Torso

A gruesome 1973 giallo from Italian horror director Sergio Martino, Torso is a body-count film about a masked maniac who is murdering and mutilating beautiful young women attending the University of Perugia. The only clue linked to the perpetrator is a distinctively patterned red and black scarf. When art student Daniela (Tina Aumont) tells police she thinks she's seen someone wearing the scarf, she begins to receive threatening phone calls. Understandably alarmed, Daniela retreats to her family's country villa with her friend, Jane (Suzy Kendall), and two other pals—only to be followed by the killer. Given the film's title, you can imagine how that turns out. While there's a vague Psycho backstory involving a hazy childhood trauma, Torso is really all about sadistic spectacle. Martino displays none of the grace of fellow filmmaker Dario Argento; he executes (an appropriate term) the violence with blunt viciousness (including an icky eye gouging and a close-up of a skull being rammed into a brick wall by a car—not once but twice) and throws in plenty of gratuitous nudity. The Blu-ray release features both the American cut and the Italian uncut productions, in both Italian- and English-language versions (although the uncut film features some scenes in Italian only, as they were never dubbed into English). Extras include an interview with Martino, promo TV and radio spots, and a stills gallery. Likely to be of interest mainly to diehard genre aficionados, this is optional, at best. (S. Axmaker) [Blu-ray Review—Nov. 13, 2018—Arrow, 94 min., in Italian w/English subtitles and English-dubbed, PG-13, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1973’s Torso features a fine transfer with mono soundtracks. Extras include audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger, a Q&A with director Sergio Martino (47 min.), 'The Discreet Charm of the Genre' interview with star Luc Merenda (35 min.), an 'All the Colors of Terror' interview with Martino (34 min.), a 'Woman in Blood' interview with Federica Martino, daughter of Sergio Martino (25 min.), a 'Saturating the Screen' interview with film scholar Mikel J. Koven (25 min.), and a booklet. Bottom line: a better-looking Blu-ray edition of a minor giallo cult film.]