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Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Pretty Good

A Masterpiece!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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.

The new MEI AH DVD "The Butterfly Murders" is a very welcome release, as the only time I have seen this debut effort by TSUI HARK was by watching a very poorly transferred VCD.The story is confusing enough without having subtitles wholly obscured. That is what happened with the VCD.The film seems to be only sympathetic towards two characters FONG the writer and a female warrior GREEN SHADOW. In turn they appear allied to the TIEN clan leader, who has also been invited to the SHUM castle.The castle becomes another character - its exterior grim and barren when the main characters arrive, rather those in AGATHA CHRISTIE's "Ten little Indians". And when they are subjected to the first of many relentless attacks by butterflies, they find refuge underground.The underground is a maze, with mysterious rooms suddenly appearing and concealing the butterflies themselves; arsenals of elaborate weapons, and so forth.I wonder if we were not intended to be as confused as all those invited to the castle, to their deaths, as the film plays out: to know is to die, to quote Darius Jedburgh ("Edge of darkness," 1986).This is one of the few HK films that I have seen that has thrown me re its plot and its characters: it took me a long time to really identify the actors and their characters. That said, I was very impressed with the staging of the action which is plentiful and varied; intrigued with the villain and his suit of body armour (it seemed something out of a Mario Bava slasher film), and quietly applauded the cynical ending, but was upset that once again the filmmakers should use so much Jerry Goldsmith ("Planet of the apes") and Ennio Morricone ("Moses") in the soundtrack.An entertaining debut by Tsui Hark!

Who would have thought that this movie would open the door for one of the most legendary movie directors in Hong Kong film history. Although this movie came out almost 25 years ago, but it is like an old wine vintage that only gets better in time, the movie does not feel dated at all.I checked out this movie to get a feel of what Tsui Hark was like in the beginning, I was not disappointed at all.