Torso Art

I couldn't resit posting this rather lovely UK VHS sleeve for Torso which I watched earlier... This viewing was a strategic selection rather than a random one, following Baron Blood's rehabilitation yesterday, I wanted to give Sergio Martino's film another shot - I was disappointed by the film after picking up the Blue Underground Blu-Ray, I suspect it was to do with the slackening of the pace in the third act, but forewarned is forearmed and I enjoyed the film considerably this time round. Along with the identity of the killer, I had forgotten the brutality of the film, with those gorgeous and beautifully sculpted Italian starlets torn asunder by the ski-masked slaughterhouse running amok, the murder in the swamp being particularly grueling. Martino was 35 when he made the film and I got the impression he was less than sympathetic to the youth of the day and their wanton ways - the casual sex and drugs, and as the police inspector hints at one point, student agitation and unrest...

A good Torso sleeve is worth repeating and fortunately Iver Film Services furnished us with two distinct pieces of VHS artwork. The second sleeve is not nearly as pretty as the doll version but I do like the note on the back side of the sleeve assuring punters that the film comes with "Excellent English Dubbed Soundtrack".

Worth mentioning that both Torso sleeves were found at the Iver Film Services website, an excellent fan site devoted to one of the more ubiquitous UK VHS labels from the outlaw days of the Pre-Cert era. I used to have a few Ivers myself at one point - Octaman, Night of the Bloody Apes and Shriek of the Mutilated, and for me their finest hour was the bloody-silhouetted Texas Chain Saw Massacre sleeve (one of two versions that appeared in videoshops in the early 80's) - my personal favourite piece of pre-cert artwork. All this eye-candy and more can be found over at the Iver website so be sure to pay it a visit...