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Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) has come to stay with his older brother, the
priest Paolo (Craig Hill), who lives on an island near Venice, for a few
days ... but even the first night heralds that the days will be less than
relaxing, as Paolo witnesses a murder - a medium and blackmailer is
strangled - right outside his house. And as if that wasn't enough, Paolo
also soon receives notes threatening his life. Stefano soon starts to
investigate on one hand, and on the other he courts lovely Sandra
(Stefania Casini), and the two soon become a couple.
Meanwhile of course people start dying like flies, in some quite
inventive manners (I liked the one best where one guy is dragged alongside
a boat for quite some time as a means of escape, until the killer slightly
hits that boat with another boat, with the guy in the middle), but
everyone fails to see a pattern ... only Stefano finds something that
might relate to the murders as well as to his own past: a painting by
Sandra's bed-ridden mother ... but then even Sandra's mother is killed and
the painting is stolen ...
Finally it all points to Signora Nardi (Juliette Mayniel), but when
Stefano pays her a visit, he finds even her dead, her throat cut.
Returning to his brother he can just stop Signora Nardi's mad son - whom
she has kept hidden from the world - trying to kill Paolo.
Of course, the mad son would be the perfect culprit ... but something's
still not quite right, and then Stefano has to realize his own brother,
Paolo the priest, is the killer. He has killed a girl years ago, and
Stefano did know about it but has repressed it all the years (the painting
has actually something to do with this), and all the people he now had to
kill were trying to blackmail him. Realizing he is found out, Paolo throws
himself from the nearest clocktower. End.
The Blood-Stained Shadow is not an all bad giallo (= the
especially Italian version of the murder mystery, often involving mad
serialkillers), it's beautifully shot and competently directed. That said
though, the film, is not particularly good either: The story is way too
convoluted, to a point that one doesn't even care too much anymore, it's
overpopulated by unimportant supporting characters who do their best to
look suspicious, and its main story as such does not make too much sense
once pieced together (how does the painting fit in, why did the priest
kill the girl, why wasn't he blackmailed until now, what does the killing
of the medium - who was not killed by him,as much was established - at his
doorstep have to do with the story, ...), and the subplot of Stefano's
romance with Sandra does little for the film's narrative.
As I said, it's not bad. It's not good either.
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