Torso (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

Product Description

ENTER... IF YOU DARE!

A talented and versatile journeyman, director Sergio Martino (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key) has lent his talents to multiple genres across his long and varied career, but it is undoubtedly his giallo thrillers from the early 70s for which he is best known. Among the most highly acclaimed of these, 1973's Torso revels in the genre's time-honored traditions while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the modern slasher movie.

A sex maniac is prowling the streets of Perugia, targeting picturesque university town's female students. Alarmed at plummeting life expectancy of the student body, Jane (Suzy Kendall, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) and her three friends elope to a secluded country villa only to discover that, far from having left the terror behind, they've brought it with them!

Also known as ''Carnal Violenc''e, Torso was released in Italy towards the end of the giallo boom before enjoying a second life on the American grindhouse circuit. Co-starring Tina Aumont (Salon Kitty) and Luc Merenda (The Violent Professionals), the film finds its director at the top of his game, delivering copious levels of violence, sleaze and one of the tensest cat-and-mouse games ever committed to celluloid!

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Adrian Smith and Howard Hughes

* The English audio track on the original, longer cut has some portions of English audio missing. English audio for these sections was either never recorded or has been lost. As such, these sequences are presented with Italian audio, subtitled in English.

Top Reviews

As Joe Bob Briggs
by Samsboss (4 out of 5 stars)
December 22, 2018

We have:
16 breasts
3 upskirt shots
1 orgy
1 bush

Mutilated dolls

Creepy masks

Scarf foo

Knife foo

Finger foo

Swamp water foo

Fiat foo

Horny villagers

Dismemberment,

And

A sprained ankle
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Both Giallo and proto-slasher. Arrow bluray. (Worth upgrade from Blue Underground.)
by TK (5 out of 5 stars)
July 28, 2019

Definitely worth an upgrade from the Blue Underground release. The sound and picture are fantastic. Lots of extras and great (as always) packaging from Arrow.

Fantastic film! Might be Sergio Martino's best. A hyper-sexual sadist (right out of Psycopathia Sexualis) is on the loose in one of the best films of its kind. The extreme misogyny doesn't only apply to the killer; every male in the film is a borderline rape-o. Martino did the right choice, in that he doesn't pay hypocritical lip service to female "empowerment" - the thrills might take a psychic toll on some of the viewers (voyeurs?) amongst us.

As to the voyeurism: lots of it. Surreptitious peeling or blatant leering from every make in the cast. The camera - and by extension - the audience is complicit. Lots of fetishistic upskirt shots. Lots of leg shots befitting an issue of "Leg Show." And of course, more than enough sex and nudity for three movies.

Lots of sexually charged (is there any other kind) violence towards women, natch.

Excellent as a mystery/suspense-thriller. Or as exploitation/slasher. Or Infantile(wink wink) Horror - it depends on the viewer's sensibilities.

Very high production values, as good as any mid-budget 70s H'wood flick. The camerawork if terrific; above beyond the beyond the conventional cinematography of the era. Shockingly (even today) b!unt, crude and sexually regressive dialogue aimed at our hapless heroines.

The entire female cast are wildly attractive. Suzy Kendall a dead ringer for Julie Christie. Tina Dumont and the rest equally foxy.

Arrow did an amazing job here. One of their best releases/restorations. The bonus interviews are great and the entertaining/insightful audio commentary by scribe (and Martino authority) Kat Ellinger is wonderful, as always.
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The Way of All Credit
by V. Risoli-Black (4 out of 5 stars)
November 17, 2013

This is an excellent blu-ray transfer of a rather rare giallo/slasher film that is given an introduction by writer/director of questionable renown, Eli Roth ("Cabin Fever" and "Hostel") that is truly scary. Blue Underground also provides an interview with the director of the film in which they claim and even coerce the director, Sergio Martino to agree "Torso" is his "masterpiece." The director has made many films and outran Dario Argento with three superior giallos starring Edwige Fenech, George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov: "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh," "Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key" and "All the Colors of the Dark.." "Torso" is only more accessible especially to the general public who made "Friday the 13th" and other similar popular titles so big, of which it is basically a predecessor. What also gets in the way of "Torso" being on top is the tendency to include sensationalism, which in another genre Martino made a number of pictures like "Mountain of the Cannibal God." Suzy Kendall is excellent in "Torso." Color. Written by Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi, produced by Carlo Ponti, with good music and also with John Richardson.
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"Torso" Is Sergio Martino's Giallo Masterpiece
by J. B. Hoyos (5 out of 5 stars)
May 1, 2008

"Torso" is to Sergio Martino what "Deep Red" is to Dario Argento. It is a wonderful slash-and-stalk giallo with a delightfully high body count. Numerous American movies during the slasher frenzy era, especially "Friday the 13th," were influenced by this Italian giallo. Instead of a hockey mask, the serial killer wears a ski mask. Also, some of the musical score for "Torso" reminded me of that found in "Halloween." "Prom Night" was similar to "Torso" in that both movies involved a killer who had suffered a traumatic experience as a child.
Suzy Kendall (star of Dario Argento's "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage") is June, the blonde, virginal heroine in "Torso." She, like so many beautiful blondes in the slash-and-stalk thrillers of the slasher frenzy, is the last to survive the killer's fury. At a secluded villa, she awakes to discover the mutilated bodies of her friends.
The killings throughout "Torso" are imaginative and gruesome. However, they lack the realism found in Lucio Fulci's gialli such as "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin."
Sergio Martino directed "Torso" as well as other famous gialli such as "Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key" and "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail." It is understandable why he said that "Torso" was his favorite film in the seventies. He must have been constantly surrounded by beautiful, naked women. "Torso" has a stronger sexual content then most of his other gialli. However, the nude scenes are essential to the plot. They are also understandable considering the "sexual awakening" of the seventies Naturally, the movie also has plenty of drug use, promiscuity, and lesbianism, as much as there was in other gialli of that time period. European directors must've loved watching beautiful women kissing each other. Those crazy seventies.
The plot, characterization, acting, scenery, and musical score are superb. "Torso" is a great giallo and I highly recommend that you buy if for your giallo collection. The out of print Anchor Bay edition is very expensive, but there is a more affordable import. However, I've read that the audio and video are of higher quality from Anchor Bay. Hopefully, "Torso" will be given a new release either from Anchor Bay or Blue Underground.
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Exceptionally influential.
by MrBlindPenguin (4 out of 5 stars)
May 9, 2014

The film oozes with psycho-sexual tension. Voyeurism plays a strong role in the film. At face value, the film shows Italian males all to be dangerous and crazed sexual predators. The cinematography is excellent. You really see a lot of shots that are still used today in the horror genre. It looks like the French film, High Tension borrowed a lot from this film, and for good reason. Even the film is dated, the suspense is still there when watching the home invasion scene. There is one part where the female protagonist, (who is injured) can do nothing but hide in the closet, as she watches the killer take a hacksaw to his victims. The film makes every male character seem like some sort of sexual deviant because it wants you to keep guessing who the killer is. The problem, for me at least, is that it's painfully obvious. That was my only problem with the film.
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The Best Slasher Film In The Year Of 73'
by J. West (5 out of 5 stars)
August 29, 2018

One of Sergio Martino's Best slasher film I ever saw. Made in the early 70's. I just watched it and I thought it threw me off who the killer was. Because they wouldn't show his face at first. It made me wander who it was. I love it alot because you get to see the gory, full nudity, and boobs. Also very suspense, I wanted someone to survive the carnage. What a horror fan would love.
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Blue Underground has released another fantastic blu ray!!!
by M. Britton (5 out of 5 stars)
November 28, 2011

After all these years of Torso being available on VHS tape, the past few years this Italian slasher flick has seen a few DVD releases and now this fantastic looking blu ray. I have been a fan of this classic since seeing it at the drive in during the mid '70s, now to own a copy of this movie that looks the best it has ever looked! Blue Underground just keeps releasing some good (and some bad) blu rays. It is hard to believe a film from 1973 could look this good. Glad I took the risk, because this blows away the DVD BU released several years ago. You have the option to watch either the English 90 minute version or the Italian 93 minute version. And the greatest part is you can choose English audio for the Italian cut!! That is so cool. Although some of it is spoken only in Italian, but not much.

The film is presented in its original 1.66 aspect ratio (where most prints have over matted the prints). Just glad a company took the time and money to make this classic look this great. This is a great looking blu ray of this forgotten Italian classic.

Keep bringing us great blu ray releases like this Blue Underground.
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EXCELLENT DVD - Euro Trash at it's BEST
by frankenberry (5 out of 5 stars)
April 5, 2000

Anchor Bay's DVD of TORSO is incredible - the image is crisp, sharp, colorful and there is no artifacting whatsoever. The print is also UNCUT! For years the film was seen in the US only in an edited version with most of the gore and sex cut out. It's great to finally see the entire uncut film with it's original opening and the extra sex and gore bits....I love the head crushing scene (albeit kind of fake) plus there's extra shots of the killer sawing up the bodies into little pieces. What more do you want? There's the cool looking hooded killer plus lots of stylistic giallo touches...this movie is better than ever especially in this impeccable presentation. It's letterboxed and includes the fun US trailer-"Tor---so!" as well as the original euro-trailer. A few shots in the film are in italian with english-subtitles because either the english track was never recorded or it had been lost...but it's not annoying at all and you just can't help loving this disc...especially if you are into euro-sleaze! One of Anchor Bay's best!
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Arrow, Maritino, Giallo, it's got it all!
by Hannibelectro (5 out of 5 stars)
July 22, 2019

If you like Sergio Martino and love the movie Torso, Arrow Video did a great transfer!
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Misogynistic abuse
by Jenny (1 out of 5 stars)
December 10, 2018

Male fantasy of misogynistic abuse. Unwatchable from even an average female perspective.

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