Friday, May 18, 2018

cinema history class: torso

Session: Giallo Month II, Week 3
Movie: Torso (1973)
Directed by Sergio Martino
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL



Plot:
A deranged killer (with, apparently, some sexual hangups) is murdering young women with a red and black ascot. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
Keith noted that Torso marked the transition between giallos and slasher films. And it's interesting how you can actually see that. This movie clearly had a giallo plot, and yet the gore was of a kind with the early entries in the Halloween and  Friday the 13th franchises. Bay of Blood, which we saw at Keith's last year showed elements of this transition, but it was much more obvious here.

One of the really great things about this movie is the way so many things that seem so off come together by the end like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle. Notably, many of the killings look incredibly fake, which seems to detract from the film. But the exposition near the climax actually makes it sensible. Joe, who had seen this film a couple times before without noticing that detail, gave the film a 10 on the strength of that epiphany.

The plot here was suspenseful, and I loved the numerous red herrings that were thrown in. Oh, also, I loved the quote: "Eight legs! Eight titties! And four sets o' ass!"

Ratings:
Me: 8
Ethan: 9
Joe: 10
Sean: 3 out of 4

4 comments:

  1. I know it’s nearly impossible in today’s busy world but, if ever there was an argument for revisiting a film you’d already seen (perhaps seen even *more* than once) it’s that you will CONTINUE to find new things, or things you failed to notice previously – such as my spontaneous epiphany on the “sometimes odd cinematography” of some of the killings, and WHY it was done that way by Sergio Martino!

    Each Giallo we’ve seen in this session thus far, I have seen previously. I’ve given a higher (than even my “normally high”) rating to each one as my opinion of each has risen, if even slightly, upon seeing it again!

    This next one coming up, will be the only one this session that I’ll be seeing for the first time. I wonder if, due to this, it will be the only one I rate below a ten or a “nine with a lotta point-nines after it”! …And if I’d rate it higher upon a second viewing.

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  2. Then, speaking as a Bayesian, I think you should rate it higher to start...

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  3. If I could “speak as a Bayesian”, I wouldn’t need talcum powder!

    As you all know, I *DID* rate “Autopsy” (1973) lower than the rest – but that’s because it turned out to actually BE WORSE than the rest!

    Oh, it was still “okay”, but no likeable characters, a diffused plot – and most important of all – NO SUSPENSE!

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