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“Death is the keeper of secrets.” In other words, three can keep a secret if two are dead? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out exactly how many secrets are kept in Torso (1973), Sergio Martino’s giallo all’italiana.
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 137 – Torso (1973)
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A string of appalling lust murders shocks the University of Perugia as a sadistic serial killer strangles to death beautiful college girls with a red and black scarf.
IMDb
- Director: Sergio Martino
- Writers: Sergio Martino, Ernesto Gastaldi; Lewis E. Ciannelli (dialogue: English version) (uncredited)
- Cast
- Suzy Kendall as Jane
- Tina Aumont as Dani (Daniela)
- Luc Merenda as Roberto
- John Richardson as Franz
- Roberto Bisacco as Stefano Vanzi
- Ernesto Colli as Gianni Tomasso, the street vendor
- Angela Covello as Katia
- Carla Brait as Ursula
- Conchita Airoldi as Carol Peterson
- Patrizia Adiutori as Flo (Florence) Heineken
- Luciano Bartoli as Peter
- Gianni Greco as George
- Luciano De Ambrosis as Inspector Martino
- Carlo Alighiero as Uncle Nino
Jeff sees several giallo tropes present in Torso and thinks the first hour seemed a bit pedestrian. During the last half-hour, however, the tension really ramped up. Though not a big giallo fan in general, Chad also thinks the first hour is a tough slog, but the third act more than makes up for it. The trailer for Torso is one of Bill’s favorites and he agrees the film’s tone flips about an hour into it. He also gives it credit for being pretty stylistic, especially for the time in which it is released. Doc, however, found himself rather surprised that he likes Torso as much as he does, citing its brutality, the switch in the main character, and the abundance of suspects as reasons why.
The Decades of Horror 1970s Grue-Crew appreciate Torso, some more than others, but they all agree it is worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan of giallo films. As of this writing, Torso is available to stream from Shudder and on physical media as a Special Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be Patrick (1978), chosen by Chad! Be sure to join us for that one.
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