The Bloodstained Shadow (1978)

Dir: Antonio Bido

Solid giallo that lowers the usual quotient of gore (there's hardly any) and nudity (there's one fleeting scene) in favour of focusing on the mystery and atmosphere. In this one, Lino Capolicchio plays a dude named Stefano (not to be confused with the dude named Stefano that he plays in "The House With Windows That Laughed") who suffers some kind of unexplained breakdown and goes to stay with his brother, a priest, on some foggy island near Venice. On Stefano's first night, his brother witnesses the murder of a local spiritualist loony and starts subsequently receiving notes that threaten to kill him too. Stefano just about manages to distract himself from his blossoming relationship with Stefania Casini long enough to work out the killer's identity. Admittedly, I didn't have Stefania Casini distracting me but, sad to say, I solved the mystery about an hour before Stefano did and this is the film's biggest weakness. It's a predictable ending but the direction is slick, the script moves quickly, it looks beautiful, there's a cool squelchy Goblin score and I enjoyed the two lead performances immensely. It's definitely worth a watch if you're into the genre and is certainly amongst the most coherent and accessible gialli out there. **1/2