not like it's surprising either. They did manage to pull a few nifty moments but for the most part it was pretty uninteresting unfortunately.

Availability:  On DVD