Torso (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Sep 26, 2024
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Sergio MartinoRelease Date(s)
1973 (September 17, 2024)Studio(s)
Compagnia Cinematografica Champion/Joseph Brenner Associates (Arrow Video)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
Sergio Martino’s Torso (aka Carnal Violence and I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale) is a film with a categorical bent towards giallo, primarily due to having a masked, gloved, knife-wielding antagonist whose identity isn’t revealed until the film’s finale. Yet it’s not a traditional giallo in that it isn’t about a detective, author, or artist of some sort attempting to discover a murderer’s identity. It has those elements for a majority of its running time, but once its final half hour begins, it becomes much more of what we think of as being a slasher film, and an effective one at that.
The story of Torso is fairly straightforward in that an unknown killer is stalking and murdering women, mutilating their corpses after strangling them with a red scarf, a key item that links to more than one suspect. Feeling overwhelmed by all of the violence around them, four women decide to take off for a villa in the hills in order to get away from it all. However, their holiday home is no safe haven as the killer isn’t far behind and will soon be paying them a visit.
What’s interesting about Torso is that its first half is fairly generic in a lot of way. It’s pretty standard stalk ’n’ slash material with little to no substance and an abundance of nudity and violence. It’s more lurid than interesting, but at the same time, it’s impeccably well-made, even setting up for scenes that will take place later on. The final sequence of events at the villa are quite gripping, seemingly given more careful consideration as they’re far more effective than anything that comes before them. Needless to say, it’s a suspense-driven series of set pieces that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Sergio Martino’s work spans a number of Italian suspense classics, such as The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, All the Colors of the Dark, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, and The Suspicious Death of a Minor, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. Featuring Suzy Kendall of Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Freddie Francis’ Tales That Witness Madness, Torso falls right in line with those types of films, almost leading the pack upon name recognition alone... if for no other reason, a memorably nail-biting final act.
Torso was shot on by cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando on 35mm film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Arrow Video debuts the film on Ultra HD from a new 4K restoration of the original camera negative, graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a triple-layered 100GB disc. Encoding duties were handled David Mackenzie of Fidelity in Motion. Three versions are included via seamless branching: the original Italian version (93:39), an English/Italian hybrid version (93:00), and the export Carnal Violence version (90:12). Sadly, the US Torso version, which used VHS tape and print material sources to re-create its opening sequence, is now exclusive to Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release. As for the UHD, it’s a much improved picture with an obvious increase in detail. The bitrate sits in an almost constant range of 80 to 100Mbps, frequently rising above that, while everything appears organic with solid levels of grain. The HDR grades help to elevate detail and boost the color palette tremendously, offering beautiful flesh tones, a variety of hues in the city and throughout the countryside, and perfect contrast with deep blacks and amazing shadow detail. The picture is also stable and clean without any obvious leftover damage, regardless of which version you choose. It looks fantastic.
For the audio, there are Italian and English mono DTS-HD Master Audio tracks that correspond to which version is being watched (Arrow’s previous Blu-ray contained LPCM tracks). In the English/Italian hybrid, some scenes were either not recorded in English or the materials have been lost. In those cases, the Italian audio is instituted with subtitles in English SDH (an option for all versions). The titles also reflect which version is being viewed. All of the audio contains a mild hiss, but offers good support for dialogue and score. The sound effect have a canned quality, but there’s much more consistency between each version’s audio compared to the previous Blu-ray. In all cases, dialogue is a bit loose against the picture, as to be expected.
Torso on 4K Ultra HD sits in a black Amaray case with a double-sided insert, featuring artwork by Adam Rabalais on one side and the original Italian theatrical poster artwork on the other. Also included is a 32-page booklet containing cast and crew information, the essays “Violence Really Brings in the Bucks”: Joseph Brenner, the Forgotten Hero of 42nd Street by Adrian Smith and Songs for Europe: The Music of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis by Howard Hughes, restoration details, and production credits. The following extras are included:
- Audio Commentary on the Italian Version by Kat Ellinger
- All Colors of Terror (HD – 34:01)
- The Discreet Charm of the Genre (HD – 34:52)
- Dial S for Suspense (HD – 29:15)
- Women in Blood (HD – 24:58)
- Saturating the Screen (HD – 25:03)
- Sergio Martino Live (HD – 46:59)
- Alternate Torso Credits (Upscaled SD and HD – 4:02)
- Italian I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale Theatrical Trailer (HD – 3:07)
- English Carnal Violence Theatrical Trailer (HD – 3:05)
The extras for this release are the same as Arrow’s previous Blu-ray, aside from one addition. The same excellent audio commentary with author Kat Ellinger is present, as are the various interviews: All Colors of Terror with co-writer and director Sergio Martino; The Discreet Charm of the Genre with actor Luc Merenda; Dial S for Suspense with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi; Women in Blood with Federica Martino, filmmaker and daughter of Sergio Martino; Saturating the Screen with author Dr. Mikel J. Koven, who goes over the film and giallo films in detail (I personally wouldn’t have minded an accompanying audio commentary on the film by him); and Sergio Martino Live, a Q&A with the director at the 2017 Abertoir International Horror Festival. Also included is the Italian theatrical trailer with the title I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale and the English theatrical trailer under the title Carnal Violence. The one addition is a set of Alternate Torso Credits, which have been assembled from VHS and print sources. Unfortunately, this replaces the full length American Torso version of the film, clocking in at 89:33, which was included on the previous Blu-ray release.
Torso is also one of those films that’s been released on DVD and Blu-ray several times in different territories. As such, there’s plenty missing from the extras. The Blue Underground Blu-ray release contains an 11-minute interview with Sergio Martino; Eli Roth’s introduction to the film; the US theatrical trailer; 2 US TV spots; a US radio spot; and a Poster and Still Gallery. The Shameless Screen Entertainment Region Free UK Blu-ray contains Dismembering Torso, a 23-minute interview with Sergio Martino. The X-Rated Region B German Blu-ray contains an alternative sequence without the tinting and 2 German video openings, while the Region 2 DVD from the same company contains isolated music tracks. Missing from the Alan Young Pictures Region 0 Italian DVD is an audio commentary with Sergio Martino and critic Giona Nazzaro, as well as an introduction by Sergio Martino. Fans may want to hold onto any of these releases if they have them and want everything.
Arrow’s previous upgrade of Torso was terrific in its own right, and their 4K UHD tops it in terms of presentation. The extras could have used some sweetening, but this is still a dynamite release that longtime giallo fans will be happy with. Highly recommended.
- Tim Salmons
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