Torso (1973)
September 23, 2024 6:58 PM - Subscribe

[TRAILER] A masked killer strangles young women with scarves. When a wealthy student identifies one of the scarves and thinks she has a lead on a suspect, she becomes the killer's next target, retreating to her family's remote cliffside villa with three of her girlfriends.

Italian title: I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale, literally  'The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence.'

Starring Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont, Luc Merenda, John Richardson, Roberto Bisacco, Ernesto Colli, Angela Covello, Carla Brait, Conchita Airoldi, luciano Bartoli, Carlo Alighiero.

Directed by Sergio Martino. Screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi, Sergio Martino. Story by Sergio Martino. Produced by Carlo Ponti for Compagnia Cinematografica Champion. Cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando. Edited by Eugenio Alabiso. Music by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis.

The film's RT score is a low 60% fresh, but you will notice newer reviews tilt considerably higher than contemporaneous ones.

Currently streaming in the US on the Criterion Channel and Tubi, among others. JustWatch listing.
posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total)
 
Seen as sensationalized trash upon release, but later recognized both as a top tier giallo and a proto-slasher, Torso is very well-made with a flimsy text easily outclassed by its barely submerged subtext.

Basically every male in this movie is made out to possibly be the killer, and with 2024 eyes, that seems less like a wide open whodunnit than a pretty damning statement on men. As far as Martini is concerned, if you're looking for a sex-obsessed, damaged man whose issues with women might make him dangerous... try... literally any of them.

And yep, a lot of the stylistic flourishes here became textbook for American slasher films.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:02 PM on September 23


Huh, actually all of those reviews are from the last twenty-ish years. Eh well.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:33 PM on September 23


sensationalized trash

It was an era of sensationalised trash in Italy in those days. Directors were openly Fascist or some stripe of Communist and made films that fit their views. And 1973 was a good year - Senza ragione and La polizia sta a guardare being highlights but even the year before you had the highly provocative Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina. An incredibly productive time for genre cinema.

That being said, I think the director, the very busy writer and the producer of this film were all generally pretty mercenary and would lean into whatever to get bums in seats. Though I think Torso is one of my favourites from that era and from their collaborations (tho All the Colors of the Dark is maybe second on that list).
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:33 AM on September 24 [1 favorite]


The lurid No, the Case Is Happily Resolved was released the same year as well! The early 70s were an incredible era of provocative film in Italy.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:41 AM on September 24


I would be fascinated to see Martino interviewed about this film and to hear if he a) was trying to say something about psychosexual dysfunction in men or b) simply looked at a long list of men and thought, "Yes, each of these men could have plausibly been the killer."

If it's (a) then good on him, ahead of his time. If it's (b) fascinating anyway, emblematic of his time, for better and worse.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:19 AM on September 24


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