Leofwine_draca A sleazy gem of a giallo movie, directed by the underrated Italian director Sergio Martino, in which the camera ogles the curves of the (often naked) female cast at every opportunity. This is said to be one of the main films (along with A BAY OF BLOOD) that influenced Friday the 13th and the American slashers of the 1980s, and some scenes are very similar - namely the nubile half-naked young woman being stalked through the woods by a masked villain scene, or the various graphic murders that said mystery killer commits. Certainly the gore fan gets his money's worth here, with numerous strangulations, drownings, the killer gouging out the eyes of the corpses and slitting their bodies open, and, in a gruesome highlight, sawing through the limbs of a victim with a hacksaw whilst Suzy Kendall watches in sheer terror and disgust. This is pretty hard to see in its fully uncut version (only in Italy was it released as such) but whichever version you do see is bound to be a pretty gruelling experience.Martino directs a stylish and well-filmed movie which makes good use of the picturesque Italian countryside. Martino (along with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi) plays up the whodunit aspect of the plot whilst playing down the police investigation - the latter half of the film takes place in an isolated mountaintop location with only the girls, the killer, the milkman and a Peeping Tom handyman for company. The score helps add to the atmosphere a lot and familiar and veteran faces round out the cast. First up is pretty victim Suzy Kendall, who engages in a suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase whilst hampered with a sprained ankle; John Richardson as kindly college professor Franz; and Luc Merenda as a friendly doctor. The list of suspects is endless and the movie keeps you guessing right through until the drawn-out finale.TORSO has many familiar giallo ingredients. There's the killer with a creepy mask (this time a balaclava) and black gloves who kills with a nasty weapon; the twisted blackmail plot that serves as a basis for the murders; and, of course, a perverted childhood incident which has resulted in the warped mind of the killer ("they were only dolls, stupid dolls made out of flesh and blood"). There's also an unexpected but nice little macho bust-up between hero and villain at the end of the movie which serves as a bonus for this action lover. On top of this, large doses of sex, cheesy dialogue in the dubbed version, violence, and suspense make this a worthwhile thriller.

GL84 Following a spate of brutal murders, a group of college students fear they're being targeted by the killer and retreat to a nearby mountain-top villa to relax only to learn the killer has followed them there and must stop his deadly blood-soaked rampage.This here is quite the enjoyable giallo and remains one of the best of the style. One of the film's best features is the fact that this one manages to play so well into the confines of the giallo despite forgoing the prototypical route of the other films, as instead of the film rallying around the girls' trying to remember a clue about the killer's identity it remains far more in touch about them being in danger at the start and using the trip as a way to relax. Despite the insistence about the necktie and how important that is to the truth, it doesn't invoke the cardinal rule about sending them off investigating around that clue and doesn't really feature much detective work as a whole and turning it into a more nominal slasher effort just afforded the sleaze trappings of the remaining entries in the genre. As instead this features the group hanging out together and generally de- stressing with nude sunbathing, skinny dipping, softcore lesbian romps and other leisure pursuits of that sort instead rather than dealing with the investigations, and while that allows for plenty of seedy times here generating it's red herrings there's still plenty of fun to be had here as this one goes about its paces here. That alone makes the central murder mystery quite fun with they're being quite a few suspects which plays nicely into this one being so determined to keep it a surprise within the genre's conventions. As well, the film manages to get quite a lot right here where the traditional stalk-and-slash aspects of a giallo are employed, letting this one really get quite a few really tense and suspenseful scenes into play. The first attack on the necking couple in the car is a great mini-attack where the killer enters the car against their knowledge then runs out forcing one to give chase before doubling back and offing the other, a memorable stalking of a stoned victim tripping over herself in a misty swamp where the killer appears and disappears at random as he's concealed behind the fog and treeline of the area and a fine chase as the killer uses his car to run down a victim in the middle of the road. Still, the film's at its best with the utterly furious and chilling finale, which is truly one of the greatest bits in the genre as the terrified and alone victim is forced into hiding after discovering the dead bodies strewn around the house and has to remain hidden in order to avoid becoming like the other dead bodies forced to watch him dismember their bodies before later having to hide throughout the house in order to avoid detection. These are all nicely augmented by the various tropes of the genre throughout here and makes for a wholly engaging and watchable effort. The only issue about this one is the fact that the film cheats over the massacre of the friends in the villa leaving it only to feature the last one to stumble across the mutilated bodies which makes for quite a disappointing effort looking at the carnage featured and not getting a chance to see it. Otherwise this one was one of the genre's top efforts.Rated Unrated/R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, Language, Sexual Scenes and drug use.

happyendingrocks This deceptively-titled early giallo who-dunnit plays out as a pretty rote affair until a surprisingly tense and harrowing third act elevates the end result. While there's nothing here to make Torso a certified classic, for at least 20 minutes it succeeds as a truly intense thriller. Unfortunately, this momentum is negated during the climax, which erupts into a karate showdown (yes, I'm completely serious).Perhaps I'm just jaded from watching too many of these movies, but I guessed who the killer was the first time I saw them, so the reveal sort of seemed like a "let's get it over with" moment. The explanation for the several murders we see committed throughout the course of the film is a flimsy back-story at best, and since we seem to be promised a dramatic unmasking after our investment in the plot and the few macabre flashback images we're shown along the way, the ultimate trigger for the bloodshed is bound to be a disappointment. The final twist is partially effective, however, since it brings us full circle with the opening scene of the film.One of the key components of this film is best summed up by a particularly perceptive extra: "Look at all those knockers." When the first shot in the film is of a woman revealing her breasts, and the ensuing scene is a fairly graphic threesome, it's immediately made clear that director Sergio Martino isn't primarily interested in presenting a horror outing. The cast is populated by several attractive actresses, and nearly all of them shed their clothes freely to frolic in the water and explore carnal activities, sometimes with each other. The abundance of nudity in Torso is beyond gratuitous, and while most male viewers aren't likely to complain about this, I can more wholeheartedly recommend a different genre for those whose enjoyment of this film is dependent on the ample displays of bared female flesh.When Dario Argento basically took over and mandated the rules of the giallo film, fast-paced progressive rock became the norm in these kinds of offerings. However, the score in Torso is much more subdued and traditional, and the music augments the horror aspects of the film quite well. The early-70's soft-core porn themes that accompany the diversionary nude scenes haven't aged nearly as gracefully though.Despite the fact that this film was reportedly heavily censored in the U.S. until its DVD debut, there is actually relatively little graphic violence in Torso. Only a couple of scenes will even raise the eyebrows of devoted gore-o-philes, and if you've seen any Lucio Fulci film, the rather subdued splatter on display her seems quaint by comparison. Even during the most savage scenes, the effects are clunky and unimpressive, and it's never hard to spot the shots where a plastic dummy has been substituted for the actor. There is a solidly unsettling dismemberment sequence that is mostly played off-camera, which allows us to fill in the blanks and ends up being one of the more grisly moments in the film. But overall, Torso is ultimately rather tepid, and nothing in the movie makes good on the gruesome promise implied by the title.The killings alternate between fairly suspenseful scenes with a decent build-up to ludicrously obvious set-ups in which characters get stoned and wander into a swamp all alone. Torso never quite finds the sweet spot, and the film is enjoyable more for its ambiance and historical value than it is for presenting a coherent and challenging murder mystery.Discerning horror fans have certainly seen a lot worse than this, but nothing in Torso reaches too far beyond the standard masked killer fare the plot dictates. Still, the last reel has some fantastic moments, and the film does try its hardest to insert some red herrings along the way. If that sounds appealing to you, you will most assuredly find a modestly entertaining outing here. But since the running time of Torso could more reasonably be spent watching Tenebrae again, I can't help but conclude that this isn't mandatory viewing by any means.

preppy-3 A bunch of sex crimes happen around a college. Four women decide to get away for a while in this deserted house in the middle of nowhere. They immediately engage in lesbian sex, sunbathe in the nude and skinny dip---while they know there's a killer around! I saw the uncut version of this released on DVD. The violence was considerably cut originally when this came to the US in the early 1970s. Well, even intact, this is lousy. It's full of pointless female nudity and lesbian sex scenes. I realize most giallos have that but this one has an incredible amount! It OPENS with a long lesbian sex sequence which has little bearing on the plot. It's an Italian movie and with the sole exception of Suzy Kendall everyone was dubbed--and pretty badly too. They also can't act--only Kendall is any good (even if she's far too old to be playing a college student). The kill scenes have plenty of blood but the gore scenes are laughably fake. To make matters worse the plot makes next to no sense. There are only two real suspects--and one is made to act so suspicious you know he's not the killer! If you want to see every giallo ever made this is for you. But if u want a horror movie with brains, talent or realistic gore u can skip this one.