Dragonfly is a trashy romp through the classic Giallo formula. A black gloved killer is loose in an urban Italian city where the suspects are many and the clues are very odd. But of course the difference here is that the investigation is led by the machismo-oozing, yet very likable, Inspector Paolo Scaporella (played by Naschy) while Paolo's girlfriend Silvana fills the role of the amateur detective working in parallel to the investigation.

 

 

In terms of the Giallo Score Dragonfly performs as well as any classic Giallo, scoring a perfect 10 in the Signatures section. But the film suffers a bit due to its Spanish origin. Replace director León Klimovsky with say, Sergio Martino and add a Morricone soundtrack and now we've got a 90+ scoring film.

 

 

This last point is really the main problem with the film. The Spanish production seems to be a contributing factor to the film's lesser-than-Italian quality. The overall production value of the film is a bit lackluster, with cheap looking sets, uninspired camera work, horribly bad English dubbing and a recycled soundtrack. There's also the problem of every male suspect looking exactly the same and all having names that end with "o". This makes for a bit of a head scratching situation when the killer is finally revealed.

 

 

But so long as you don't watch the film with too critical of an eye, none of this really matters too much. Dragonfly is a ridiculous romp with plenty of memorable set pieces and, of course, a commanding performance by Naschy.  If trashy Gialli is your thing, I'd place this right in the middle of the pack, outperforming Eyeball and Sister of Ursula, but not as good Strip Nude for Your Killer or Case of the Bloody Iris,