The Butterfly Room

The Butterfly Room
Directed by Jonathan Zarantonello
Starring Barbara Steele
Ray Wise
Erica Leerhsen
Heather Langenkamp
Music by Pivio and Aldo De Scalzi
Country United States
Italy
Language English
Italian
Box office $1,081[1]

The Butterfly Room is a 2012 American-Italian thriller-horror film directed by Jonathan Zarantonello. It is based on Zarantonello's novel Alice dalle 4 alle 5 (Alice from 4 to 5).[2] The film won the Denis-de-Rougemont Youth Award at the 2012 Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.[3] The film stars Barbara Steele, Ray Wise, Erica Leerhsen and Heather Langenkamp.[4]

Plot

Ann, a reclusive elegant lady, with an obsession for butterflies, is surprisingly befriended by the eerily beautiful young Alice. Using her seductive innocence, Alice establishes a disturbing mother daughter relationship with Ann. Lured into her twisted world, Ann soon discovers that she is not the only recipient of the girl's affections. Ann uncovers the truth; Alice takes advantage of lonely older women by using her childish and sweet demeanor in exchange for money. Enraged by Alice's façade and the other women partaking in a relationship with the young girl, Ann murders her mother as well as another woman who often gifted Alice nice things.

Confronted by Alice's other lady friends, Ann's shock awakens a dark, hidden past, unchaining a spiral of madness: a series of brutal and bizarre crimes that Ann will have to commit to preserve her harmless and deceptive appearances. The only one who recognizes there's something unsettling about Ann, is nine-year-old Julie, her next door neighbor's daughter.

With the inevitable curiosity of a child, Julie begins to explore the corners of Ann's apartment, discovering a dark secret hidden in the walls of the forbidden butterfly room.

No one believes what she's seen except for Ann's estranged daughter Dorothy. Horrified, she realizes that the fate of the young girl lies in her hands. To save both Julie, and herself, she must summon up the courage to confront an evil that has haunted her for years.

Cast

Production

In an interview with Dread Central, Zarantonello stated, "Well, the idea [for the movie] was to portray a mother and to make it as universal as possible. For example, there is a line in the movie that says, ‘It was so much better when you were younger; you were so much cuter when you were a kid.” And this is a line that Barbara says and that all the ladies in the movie say. So the idea was to portray, definitely, a killer as an unusual character but with some traits that may be common to mothers in general. And, as a matter of fact, at the end, when there’s the close-up with Heather and her daughter, yeah, of course she may have inherited something from her mother. She says the same line even when she touches the hair of her son, Matthew, ‘You were so much cuter when you were younger.’ So, once again, the same line… I was hoping that they would show us that motherhood sometimes cannot be that sweet and kind thing that we’re all used to, especially in the movies."[5]

Casting

The cast of The Butterfly Room included veteran horror film actresses such as Barbara Steele, Heather Langenkamp and Erica Leerhsen. Actresses such as P.J. Soles, Adrienne King and Camille Keaton had cameo roles.[6] It also starred Ray Wise.

Reception

The film has been met with generally positive reviews. Staci Layne Wilson of Dread Central stated, "Directed deftly on a little budget but with big love by Jonathan Zarantonello, The Butterfly Room succeeds as a slow-burn and moody psychological thriller reminiscent of the best of the 1970s (though it is not a giallo, in spite of some of the press’ fervent wishes). The fact it is shot on location in beautiful, historic Los Angeles only adds to the atmosphere and authenticity.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "The Butterfly Room box office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Giovanna Grassi (8 June 2013). "Barbara Steele, ritorno sul set: diva dark anche per Gosling". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Simone Pinchiorri (15 July 2012). ""The Butterfly Room" premiato in Svizzera". Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "The Butterfly Room cast". Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Butterfly Room interview". Dread Central. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Butterfly Room". Filmmaking Review. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Staci. "The Butterfly Room review". Dread Central. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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