Blu-ray Review: Torso (1973)

"This fine Giallo is worth watching for the villa sequence alone. And the boobs. There's lots of boobs."

(aka Filthy Bitches!)

Release Date: Jan 4th, 1973.

Country: Italy.

Rating: NR

Written by: Sergio Martino.

Directed by: Sergio Martino.

Starring: Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont, Luc Merenda, John Richardson, Angela Covello, Carla Brait, Conchita Airoldi, and Patrizia Adiutori.



Director Sergio Martino never earned the acclaim that other directors like Argento and Fulci did, but he had a way with his films that made them both titillating and fun, and he deserved more love from Horror fans. Shame, that, because the guy's got skills.

After an opening that features an out of focus threesome involving dolls and automatic photography with a shutter camera, we're taken to a lecture at a school in Perugia. In attendance are a bunch of hot coeds, two of whom were involved in that threesome. Later, one of them is strangled to death by a masked killer wielding a red scarf, who opens her shirt after she's dead, rubs her breasts, and then stabs her. Shortly after that, another girl is killed in the same way, except after the creeper rubs her dead body up, he pokes her eyes out, and then he stabs her. Variety is truly the spice of life.

IT JUST DOESN'T PAY TO BE A COED IN PERUGIA.

Another girl, Dani, gets a call from the killer where he threatens to kill her because she knows too much about scarves. Then, a bunch of other people are killed because they saw the killer wearing a scarf around town, or sold him a scarf, or maybe bought a scarf for themselves. With the entire school in hysterics over the murders, and scarves, Dani's friends decide to head to a secluded villa to help her hide out, because that sounds like a safe plan with a scarf manic on the loose.

THERE'S THAT DAMN SCARF!

At the villa, the girls massage each other after taking baths; drink; smoke; do some nude sunbathing; have lesbian sex; and trip down long staircases, severely  inuring their legs. All the while, the killer is still out there killing people, and chucking them down a well. When he finally makes his way to the villa where the girls are smartly secluded, all alone, a bloody rampage ensues culminating in a cat-and-mouse game between he and the Final Girl, in which we learn that he thinks all girls are dolls and filthy bitches.



Listen, it doesn't make that much sense to us either, so just go with it.

THIS FILTHY BITCH DOLL LOOKS SHOCKED.

We've been on a roll lately with the old Gialli that we've been watching, and Torso is another excellent example of why the Italians did Horror better than just about anyone else in the 70's. All the usual Giallo conventions are present here, but it's a far more exploitative effort than most of its counterparts. I honestly can't recall seeing a Giallo that had as much gratuitous nudity in it. This one operates on a different level in that respect.

LOOK OUT, SHE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

Torso is a typical Giallo/Italian Horror film in many ways, but the one thing that really struck us about it was the way that Sergio Martino shot and paced certain scenes. The scene where Carol is being stalked through a muddy forest was fantastic; it was slow and deliberately paced, and it ratcheted the tension up with every step she took.



Even better was the scene towards the end at the villa, which was just superb. It goes on for a good 25 minutes, unfolds slowly, and builds up a mad amount of tension too. It was so good, that the ending that it sets up felt underwhelming in comparison. The part with the key was genius. Suzy Kendall owned the entire last act of Torso, and she played the entire villa segment perfectly. We love how her character was smart enough to hide, be quiet, and stay alive while the killer moved through the house around her.

BRILLIANT.

What the hell was the deal with the scarves? The flashback scene where the killer's motivation was revealed explained the dolls, and his hatred for women ( I suppose), but it didn't really explain why scarves were such a big thing for him.



It's worth noting that during that scene, the kid flying off of the cliff, and then the sudden cut to the doll and his dead body made us laugh... as did the girl falling down the stairs, and the crazy wannabe karate fight at the end. Man that was all some good, ridiculous stuff.

THIS IS NO TIME FOR A PHOTOBOMB, ASSHOLE!

Why were all the men so angry in this movie? Innocent coeds, hookers, even toy dolls weren't safe from their rage!

ROMANCE.

Lots of people are strangled and slashed in this one, but it's not crazy gory as we expected it to be.

METHOD ACTING.

There are naked girls everywhere in this one, and we do mean everywhere. It was crazy.

THANK YOU, ITALY. THANK YOU.

The Torso Blu-ray is one that we were fine with, but that some Audio/Videophiles will probably take issue with.



For us, this is the best that Torso has ever looked. There is some trace evidence of DNR here and there, but overall this is a balanced transfer that didn't distract us too much with its flaws. The audio is a different matter though, as it wasn't exactly as crisp and clean as we thought it should be. It's an older movie, and we weren't pumping it through out 7.1 system or anything, so it didn't bother us all that much. Again, purist will probably not dig it as much though.



Special Features:

• Muders in Perugia - Interview with Co-Writer/Director Sergio Martino.


• U.S. Opening Credits. 


• Theatrical Trailers: U.S., International, and Italian. 


• TV Spots
  
  


• A Radio Spot.


• Poster & Still Gallery.

Issues and all, this is another solid Blu-ray release by Blue Underground, who are quickly becoming one of our favorite release houses.

DAVID COPPERFIELD AND ESPOSITO FROM WELCOME BACK KOTTER WERE GREAT IN THIS MOVIE.

We were actually surprised at how good Torso was. Not that it's a masterpiece or anything, but it was truly clever in places, and dare we even say artistic. It was all kinds of sleazy, exploitative fun, which is really why we watch these old Italian Horror flicks; for the craziness of it all. 



B+



Torso is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

There's a bevy of sexy women in Torso, and we've given them their own Hottie post right over HERE.

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Review

Blu-ray Review: What Have You Done To Solange? (1972)

"No one did anything to Solange. She did it to herself!"

Italian for "Yellow," Giallo movies are Italian Thrillers that are rife with gratuitous violence and nudity; shadowy, black-gloved killers; absurd plots; bad dubbing; and intense atmosphere like no other. The Gialli films of the late 60's/early 70's helped give birth to the Slasher film as we know it.



Krimi films, which are lesser known than Gialli, are German Thrillers that are based in some way on the books of Edgar Wallace. They're usually set in England, and are essentially murder mysteries, with some random sex and violence thrown in for good measure.



What Have You Done to Solange? is a Giallo/Krimi hybrid, which may be why it feels so different from the standard Giallo fare, and may be why it was so entertaining overall.

While sexy Professor Enrico Rosseni and his 16-year-old lover Elizabeth are floating down the lake in a rowboat, inappropriately kissing and fondling, Elizabeth notices the flash of a blade on the bank. Enrico assumes that despite his magnificent beard, that she's just trying to spurn his attempted statutory rape, and so he gets all pissy about it, and they leave.

HOW COULD ANY UNDERAGE GIRL RESIST THE SEXY APPEAL OF THAT BEARD?

The next morning on the news, Enrico hears that the body of a girl was discovered on the riverbank, and he races to the scene only to discover that his little Lolita wasn't just trying to avoid sex with a much older man after all; she really did witness a murder, and one where a girl was stabbed to death in the vagina. Like it always happens in these films, Enrico begins to investigate the murder, which the Cops have no problem with at all, despite him being a civilian.

HE'S ABOUT TO SEND HER TO DETENTION IF SHE DOESN'T LET HIM FINISH.

As more girls show up having been stabbed to death in the vagina, Enrico becomes the prime suspect, because he dropped his pen at the scene; his wife learns he's a cheating man-whore who like little girls; and he must work frantically to discover who is murdering his potential lovers, before it's too late... which he'll do once he discovers just what happened to Solange.

VAGINA KILLER.

What Have You Done To Solange? might be the classiest Giallo that we've ever seen. As much nudity and murder as there is in this movie, it's not really all that gratuitous or sleazy, which isn't exactly par for the course for the average Giallo movie. It feels almost sanitized in a way, and yet even with that level of restraint, it doesn't lose any of its bite.



All of the familiar trappings of the standard Gialli are here: A shadowy, black-gloved killer that is out for some sort of retribution; shocking, gruesome murders; an ordinary guy who has no business investigating the murders who is forced/compelled to do so; sexually promiscuous girls; plenty of nudity; and that feel... that Italian Horror movies of the 70's feel. We have to give Solange? credit, as it didn't feel anywhere near as cheesy, melodramatic, or non-sensical as most Italian Horror movies of its time did.



This was also Camille Keaton's (I Spit On Your Grave) first movie, and she did a good job playing the troubled Solange. The gorgeous Karin Baal was also good as the wife of the cheating Enrico. Despite her husband's adulterous, age-inappropriate assholery, she was a down ass bitch to the end. We liked her.

WHOSE HAND IS THAT?

The accents in this movie were atrocious. Were we really supposed to believe that they were all British? And the black dude... could they not have at least dubbed him better?

"DON'T JIVE ME, MAN!" REALLY?

I'm not sure how things work in Europe, but here in America, if a teacher has sex with his underage student, people don't just call him a "Sex Maniac" and give him stern looks. No, they fire him, and then he goes to prison.



Bravo, Europe, for not putting such silly restraints on lust true love!

SURE, HE MAY BE EYEING THEM LIKE A HUNGRY WOLF EYES A FLOCK OF INNOCENT, VULNERABLE SHEEP, BUT THAT TRACKSUIT IS FANTASTIC.

A bunch of girls get killed in this one, and the scene that gives the movie its title is fairly disturbing, but none of it is very graphic.

THAT IS JUST WRONG.

This movie is full of naked young girls having sex, taking showers together, and being murdered. One of those situations is of course as un-sexy as it gets, but hey, naked is naked.

NOT ROMANTIC AT ALL.

Arrow Films just doesn't know how to make a bad disc, and in fact, their releases are consistently excellent. This 2K restoration is visually stunning, and it's amazing how great the movie looks compared to every other release that its had. The Italian Language Audio track is stronger than the English one (the former has a better mix, and the latter sounded tinny to us at times), but it didn't bother us all that much.



It's also got plenty of Supplemental Material for fans of the film to sort through.



Overall, this is an excellent disc.

HER PUSSY LOOKS SOFT AND CUDDLY.

What Have You Done To Solange? may not be a typical Giallo film in many ways, but it certainly is one of the best of them that we've ever seen. It's above average in its storytelling and its characters, and it retains its nasty edge despite being mostly blood-free. We'll even go so far as to call it a poignant story about the loss of innocence.



It's a great movie, and one worth checking out, especially in its current Arrow Video Blu-ray form.



A



What Have You Done To Solange? is available now on Blu-ray.

There are so many gorgeous ladies in What Have You Done To Solange?, that we've even given them their own Retro-Hottie post HERE.

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Review

The Best Blu-ray Release of 2016... So Far.

With so many movies being released to Blu-ray & DVD every week, it's not always easy keeping track of them all, let alone figuring out which ones are actually worth buying. There's nothing worse than a blind buy that goes bad, and trust us, we've had plenty of those.



With that in mind, we decided to set up a permanent post featuring the best Blu-ray releases on the year (so far), to make it easier for people to know which movies they should be checking out. Of course what's "worth" buying is a subjective thing, so we're going to keep our list as short and sweet as possible:

• Some are great movies.


• Some are fantastic discs.


• Some are just great deals. 

The bottom line is that depending on your taste, these Movies and TV Shows may be worth owning to you.



We'll keep this list updated to reflect current releases only; if you want to keep up on future releases, just pop on over to our Blu-ray & DVD Release Dates List where you'll find info on upcoming titles for the next few months. Between the two lists, at least you'll know what's out there, and you can make a better informed decision on what to buy.



*Click the pics below to order yourself a movie or two, and enjoy!

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Blu-ray Collection