The Bloodstained Shadow 
AKA Solamente Nero
Directed By Antonio Bido 
Released: 1978 
Starring: Lino Capolicchio, Stefania Casini, Craig Hill, and Massimo Serato 
DVD Released By Anchor Bay Entertainment 2002
Running Time: 109 minutes 

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Professor Stefano D'Archangelo (Lino Capolicchio) is taking some time off in Venice to rest and visit his brother, the priest, Don Paolo (Craig Hill). On his first night there, a fraudulent medium is murdered and the suspects include the people she was allegedly blackmailing. Meanwhile, Stefano develops a relationship with Sandra Sellani (Stefania Casini), an interior designer also in town on vacation. When Stefano sees one of her mother's paintings, something inside him stirs and he begins to piece together clues to solve the murder. The number of suspects decreases as more of them turn up dead but the case still becomes more complicated as new and confusing evidence is found. 

Antonio Bido (Watch Me When I Kill) directs this somewhat dry but sharply plotted Giallo. The Bloodstained Shadow sports some great cinematography (the slow motion sequences are fantastic) and one of the coolest musical scores from Stelvio Cipriani and Goblin that I've ever heard. The footage of Venice is gorgeous and the lighting is very fine without being flashy. The storyline works quite well, especially at the end when, during a hallucination, the victims confront their killer. 

Lino Capolicchio is perfect as the somewhat nerdy Professor Stefano. It's a similar character to Stefano (that name again!) in The House With Laughing Windows but here Capolicchio goes for a much clutzier route. In fact, it's surprising that he manages to get the girl at all. Speaking of Sandra, the beautiful Stefania Casini (Suspiria, Blood For Dracula) plays an odd character here in a film filled with complete freaks. The rest of the cast is given the direction to look suspicious and shifty-eyed and boy do they ever deliver. 

Craig Hill, star of at least a dozen spaghetti westerns, does one hell of a job as Don Paolo. This hypocritical bastard of a character is very convincing as he condemns everyone around him as sinners and heretics when he has something in his past to be terribly ashamed of. This is a not-so-subtle attempt by Bido to criticize the church through a corrupt priest.

What the film lacks in blood and gore, it makes up for in mood. There is a sense of unease and conspiracy throughout The Bloodstained Shadow but a higher body count sure would spice things up. If there's time enough for Stefano and Sandra to go on a romantic boat ride, then damn it, there's time for a beheading (or two). Sadly, there are no beheadings but there is one hell of a brutal murder where someone's head is stuffed into a roaring fireplace. Good times!

The bottom line is that The Bloodstained Shadow will satisfy any Giallo cravings you may be experiencing. Despite the fact that it lacks the gore that Italian horror fans might expect, there is still plenty of black-gloved mischief and red herrings to go around. It's a shame that Antonio Bido has yet to return to the genre (or directing for that matter), his Giallo contributions (including this one) are quite good.