Torso - Arrow Limited Edition 4K UHD

There’s a Roger Ebert quote I keep in my back pocket that says, “It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.” I like to take that out when it comes to movies like Torso, which feel odd to heap praise on top of, but their appeal is so undeniable, its influence so everlasting and the sheer amount of craftsmanship and talent that’s gone into making it allows Torso to shine. Not everything needs to be Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind. Sometimes, you want to turn your brain off, and it’s no less admirable work for a storyteller to allow you to so fully abandon your inhibitions and give yourself to a movie. It takes skill to so fully sell a suspension of disbelief, because hoo-boy, does Torso require a lot of that.

Let me start at the beginning.

For those uninitiated, giallo films were prototypical slashers that had a bit more plot and pretense in allowing their gruesome Grand Guignol-inspired goings on to run amok. Generally, they were simple stories inspired by Italian pulp novels printed on cheap, yellow paper (“Giallo” being the Italian word for yellow), that were about a knife-wielding maniac only seen from the shadows. The genre’s visual trademarks would involve close-ups on gloved hands, graphic stabbings, and strangulations. But there was a story, of sorts, a mystery—we’d find the killer’s true identity at the end, in some sort of surprise twist. Some twists were, of course, more surprising than others. Eventually, the pretense of viewers being interested in seeing a story unfold was dropped, as the slasher genre took over, and plots sort of became a loose framework from which to hang suspenseful scenes and focus on the gory aftermath of its setups.

Until then, there were films like Torso, which come close to bridging the gap between the giallo and the slasher. Within two seconds of the film’s begin, there’s full-frontal nudity and a title sequence that balances silly, playful music, nudity and disturbing imagery of a creepy doll whose eyes have been gouged out—a visual motif that will be repeated later, again and again, throughout Torso’s run time. Sergio Martino is giving audiences exactly what they’re looking for, right off the bat, and never skimps throughout. This is a film which revels in its excesses and that’s part of its overall charm. Moreso than so many other films of the genre, Torso is having a blast, and the audience is, too, right along with it.

The plot, such as it is, tells the story of a madman on the prowl, offing young college girls in the Italian city, of Perugia. Along the way, there are various red herrings to throw us off the trail not only of the killer’s identity but who eventually will be the “final girl” in this feature. Torso delights in its many subversions of the formula as it does in the exploitative thrills of violence and nudity.

While the entire movie is exciting throughout, Torso builds and builds its way to a truly spectacular finale where our final girl finds herself trapped in a vacation house with the killer, who has no idea she’s there. For days, she has to walk on eggshells, unable to leave more than a few steps from her room, as the killer mutilates the bodies of her murdered friends. The final act of the film is excellent filmmaking and, dare I say, if that finale had bookended a more straightforwardly “prestigious” film it’d be studied in film classes a textbook example of a deliberate pacing that leads to an earned payoff of nonstop excitement.

For all the blood spilled and breasts bared, Torso is a surprisingly fun flick that enjoys playing with its audience. It’s exciting in how it sets up its various kills but is self-aware enough to understand how silly the entire story is, so it’s playful in equal measure. Torso is far and away one of the best Giallo films, along with the likes of Dario Argento's Tenebrae and Lucio Fulci's Don’t Torture a Duckling.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Torso is presented on a single-disc 4K UHD Blu-ray, which contains three different version of the feature film: Italian, English and a hybrid Italian-English version. We were issued a check disc for this review, but the final retail copy case will contain a removable slipcover plus a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais. The main artwork on the slip and reversible sleeve is identical for Arrow’s 2018 Blu-ray release. Inside, there is an illustrated booklet, featuring writing on the film by Adrian Smith and Howard Hughes.

I thought Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release of Torso in 2018 looked great. It was cleaned up, scratch-free and just about pristine. In all my cynicism, I wondered how much of an improvement a 4K release would bring to this giallo classic. While the difference between Arrow’s 2018 Blu-ray and 2024’s 4K UHD isn’t exactly night and day (their previous release already looked so good), the difference is absolutely noticeable and it’s a welcomed improvement.

This 4K presentation, with Dolby Vision HDR grading (HDR10 compatible), is from a brand-new restoration from the original camera negative. While Torso isn’t bathed in that kind of ostentatious lighting the genre is usually known for, like Martino’s previous feature All the Colors of the Dark (whole scenes lit with a primary green or blue, whole rooms bathed in red lighting, etc.), it’s still a quite colorful movie and this transfer allows everything to pop. Skin tones look healthy and full, colors of clothing are rich and deep, the blacks of night are free of noise and color banding. Throughout the presentation, however, there is healthy film grain throughout, particularly in overcast scenes with fog rolling in.

Simply put, Torso looks great. If you already own it on Arrow’s previous Blu-ray, you’ve got an amazing copy. If you’re curious about upgrading, I think it’s worth it.

Like Arrow’s 2018 Blu-ray release of Torso, this is going to be a mono audio presentation. However, this is a new, lossless audio presentation in DTS-HD MA because this release for 4K UHD features three different versions of the film: A full 94-minute Italian cut, a full 94-minute hybrid Italian-English cut and a shortened 90-minute English-only cut. According to Arrow: 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.

The work that has gone in here is fantastic stuff, in getting the best possible sound for each version of the picture. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the out of print Blu-ray version to compare it to, but this disc will give you zero complaints. It’s a monoaural presentation, faithful to its original release, that is mixed well. Dialogue always comes through clearly, never being drowned out by its overactive musical score, and the shrieks and screams of murder victims are leveled well so as to not blow your speakers as they unexpectedly explode from quieter moments.

All special features appear to be from the previous Blu-ray release, with the exception of the alternate opening and closing credits from the US release, and the illustrated booklet. I’m going to file this under the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of upgrading films for future releases, because there’s really not much more that I could ask for in terms of features to deep my understanding of Torso, and there’s a lot here to keep new purchasers occupied, and upgraders get a new in-depth booklet to read through.

• Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colours of Sergio Martino
• All the Colors of Terror - Interview with co-writer/director Sergio Martino (HD 34:01)
• The Discreet Charm of the Genre - Interview with actor Luc Merenda (HD 34:52)
• Dial S for Suspense - Interview with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi (HD 29:15)
• Women in Blood - Interview with filmmaker Federica Martino, daughter of Sergio Martino (24:58)
• Saturating the Screen - Interview with Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film (25:03)
• Sergio Martino Live - 2017 Abertoir International Horror Festival Q&A with Sergio Martino (HD 45:59)
• Alternate Torso Titles - Alternate opening and closing credits from the US release (HD 4:02)
• Italian and English Theatrical Trailers

Arrow Video has, as expected, knocked it out of the park with Torso, a giallo classic and totally bonkers film that’s equal parts terrifying, silly, brilliant and idiotic. Most importantly, it’s exciting and ever watchable, with nary a boring moment in its 94-minute run time (or 90 minutes, depending on your preference). Torso looks and sounds superb, with new restorations on its video and audio presentations, and boasts a wealth of special features to make your way through, even if they were on Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release in 2018. All in all, Torso comes Highly Recommended.