Torso

Well folks, I'm back. Something something headaches. Sorry it gets a bit repetive to type over and again. So after the odd film earlier I thought I would dabble back into the realm of Giallo and multi-genre director Sergio Martino (Slave of the Cannibal God, Alligator, Don't Play with Tigers, Screamers, Hands of Steel and 2019: After the Fall of New York) handles today's film. This is Torso a.k.a. The Bodies Presented Traces of Carnal Violence a.k.a. Carnal Violence.

Car problems?

We open on an erotic photo shoot with sleazy jazz for porno, a naked woman and man and some suggestive placements for dolls. Eerie looking dolls. Not sure if they are going for some interpretation of Dolly Dearest or they want to arouse Chucky but hey I never claim to understand every facet of art.  Ah good, it has devolved into a threesome or he's telling the girls a secret...with his penis. Got it!  Clearly a layout for Hustler. Where the heck was my mind?  I guess not enough in the gutter for a change. Sorry a bit too much exposition there. Journeying back after the carnal effects, we cut to an art history exhibition and lecture. Um, because they're also nude? The paintings not the class. That could be awkward.

Professor Franz (John Richardson of Black Sunday, One Million Years B.C., On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) and student Daniela (Tina Aumont of Texas Across the River, Man, Pride & Vengeance, Satyricon, Sergeant Klems and The Mechanics of Women) wrap themselves in a philosophical and spiritual debate on the paintings of Perogino and you can see the professor does have respect for her opinion. He feels that Perigino's lack of religious upbringing meant he could not possibly begin to delve into the immortality of the soul or the effects of Christianity has on the populous. Murders now! I'm having too many existential thoughts. Get to the murders. 

Student Jane (Suzy Kendall of To Sir, with Love, The Penthouse, Thunderball, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Fraulein Doktor and Van der Valk) does her own thang. Yeah I know I will pay for that. The red herring has already planted as we are to believe it is the wanker in the neckerchief (Stefano not Fred from Scooby Doo) who is the killer. The foreshadow is fair but Daddy's not buying, kiddies. But enough of that, next sex scene. Oh and in a Mini Cooper car smaller than the Reliant Robin. Good God, this girl has to be limber for that. Hey those breasts look real. I'm confused!

Maybe Makeout Murder Point wasn't the best place for sexing it up but what do I know. After coitus, John (Fausto Di Bella of A Tale of Love, Torso, Il messia, Escape from Galaxy 3 and Computron 22) spots a ski masked perv outside the Mini and beats cheeks to catch him and give him one for; thus leaving his girl Flo (Patrizia Adiutori of Torso, Tales of Canterbury, Play the Gale or Leave the Bed, Winged Devils and Giovannona Long-Thigh) unarmed, outmanned and slasher bait. Our killer has Jason Vorhees stealth capabilities and a scarf for throttling. Serial throttler sounds like a chronic masturbator though. Don't worry. A stabbing do happen and cut scene to morning later we find John was no better off. Looks like he called Mike Tyson a mediocre boxer. 

Are we end an exposition shot?

La polizia are hard at work. Inspector Closeau er I mean Martino (Luciano De Ambrosis (Without Family, Heart and Soul, Tomorrow is Too Late, Aretino's Blue Stories, Torso and They Were Called Three Musketeers But They Were Four) is dealing with this as best as his dubbed actor will allow. Sadly he didn't get the all powerful voice of Edward Mannix but I digress, it's still imposing.

Student Carol(Conchita Airoldi of The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Torso, Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears, The Cousin and Closed Circuit) can't stop eye banging the mysterious doctor and his fondness of scarves. If she hadn't been waved over by Daniela, I think she would have stalked the doc and given him an afternoon delight (Ask your parents, kids).

The girls decide to take a break from their classes and head to Daniela's Uncle's villa. Oh God I see where this is going. Yup probably a sentient cave, mutations and a demand for human blood. No wait, that was Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell. This could be classier.

Jane and the Professor (No Mary Anne sadly) seem to hit it off very well. Dude you just made tenure, don't go blowing it over a young girl. That kind of activity will get you fired or killed. You're in a Giallo for crying out loud! Shape up!

So can you strangle girls by the dozen with this scarf?

Apparently the night time is the right time for a prostitute. Our snobby and foppish art student Stefano certainly believes that. Hmm I don't remember the conversion rate from dollars to lira, plus this is 1973 and the exchange differs now. Ugh fine I didn't want a prostitute anyway so JUST FINE! A bit of darkness ensues but no more than you expect in these films.

Carol still has her heart or loins set on the doctor as she keeps running into him. She also seems to have the hots for Daniela's Uncle? Um Daddy issues? Carol gets high with a couple of bikers and stumbles out in the worse kind of blocking. The dreaded day for night. Ugh, hate that lens.

Carol's made some poor life choices but I am sure it won't come back to haunt her too much.

With some amazing cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando (Erotic Exploits of a Sexy Seducer, Slave of the Cannibal God, Loggerheads, A Policewoman on the Porno Squad, Alligator, The Good Thief, Ironmaster, 2019: After the Fall of New York and Warrior of the Lost World) and the handiest and heaviest Eastman Arriflex possible. They are pushing at least three cameras on this job so there is kitty in the coffers. The gore effects are pretty solid, the story has a decent pace and the cast are lovelies of both gender. Good suspense and tension is ratcheted well.

Don't worry horn dogs, plenty of nudity to go with your gore. It's Giallo for crying out loud. Going for the whole POV into the psycho-sexual madman's mind and pulled it off nicely. Of course any more sneers at kink and perversion from society's stand point and I was going to assume this was the founding fathers of the MPAA. 

You're out of order!! ALL OF YOU!!!

Exploitation Encore: Amazon Jail

Hey there, gang. Y'know with today's title being as blatant as it is you would think this would be a candidate for multiple titles or Also Known As but alas this is not the case. This week of Exploitation Encore, I took random titles out and have no idea what each are until the research machine is in high gear and I sit down and peer at it in terror. Welp, shockingly enough I have managed to latch onto an obscure WIP flick so lucky me. WIP (Women in Prison) normally get very nude, force bisexuality and have other such graphic scenes with it so you can imagine that most women reading this, are shaking their collective heads in disgust. Ladies, I'm sorry but sometimes it is just the roll of the die on what I am stuck viewing. Hailing from Brazil and dubbed in English from the native Portuguese comes director Oswaldo de Oliveia's (Bare Behind Bars, The Brothel- Nights Prohibited and Boarding Virgin Girls) opus. This is Amazon Jail.

What do you mean this isn't the set for Black Mama, White Mama?

Shot in Brazil because...the cinematographers were afraid of Candiru swimming up their urethra...I guess, our feature opens with a very jaunty tune as the girls are being flown in under false pretenses. Gasp! In a women in prison film?!!  Well this is a twist! The promise of work has lured many a young and lovely girl to Brazil er um I mean the Amazon which in fact turns out to be a load of crap and the women are kidnapped and forced into a sex slavery for wealthy business tycoons that fly in just to get their jollies on. The dastardly duo that control the impromptu prison, Edgar (Sergio Hingst of Um Anjo Mau, Uma Tarde Outra Tarde, As Cangacerias Eroticas, Incesto, Touchy and Doramundo) and his wife Helena (Elizabeth Hartman of Uma Pistola para Djeca, Diabolicos Herdeiros, Macho e Femea, Senhora, Cinderela 77 and Boarding Virgin Girls) who run a tight ship with their bamboo like prison huts that look poorly constructed. By myself, it looks like I could tip it over but hey I didn't write the flick.

I don't want to even see Edgar's YELP review on his piss poor management skills, forced orgies and labor disputes. That will be a stern letter I can tell you.

 

 

Can't hear ya bub, I'm enjoying a single malt.

As this film is clearly written for deviant men and angry as hell lesbians we really don't have to struggle to understand the plot but my favorite over-the-top actors are the sweaty mustachio slave wrangler who didn't seem to have a name. No kidding he doesn't even have a name listed in IMDB aside from his own and the gay Satanist priest. I have to be honest, out of curiousity I gotta hear this guy's sermons at least once. Even Lucifier must have made a double take. Our quick thinking sex slaves Betty (Sandra Graffi of Anarquia Sexual, Amor Estranho Amor, As Safadas and Amazon Jail) and Liz (Elys Cardoso of Delicias do Sexo. Mulheres...Mulheres, Amor Estranho Amor, Vadias Pelo Prazer and Amazon Jail) decided they have partook of several orgies too many and hatch a scheme to get them free and get a little payback by...seducing the guards. BRILLIANT! No one would see that backfire at all. Now fellas, try not get upset but nudity doesn't kick in for 5 minutes. I know, I know. That can be a huge wait period for some of you but you just have knuckle down and accept it happening. Will Edgar get his just desserts?? Will the girls escape only to be eaten by piranha??

Let's see, from a technical standpoint the camera work looks clumsy and probably should not have been handheld, the lighting is piss poor and the whole editing process looks like it didn't really adhere to continuity or logic. In some cases it looks like scenes were clipped out so we could progress right to a lesbian scene so the audience didn't get bored. Characters are introduced suddenly vanish without any follow-up and our pure of heart good girls suddenly are vindictive and heartless overnight without any rhyme or reason to it.

So if you are looking for no story but plenty of shower scenes, lesbian encounters, cat fights and half-naked women sloshing through the jungle then this is a must. If you require any actual story arc, developed characters and subplots that match up all the while still have some scantily clad girls, I would recommend Savage Sisters directed by Eddie Romero. FYI, if this jiggly fest wasn't enough for you, worry ye not. Oswaldo de Oliveia made more than 20 flicks of similar standing.

Yes! Motorboat me on the way to Hell!!!