The Bloodstained Shadow (Solamente nero) (1978)

21% of users liked it
(82 ratings)

This well-handled giallo thriller was directed by Antonio Bido (Il Gatto dagli Occhi di Giada). After a young girl is murdered by a mysterious stranger, the young Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) comes home to Venice to visit his brother (Craig Hill), a priest with many enemies. As people start dying left… More This well-handled giallo thriller was directed by Antonio Bido (Il Gatto dagli Occhi di Giada). After a young girl is murdered by a mysterious stranger, the young Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) comes home to Venice to visit his brother (Craig Hill), a priest with many enemies. As people start dying left and right, Bido introduces an odd assortment of characters, including a wife-killing doctor, an abortionist, and a nutty gay Count (Massimo Serato) who molests children. Stefano tries figuring out the mystery while having an affair with an interior decorator (Suspiria's Stefania Casini). It might be argued that the plot is merely a reworking of Lucio Fulci's superior Non se Sevizio un Paperino (1971), with shades of Capolicchio's previous starring turn in Pupi Avati's La Casa dalle Finestre che Ridono (1976), but in Italian genre film, the question of derivative plotlines becomes almost superficial. It works, and should please Euro-thriller fans. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: Antonio Bido
Genres: Horror, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

On DVD: Aug 6, 2002

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
When we learn the identity of the killer and his motive, the story seems nothing less than ludicrous.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
A good giallo, not a great one.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Stephen M

A priest who has witnessed a murder begins to receive threatening messages; his brother, a neurotic professor with a bad case of the flashbacks, investigates. I would only recommend this boring and utterly formulaic <i>giallo</i> to ardent admirers of Stefania Casini, who… More
A priest who has witnessed a murder begins to receive threatening messages; his brother, a neurotic professor with a bad case of the flashbacks, investigates. I would only recommend this boring and utterly formulaic <i>giallo</i> to ardent admirers of Stefania Casini, who receives unusually high billing and a fair amount of screen time. A pity, then, that she's given nothing to do, and that some idiot thought it a good idea to straighten her wondrous red curls and dress her like a catalogue model for frumpy, middle-aged knitwear. The plot is ridiculous, the red herrings wouldn't fool an infant, the dialogue in the English language version is atrocious and the murder scenes lack flair. Although it smacks of filler, some of the wintry location photography around Venice is nice.