The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

Torso Distributor: Anchor Bay Region: 0 (or so I'm told) Ratio: 1:85:1 (anamorphically enhanced and more like 1:66:1) Sound: Dolby Digital

Made in 1973 and called everything from 'a giallo masterpiece' (Jason Slater's Diabolik magazine) to 'virtually unwatchable' (The Aurum Horror Film Encyclopaedia), Torso remains Sergio Martino's most talked about film. Martino, in case you didn't know, is a good man to trust when it comes to seeing former Bond girls in roles that they would probably rather forget (Ursula Andress in Prisoner of the Cannibal God, Barbara Bach in Island of the Fish Men). In this film there is no such fun, but you do get to view Dudley Moore's ex-wife, and Bird with the Crystal Plumage star, Suzy Kendall in the lead role. Torso begins with a kinky threesome (only with the male participant out of focus) whilst the soundtrack plays a lecturer speaking about spiritual works of art and saints and martyrs. Outside of the lecture hall, Suzy Kendall begins to debate with her lecturer about the merits of an apparently 'atheist' painter - telling her tutor that his works have soul and spirit to them. The symbolism is clear - Italy is a country of religious architecture and paintings (not to mention religious rule) even in spite of a climate in which the young are rebelling against the traditional religious taboos of promiscuity and homosexuality. This becomes even more evident as the film continues. The Italy of Martino's Torso is one that is in the midst of the hippy generation: 'loved up' and 'drugged up' (if I may quote a Suede song). Yet, Kendall's opening speech to her lecturer gives us some evidence that religious belief has not entirely disappeared among the country's 'liberal' youth. Much has been made about Martino's habit of cutting his female victims out of the picture when they are murdered in order to 'symbolise' the off screen removal of the women's arms or legs. I would argue that this has more to do with the fact that Martino was blessed with an inept special effects artist. In this new uncut version, we do in fact get to see some inserts of a hacksaw slashing through some flesh and it is very badly done indeed... perhaps suggesting that the old cut version of this film may have been more effective. Story wise, Torso is very familiar. A murderer is slashing up young girls... four female students decide to get away from it all in a mountain top villa (doh!) and are subsequently stalked in the middle of nowhere. In true giallo fashion, we are consistently bombarded with an image that poses a vital clue to the killer's motivation; in this case it is the sight of a doll having its eyes closed. To be honest, that's your lot. However, what makes Torso stand out from, for example, the mediocre giallo films of Antonio Bido is the incredibly suspenseful final twenty minutes and at least one excellent, creepy murder sequence. The sequence in question involves a stoned young woman treading through mud in misty woodland, and it shows that (if nothing else) a young Sean Cunningham may have been watching. Exactly why anyone would call this film 'virtually unwatchable' is beyond me. Save for Martino's admittedly irritating habit of zooming in on things for no apparent reason (except maybe to gain a fan letter from Jess Franco), this is compulsive viewing. Some landscape shots are especially attractive, and Martino's direction does show invention (check out the shot from inside the well). Indeed my only complaint about Torso, without wanting to sound like a prude, is the abundance of pointless T and A and the irrelevant softcore lesbian sex scene. Admittedly, nudity and lesbianism were the norm for giallo films of this period (c.f. A Lizard in a Woman's Skin) and also European horror as a whole (Tombs of the Blind Dead, Vampyres, virtually anything by Rollin or Franco), however it is especially annoying here - serving only to grind the proper action to a halt. It is obviously just in there for commercial purposes, and I think the film would have been better off without it. Nevertheless, this is not a sadistic masturbation fantasy like The New York Ripper. In fact, you will be on the edge of your seat at the seventy-minute mark! Although Martino occasionally skates upon thin ice with his women in jeopardy story, this is never quite as misogynistic as it could have been (the scene in which we are placed in the situation of a leered at young girl at least demonstrates some morality). In saying that, however, this was obviously aimed at the exploitation market and is, thus, rather sleazy. Nevertheless, for giallo addicts, this will prove essential - even if the killer's motivation is crap.

EXTRAS: Hmm, for a 'special edition' this is, how would one say it, a bit shit. Only two trailers, the best being the hilarious American one ('enter if you dare the bizarre world of the psychosexual mind... TORSO!'). Nevertheless, the film IS completely restored, with some scenes being in Italian with sub titles as a result. Sadly (for some unexplained reason) you CAN'T watch the entire film in Italian with English subs. The widescreen print is advertised as 1:85:1 but it's far closer to 1:66:1. Still, this is the definitive version, especially seeing as how Redemption's planned release has gone belly up. The picture quality is lovely, as is the sound. A revelation for those who have only seen the fullscreen and cut Vipco and Iver releases.