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Torso AKA I Corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973)
R0 - Scandinavia - Another World Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (15th April 2008). |
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The Film
 Italian director/co-writer Sergio Martino has tackled many genres in his long career (he´s still active in Italian television), but his finest hour was probably “Giallo”. Starting from “The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh AKA Lo Strano vizio della Signora Wardh (1971)”, Martino has made his mark in the genre, and many feel that his name should be spoken in the same breath with the legends like Mario Bava and Dario Argento. In his giallo films, Martino often collaborated with the actors Edwige Fenech and George Hilton, but in “Torso AKA I Corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973)” both of them are absent. Instead, the familiar genre-actor Luc Merenda is on-board (Martino did some crime-films with Merenda, e.g. “Violent Professionals AKA Milano trema - la polizia vuole giustizia (1973)”), along with several beautiful ladies. Partly due to its effective English language name, “Torso” (also known as “Carnal Violence”) is one of the better-known giallos. Generally it´s perfectly enjoyable, but not in the same league with the best of them. In Rome, the University campus is in fear. A young couple is brutally murdered by the mysterious, masked peeping tom, and soon another young girl is found strangled, then mutilated in the woods. The police addresses the whole University, asking for co-operation. They have one lead; a fragment of red scarf is found on the scene of the crime, most likely belonging to the murderer. One of the students, Daniela (Tina Aumont - e.g. “Fellini's Casanova AKA Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976)”) swears seeing a red scarf with someone quite recently, but just can´t remember where and when. Things are getting a little tense when Daniela is warned by the phone to forget the whole scarf-thing. For her sake, it´s best that she doesn´t remember anything. To put these recent, unpleasant events behind her and just to relax, Daniela leaves from the city to spend some time in the country villa near to a small town. Her two friends Katia (Angela Covello - e.g. “Baba Yaga (1973)”) and Ursula (Carla Brait - e.g. “The Black Maid AKA La Cameriera near (1976)”) are coming along, and the American exchange student Jane (Suzy Kendall - e.g. “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage AKA L' Uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)”) is joining them later on. Since the killer knows that there´s a good chance that Daniela will eventually remember who had the scarf, the girls are now in real danger. The villa is quite isolated, easily becoming a trap for the people inside. It´s an ideal target for the madman with a solid purpose; to kill. It´s quite clear from early on, that “Torso” will rely heavily on nudity and a certain voyeurism, so you´ve naked ladies, tight dresses and short skirts every step of the way. Whether it´s the killer stalking, a hooker earning her living, doped hippies dancing or just students sunbathing, there´s always at least that “glimpse” of women with very little clothes on. Although some of the scenes can get quite comical (girls getting a ride in a tractor!) and just very calculated (one lesbian scene), the style actually suits the film rather well. Since there is a “psychosexual” killer with some hidden secrets (of course originating from childhood), the audience is in some ways seeing what the stalker is seeing and thinking all the time; women and sex. Of course, in the case of our killer, preferably naked women that eventually end up dead. The first part of film doesn´t really offer anything that memorable and you might find yourself wondering where the film is eventually heading. A few graphic kills and nice Italians locations are still included, with plenty of red herrings and potential suspects; student Stefano Vanzi (Roberto Bisacco) is totally obsessed with Daniela, the mysterious doctor Roberto (Luc Merenda) seems to always be in the same place with the girls, two motorcycling hoodlums Peter and George have their own, sleazy plan to “get women” and Daniela´s Uncle Nino (Carlo Alighiero - e.g. “The Cat o' Nine Tails AKA Il Gatto a nove code (1971)”) has that suspicious face all the way through. So the message is; it could be any of them. While the film up to that point has been a rather typical (graphic) Italian thriller, the second part will raise it above the average. This long sequence in the villa is tight, atmospheric and well paced, showing the strength of Martino. The more traditional giallo-elements blends with claustrophobia and the audience will have to guess the killer´s identity right up to the very end. All this is nothing new in the genre, but with this particular film the ending sequence feels like a payoff after the slightly sluggish first part, leaving a good taste for the audience after the end credits. “Torso” lives up to its name and it´s not a “complete” success, but if you´re into giallo, it´s hard to pass this one up. Music score by composing duo of Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis is quite memorable.
Video
The film is presented in (approx.) Anamorphic 1.70:1, since there are minor black bars on the sides (more on the right). The colours are quite strong and the print is in a decent shape, but there are some film artifacts along the way. Some of the night scenes can get a bit dark, even slightly murky. The print is still perfectly enjoyable, but doesn´t feel completely remastered. The version used on this DVD is a complete Italian version, with three sequences added in Italian language only. Film also uses the original Italian credits. Scenes are as follows: *The opening sequence (after the credits/photo shoot-montage), with the art lecture by professor Franz (John Richardson - e.g. “Black Sunday AKA La Maschera Del Demonio (1960)”). From 2:38 minutes. *Discussion between the police and the man that found the bodies after the first murders. From 10:45 minutes. *Actors turning their back to the camera and then walking away at the end of the film (brief discussion during it). From 87:46 minutes. “Dual layer” disc is coded “R0” and runs 89:37 minutes (PAL). Note, that the film/music fades to black at 89:01, so 36 seconds of “black” is included to the running time. There are 8 chapters. The back cover has a mistake, since the aspect ratio is not 2.35:1.
Audio
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is the only (full) audio track, and optional Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish subtitles are included. Note that some of the scenes are in Italian (they were never dubbed in English) and those scenes don´t have English subtitles (only the ones mentioned earlier). The audio has some background hiss and the dialogue can get muffled in places, but nothing major for the film of this age. Another mistake can be found from the back cover, since the audio is not “2.0 Surround”.
Extras
-3 Theatrical trailers are included: *“International” (3:06 minutes) is listed as “Italian” in the menu, but is actually in English (no narration) and using the “Carnal Violence”-title. So this is probably an International trailer. *“US” (3:30 minutes) has gloomy English narration and is using the “Torso”-title. *“German” (1:42 minutes) has no narration and it´s also using the “Torso”-title. -Italian original beginning runs 2:39 minutes and starts from the “photo shoot” (with Italian credits and original title “I Corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale”). It includes the “lighter music” instead of the more suspenseful one seeing in the actual film. -Alternative German cinema sequence runs 2:02 minutes, starting from the “girl in the woods chased by the killer”-scene (where the credits are still in English), from where it then moves to the “photo shoot”. During this sequence, the music score is now “jazzier” than in the original version, differing also from the “lighter music” used in the “Italian original beginning” and “US alternative credits”. -US alternative credits runs 2:37 minutes. This opening credits sequence is identical to the Italian one (down to the font of the credits), but it´s just using English credits and on-screen title “Carnal Violence”. Again, the “lighter music” is used instead of the more suspenseful one. -Photo gallery (55 seconds) includes 4 US lobby cards and 7 colour stills. -Cast & crew filmographies (I didn´t find any “biographies”) include director/co-writer Sergio Martino, with actors Luc Merenda, Suzy Kendall and Tina Aumont. -Text interview with director/co-writer Sergio Martino is included in English (12 pages) or in Danish (13 pages) and it´s conducted by Torben Simonsen. Very general, background and family related stuff, pretty much nothing about “Torso”. -Bonus trailer-section (you can use “Play All”) includes the following US-trailers (note, that trailer for “Torso” re-appears here): *”The New Barbarians AKA I Nuovi Barbari (1982)” (3:17 min) *”Torso AKA I Corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973)” (3:30 min) *”Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals AKA Emanuelle e gli ultimi cannibali (1977)” (2:32 min) *”Zombi 2 AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)” (3:36 min) *"The New York Ripper AKA Lo Squartatore di New York (1982)" (3:10 min) *”Keoma (1976)” (3:36 min) 4-page booklet, with liner notes by Torben Simonsen (in Danish only) is also included.
Overall
At its best, “Torso” can be a sexy and intense giallo, where at least the second part succeeds in keeping the audience at the edge of their seats. The flipside of the coin is that it takes some time to actually “get there” and some of the nudity doesn´t feel all that necessary. But in the world of films, you often win some and lose some. The DVD-presentation continues the solid line of “Another World Entertainment”, but falls a bit short when you look at the big picture. Still, a pretty good option for the fans to see the film. For more info, please visit the homepage of Another World Entertainment.
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