Torso AKA Carnal Violence, Corpi Presentano Tracce di Violenza Carnale (Bodies Introduce Traces Of Sexual Violence)
Directed by Sergio Martino
1973, Italy
Italian giallo re-released by Anchor Bay with all the scenes intact including lots of lost dialogue which was not originally recorded in English and you get the international trailer for its original release as Carnal Violence, as usual the film is wide-screen and remastered with top of the line picture and sound. Torso is an interesting and stylish (not to mention exploitive with all the young ladies breasts fly'in around) Italian murder mystery where young women attending a college in Rome are being brutally murdered.. The students are starting to get scared and the police are baffled as to who the killer is. The story focuses in on a young American exchange student named Jane (Suzie Kendall) and her friends who go to a hilltop villa belonging to her friend Dani's (Tina Aumont) Uncle get away from all the carnage. The murderer follows and you can guess what happens from there.
Torso is a well made film in general with its lavishly filmed scenery including authentic locations that make you feel like your in Italy accompanied by rich music score of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. With any good mystery you find yourself guessing who the killer might be throughout the film and it gives you a number of characters to choose from who could be the killer. The climax of the film also delivers some nice suspenseful moments as Kendall tries to dodge the clutches of the killer in the villa with a sprained ankle. I can't figure out why a film which is competently made could have such mediocre make-up effects though, sure this is not important to the film as a whole but a horror fan like myself appreciates some well done prosthetic violence. The actors voices are dubbed and are competently done with the exception of the bread and milk guy, in actuality this added comedic relief and I'm not sure if it was done this way on purpose or just a bad dubbing job. Director Sergio Martino also made the Italian post apocalyptic movie After The Fall Of New York with Michael Sopkiw, a campy not to mention violent cross between Escape From New York and The Road Warrior which is lots of fun. Torso was re-released alongside another similar natured giallo called Autopsy. Both are definitely worth checking out if your into the giallo genre.
Richard J.Taylor