As fans of this particular genre, "giallo", knows there are some characteristics that have to be included: POV-shots from the killer, black gloves and grisly, graphic murders and so on! The gloves are missing here but everything else is! The story is set in Venice where bizarre events are unfolding, leading to death-threats and murders. And everything is connected to an episode many years ago, concerning the strangulation of a young girl. There are echoes from many other giallos, like the classic "Deep Red", but unlike so many other imitators, director Antonio Bido (who made the inferior giallo "The cat's victims") has a true feeling for setting up the set-pieces. His actors are also quite good even if the dubbing, as always, may distract from the viewers pleasure. His knows how to place his camera to enhance the suspense and atmosphere. To complain a little, I too found, like a previous reviewer here, that the episodes between Casini and Capolicchio are a bit squirm-inducing. They are simply put, very boring together, and even a nude scene fails to give any sparks. And the boat trip they take together is a scene that should have been omitted (I do HATE those sunglasses) because it seems to belong in another movie altogether, like some travelogue movie. But otherwise a nice exercise in suspense and horror, even if it is talky in places (most gialli are) and takes some time to get the pace going.

Set in and around Venice and heavily mired in the world of Catholicism, The Bloodstained Shadow is a dreary and unfulfilling giallo that brings nothing new to the genre. Director Antonio Bido allows the plot to unravel extremely slowly and often seems more intent on showing us the sights of Venice rather than telling a taut murder mystery tale.

The story revolves around a group of unsavoury characters who are being bumped off one-by-one (in a relatively bloodless fashion) by a lunatic who may be connected to a murder that took place many years before. In between the lacklustre death scenes and the travelogue-style footage of Venice, we get an uninteresting love story (with a gratuitous sex scene) and loads of talking. Even the score, performed by Italian rock group Goblin, failed to impress me.

By the time the identity of the murderer was revealed (and eagle eyed viewers will probably have guessed already), I was struggling to stay awake. The Bloodstained Shadow is one for giallo completists only.