A talented and versatile journeyman, director Sergio Martino (The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key) has lent his talents to multiple genres across his long and varied career, but it is undoubtedly his giallo thrillers from the early 70s for which he is best known. Among the most highly acclaimed of these, 1973’s Torso revels in the genre’s time-honored traditions while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the modern slasher movie. Read on for more details on Arrow Video's Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a new 2K restoration. Available in the US on October 30th.
In the film, A sex maniac is prowling the streets of Perugia, targeting picturesque university town’s female students. Alarmed at plummeting life expectancy of the student body, Jane (Suzy Kendall, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) and her three friends elope to a secluded country villa – only to discover that, far from having left the terror behind, they’ve brought it with them!
Also known as Carnal Violence, Torso was released in Italy towards the end of the giallo boom before enjoying a second life on the American grindhouse circuit. Co-starring Tina Aumont (Salon Kitty) and Luc Merenda (The Violent Professionals), the film finds its director at the top of his game, delivering copious levels of violence, sleaze and one of the tensest cat-and-mouse games ever committed to celluloid!
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: • Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of both versions of the film: the 94-minute Italian and 90-minute English cuts • Original lossless Italian and English mono soundtracks* • English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack • New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colours of Sergio Martino • New video interview with co-writer/director Sergio Martino • New video interview with actor Luc Merenda • New video interview with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi • New video interview with filmmaker Federica Martino, daughter of Sergio Martino • New video interview with Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film • 2017 Abertoir International Horror Festival Q&A with Sergio Martino • Italian and English theatrical trailers • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Adrian Smith and Howard Hughes
* The English audio track on the original, longer cut has some portions of English audio missing. English audio for these sections was either never recorded or has been lost. As such, these sequences are presented with Italian audio, subtitled in English.
