NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Camera Obscura - Region 'B' Blu-ray (July 2019): Camera Obscura out of Austria/Germany have transferred Duccio Tessari's The Bloodstained Butterfly to new 4K-restored Blu-ray transfer. There is a slight framing discrepancy with the Arrow showing it may very well be from a different source. The colors and contrast and remarkably improved on the Camera Obscura Blu-ray appearing far richer and deeper than the Arrow. It is absolutely gorgeous showing impressive grain textures. This also gives the impression of improved detail. It is also on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. By the matched captures below you can see for yourself the improvement in this new 4K-restoration.

NOTE: We have added 29 more large resolution Camera Obscura Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Camera Obscura use linear PCM 2.0 mono tracks (16-bit) in the original Italian language with an optional German DUB. Arrow win in this area with 24-bit audio - notable in the jazz-infused score is by Gianni Ferrio (Death Occurred Last Night, Crime of Passion, Kreola) and, of course, we hear plenty of Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto - it's a wonderful piece supporting the viewing experience with the mysterious atmosphere befitting the genre.  Camera Obscura offer optional English or German subtitles on their Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

The Camera Obscura Blu-ray has some of the same extras as the 2016 Arrow. same Helmut Berger Intro found on the Arrow, plus trailers and photo gallery. The package includes a second disc PAL-standard, Region 2, DVD with the repeated hour-long A Butterfly Named Evelyn (although running about 4-minutes longer - NTSC timing?) which spends time with Evelyn Stewart - referencing her roles in spaghetti westerns and Giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. She has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Ida Galli, Isli Oberon and Arianna. It's quite interesting hearing her history. Mad Dog Helmut is also her but runs about 1.5 minutes short than on the Arrow. I will look into these time discrepancies although they may be editing preferences. This has Helmut Berger discussing his career and memories of shooting The Bloodstained Butterfly. Me and Duccio, is also on both editions, and runs eight minutes with Lorella De Luca, actress and wife of Duccio Tessar discussing the writer / director. New is Red Carnation which runs almost 21-minutes with Fabio Melelli, a movie historian, who wrote Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang. Il cinema di Duccio Tessari referencing the 1966 Italian spy movie directed by Tessari. He talks about Tessari's importance in Italian cinema as a screenwriter (he wrote the script for A Few Dollars More) and director. It is in Italian with English or German subtitles. These featurettes are described as Camera Obscura and Freak-o_Rama productions. We lose the commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman, the Howarth visual essay and the impressive booklet although Camera Obscura does include a 16-page booklet with English and German text with an essay by Pelle Felsch.

This key Giallo looks amazing on this new Camera Obscura Blu-ray package. The video is a marked improvement over the older Arrow. The audio is a notch below though - and it loses the English DUB, and commentary etc. Camera Obscura (see their definitive River's Edge Blu-ray) are doing exceptional work and we will continue to watch them closely. I was immensely impressed with the image quality of their The Bloodstained Butterfly. Giallo completists will want this.

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Arrow (August 20th, 2016): This is the another Arrow Blu-ray release that is being simultaneously released in both region 'B' (US) and 'B' (UK). It is the exact same package on both sides of the pond to the best of our knowledge.

NOTE: As Michael Brooke informs us on Facebook in regards to Day of Anger: 'As the producer of Arrow's release, I can confirm first hand that the UK and US discs are absolutely identical: we only paid for one master, so there's no doubt about this at all! Which means that no matter which package you buy, the discs will play in any Region A or B setup (or Region 1 or 2 for DVD - and in the latter case the video standard is NTSC, to maximise compatibility). The booklets are also identical, but there are minor cosmetic differences on the disc labels and sleeve to do with differing copyright info and barcodes, and the US release doesn't have BBFC logos.' The Bloodstained Butterfly is the same situation.

The Bloodstained Butterfly gets an impressive, brand new 4K restoration, transfer to Blu-ray from Arrow. It is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate for the 1 hour 39-minute feature. Colors are rich and there is some wonderfully consistent textures supporting the presentation as film-like. The 1080P reproduces solid contrast exhibiting healthy, black levels and some pleasing depth in the 2.35:1 frame. It's very clean with a no intrusive speckles or surface scratches. This Blu-ray looks highly remarkable in-motion. Indeed, very pleasing.

Arrow give the option of DTS-HD Master mono tracks in either Italian or English (both 24-bit). There are some aggressive effects - but the film is one of the more passive Giallos. There are optional English subtitles for both Italian and English (in SDH) audio versions. My Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE Blu-ray.

Once again, Arrow are very gracious about adding supplements to on e of their releases. This has a riveting new audio commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman expounding upon the details of this Giallo and the genre. We are offered a brief introduction to the film by Helmut Berger and 4 videos. Murder in B-Flat Minor, a excellent new visual essay on the film, its cast and crew by author Troy Howarth who explores the film, exclusively for this release, for over 26-minutes. A Butterfly Named Evelyn spends almost an hour with Evelyn Stewart - referencing her roles in spaghetti westerns and Giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. She has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Ida Galli, Isli Oberon and Arianna. It's quite interesting hearing her history. Me and Druccio has a brief 8-minutes with Lorella De Luca, actress and wife of Duccio Tessar discussing the writer / director. Mad Dog Helmut spends over 17-minutes with Helmut Berger discussing his career and memories of shooting The Bloodstained Butterfly. There are trailer - the original Italian and English versions and a gallery of original promotional images. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin and a limited edition 36-page booklet illustrated by Tonci Zonjic, containing writing by James Blackford, Howard Hughes and Leonard Jacobs. Included is a DVD in the Blu-ray package.

As with Death Occurred Last Night I really enjoyed The Bloodstained Butterfly and am now keen to see even more from, director, Tessari. There are plenty of 'adult' oriented aspects to the storyline and although not graphic delves into some sexually-uncomfortable areas. I thought it was a fabulous addition to this genre. The Arrow Blu-ray provides a strong a/v presentation with very valuable supplements. Fans of this genre shouldn't miss out on this - especially with the inclusion of the limited edition 36-page booklet. We strongly recommend to Giallo aficionados. 

Gary Tooze