CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

moonmonday I'll admit, it started out interesting. The pace was quick and plenty happened on the screen; it seemed to relish its sleazy circumstances, and the visuals were engaging enough to keep up interest. There was genuinely some really good photography and visual direction...unfortunately, that's where the good part ends.This is one of the most laughably incoherent films I've ever seen, and I've seen some real turkeys in my life. By the time everything is laid out, it has a sad, perfunctory feel that not only doesn't make sense, but the killer is just some pathetic chump you won't recognize. If you're like me, you'll be left wondering...who was that guy? It doesn't help that the movie is filled with people who look similar enough to be confusing.Several plot points are introduced, then dropped without a word. A number of worthless coincidences pop up too, which are likewise without any contribution to the story and its development, ultimately. A variety of characters parade across the screen, many of which never make the slightest contribution to either the story or the enjoyment of the movie.The worst thing the film does is, it takes three of the most interesting characters and, in a move signaling nothing so much as complete desperation, kills them off-screen and then still keeps trying to play it for suspense. It's not only not suspenseful, it arrives at about the hour mark, where things should be tightening up for the final confrontation and resolution. Instead, it just drags on and on, boring to the last...that is, when it's not utterly confusing.The last girl in this is woefully incompetent. She manages only to do useful things when it ultimately doesn't matter. She can't even slide down a banister! She's easily one of the least interesting or well-done characters in the whole thing, and she spends most of her time doing stupid things that are completely meaningless.In fact, most of the people in this are about the same. That's probably why it's so easy to confuse them; everyone is a total idiot. It's impossible to care about the situation even slightly. Also, nice magic window there, which apparently looks out on whatever it needs to at the moment, regardless of what perspective it should have.This movie is a waste of time. At first, it seemed almost like a hidden gem that would set some tropes for later slasher films to follow, but it just unwound into a sorry excuse for a giallo that wasn't even good for one of those. The contrived explanation at the end came off as incredibly awkward and forced, and the last try at a "is it or isn't it" scare was just pathetic.Don't waste your time with this. There's not even any reason for the film to be called "torso", except for maybe the fact that there were so many naked ones on display. Not that it was titillating either. This tries to be something new and present an exciting twist on something that was, by its time, well established; it failed at both.

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.

morrison-dylan-fan Despite having read a huge amount of praise for his work in the Giallo film sub-genre,I've found myself constantly putting director Sergio Martino's work to the bottom of my 'must watch' pile,due to having found his 1978 title The Mountain of the Cannonball God to be a rather disappointing film.With a poll for the best titles of 1973 being held on IMDb's Classic Film board,I felt that it was the best time to start afresh with Martino,and to take a look at his Giallo world for the first time.The plot:As a John and Florence Heinken start to get hot'n' heavy in a car,they spot a masked stranger staring at them.Chasing after the stranger in the woodland area,the stranger corners the couple,and kills both of them.Thanks to Florence and John both of them being popular students at an arts university,reverberations from the attack are sent across the campus.Attempting to block the dangers from her mind,a visiting US arts student accepts an offer from leading tutor Franz to take her to an opening art exhibition.Sadly for Franz and Jane,their plans are left in tatters,when another student is discovered murdered,with a red scarf around her neck.With a serial killer stalking the students,the police arrange a meeting,where they tell the students to be on the lookout for anyone who is wearing the same scarf that the killer left behind.Talking to her group of friends,Jane is left shaken,when one of them tells her that they can remember seeing someone wearing the scarf.Asking for advice from her tutor,Franz gives Jane and the gang keys to his villa,so that they can get away from all of the chaos taking place around them.Sadly,once they have reached the villa,Jane discovers that she is closer to getting a grip on the scarf than she ever could have desired.View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,co-writer/director Sergio Martino and Ernesto Gastaldi attempt to create a multi-threaded Giallo by giving an equal amount of focus to each of Jane's friends.Whilst this approach does allow for the fear that each of the characters have to be fully expressed,it also sadly causes the movie to never spend enough time on a particular character,which along with making each of the characters disappointingly interchangeable,it also leads to the mystery element feeling rather dry,due to none of the characters appearing to heavily invest in the unmasking of the stranger.Whilst the screenplay sadly fails to build a strong sense of suspense,director Sergio Martino closely works with cinematography Giancarlo Ferrando to give this Giallo a fantastic supernatural atmosphere,thanks to Martino and Ferrando superbly using corner shots to build a feeling that the stranger could appear from thin air in the corner of a room. Emphasizing the supernatural vibes Guido and Maurizo De Angelis give the film a wonderfully creepy score,which shrieks as the killer gets close to a victim in Martino's terrific Gothic Horror villa.Placed at the centre of the film,Suzy Kendall gives a fantastic performance as Jane,with Kendall brilliantly making the 30 minute near- silent final a truly nerve-wrecking experience,thanks to Kendall showing Jane having to plan each move she makes,as the mysterious scarf-wearing killer prepares to attack the next victim's torso.

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.