Boss Tien, leader of the Tien Clan, receives a letter from Master Shum asking for help: there have been numerous strange deaths at his castle involving poisonous butterflies. Joining Tien and his clan are female warrior Green Shadow and scholar Fong, all of whom are in danger, not just from the deadly insects but also from a fearsome masked killer clad in black armour.The Butterfly Murders has been described as a martial arts giallo, and it's easy to see why: coming from director Tsui Hark, there is obviously kung fu, but the plot is just as bizarre as many an Italian murder mystery, with one of the craziest methods of murder imaginable (butterflies!). There is also no shortage of style, Tsui providing some stunning visuals.Unfortunately, the film didn't satisfy me as either an action flick or a horror/thriller: the martial arts are fairly unimpressive, while the story is so convoluted that it wasn't long before I didn't have a clue what was going on. A protracted scene of exposition did nothing to help matters. The Butterfly Murders is an undeniably unique debut from one of Hong Kong's most celebrated directors, but it's far from his best.

Tsui Hark's directorial debut is this very obscure kung fu murder mystery with death scenes and stylistic touches that are seemingly drawn from the Italian giallo genre. In essence, the setting is a spooky, cobwebby old castle, whose corridors and secret passageways are haunted by a mysterious figure clad in black armour who kills with butterflies. There's some further intrigue and back story about past conspiracies but essentially what you see is what you get with this one.THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS is a weird film indeed and one that's not entirely successful, although I give Hark credit for making something so unlike any other film I can mention. The stone-faced heroes seem as brutal and unforgiving as the villain of the piece while at times the bloody fights are shoehorned into the plot to give the viewer an action kick. On a visual sense this film works very well and the villain looks fantastic; the effects of the butterflies work well too and as others have noted, bring back a frisson of excitement from THE BIRDS. Overall, I find that it doesn't hold together particularly well, and at times the pacing is perhaps a little too slow and unfocused, but fans of generally weird cinema will get a kick out of it.

Butterfly Murders This is an early Tsui Hark film with a neat mystery at its core. The basic story concerns the investigation of a series of death said to have been caused by deadly butterflies. It's a investigated by a journalist who enlists the aid of a couple of monks who then journey to a monastery to see what's going on. There's more to it than that, a clash of clans and a newly discovered manuscript of an important writer also figure into the mix. As a mystery this is quite good. The idea of killer butterflies is more than enough to intrigue even the most jaded mystery lover, heck it hooked me. The film also boasts some very good martial arts sequences, especially a villain in a unique suit of armor. The problem is that the two halves don't really mesh. There are times when both the mystery and the martial arts seem out of place. It's as if Hark didn't know which way to turn and put in a fight or a plot twist because he had to move things along. The seeming uncertainty makes the pace of the film uneven with moments where it moves along a good clip and others where you look at your watch wondering when its next going to move forward. Still it's a good movie. Certainly worth a look if you want to see a mystery with a unique twist or a martial arts film that's not your typical run of the mill.

SpoilerFinally! Having come tantalizingly close to watching this all-time classic which has been presented almost perennially in the Hong Kong International Film Festival, I spotted a VCD at the Broadway Cinematheque, grabbed it in a split second and watched it the same evening. Can't believe that it was made 25 years ago. (But then, wasn't The Wizard of Oz made 65 years ago?).Among the work of the `new wave' directors returning to Hong Kong armed with `western' education and training, The Butterfly Murders from Tsui Hak is considered a classic among classics, and hence the place afford to it by the HKIFF. Deservedly so.Watching the butterfly attacks, I can't help my free association to Hitchcock's Birds. However, while there are visual and physical similarities, unlike Birds in which the attack is unexplained, The Butterfly Murders has an exceptionally well constructed plot that ties up what started out as random loose ends with neat, satisfying explanations. In that regard, it is very much like a movie made with an Aagtha Christy mystery. The narrator and also one of the main characters Fong could very well be a Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. There are a large number of characters, skillfully stratified according to their importance in the movie on the one hand, and according to their martial art abilities on the other. Yes, there are some good martial art sequences but they come only halfway through. These sequences in turn are reminiscent of Japanese movies in this genre, particularly the ninjas. The camera work is fantastic, with dexterity that's second to none even compared to today's work. The cast is good, but basically unknown to me as I wasn't around town at the time and most of the people in the movie apparently didn't carry on in the film industry. It's an absolute delight though to see a VERY young Mai Shut whom I've seen much more on theatre stage and TV screen. Another one is Ko Hung, who has all these years been active on TV and movie screens, most recently seen in PTU, albeit a very brief appearance.Must admit that I started watching The Butterfly Murders with considerable skepticism, but after 90 minutes, I was completely sold. This is indeed a vintage classic.