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18 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
As good as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, if not better, 20 April 2001

Author: siucin from Cambridge, UK

The movie begins with the mysterious death of a the paper mill owner, causing the attention of the Tien Clan into the incident. In the meantime, the owner of Shum Castle invited the people of Tien Clan and Fong Hung Yip (a chronicler of jiang hu history) to stay in their castle, telling them about the butterfly murders that has been going on there. But before Fong and Tien had found out why the butterflies are out killing people, the owner of Shum was murdered by those butterflies. As a result 3 more Jiang Hu leaders were called to the Shum Castle and the mystery of the butterfly murders gradually unfolded.

The story was filled with twists and turns, and the middle of the movie was like a detective story as Fong and the Green Shadow (an unexpected guest at the Shum Castle) were investigating the murders. An extremely interesting and entertaining plot. The set decoration was done exquisitely, especially the labyrinth-like underground tunnel and the place where butterfly specimens were displayed. Unlike other movies in the same genre, the weapons used by the characters (no swords involved) and their costume were all creatively designed. So there is a certain degree of novelty in the movie, even though it was shot in 1979. In fact to some extent, a lot of the recent Hong Kong jiang hu movies had copied the art designs of this movie.

The butterfly invading the Shum castle scene as well as the butterfly killing people scenes were beautifully shot, and reminds me a lot of Hitchcock's The Birds (the difference between the two movie is that this film explains towards the end why the butterflies are killing people).

This film was said to have opened the new page for the Hong Kong New Wave movement in movies. It also proves that Tsui Hark is quite an expert with jiang hu movies. In fact this one is better than some of his later works, like the Blade.

This is an extremely worthwhile movie for the Jiang Hu martial arts fans to watch, especially those who like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Vintage classic, 29 August 2004
Author: Harry T. Yung (harry_tk_yung@yahoo.com) from Hong Kong

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Spoiler

Finally! 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.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The new MEI AH DVD is a very welcome release, 19 July 2004
Author: simonize-1 from Canada

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!

8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
The Birth of a great director, 29 March 2003

Author: mindless_junk

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.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A classic that lives up to its reputation, 12 September 2007

Author: TrevorAclea from London, England

Tsui Hark's debut, The Butterfly Murders is one of those impossible to find films that seemed to exist only as a glowing reputation, so it's a surprise to find out that it's a highly enjoyable Hong Kong fantasy thriller that's surprisingly original. It's plot-led (there's very little action at all in the first half-hour) and comes with lashings of dark atmosphere, even managing to make its premise of killer butterflies work surprisingly well, and it makes good use of Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes score, pilfered alongside Morricone's Moses for the occasion (about the only genuinely original cue is a funky Meko-esquire disco title song!). Oh, and it has a very cool suit of black armour that any of the villains in Mad Max would kill for.

Mei Ah's remastered DVD shows up more than a few problems with the neg – there's a lot of water damage leading to noticeable yellow splotches in some scenes (mostly noticeable in the few daylight sequences) and the sound hums a bit – but it's still probably the best version available, with an otherwise decent 2.35 widescreen transfer.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Clever mystery is handled unevenly, 24 March 2006

Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

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.

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