I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (1973)

Country of Origin: Italy
Year of Production: 1972
Running Times: 92 mins
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Compagnia Cinematografica Champion
Executive Producer: Antonio Cervi
Producer: Carlo Ponti
Production Manager: Dino Di Salvo
Unit Manager: Andrea Petricca

SCRIPT
Script: Ernesto Gastaldi, Sergio Martino
Story: Sergio Martino
English Language Dialogue: Lewis E. Ciannelli

DIRECTION
Director: Sergio Martino
Assistant Director: Michael E. Lemick (real name: Michele Massimo Tarantini)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Giancarlo Ferrando
Assistant Camera: Adolfo Troiani

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Eugenio Alabiso
Assistant Editor: Amedeo Moriani

MUSIC
Music: Guido De Angelis, Maurizio De Angelis

SOUND
Sound Recordists: Alberto Moretti, Romano Pampaloni
Sound Effects: Luciano Anzellotti

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Mario Van Riel
Hair: Maria-Luisa Fraticelli
Costume Designers: Silvio Laurenzi, Vera Marzot

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Giantito Burchiellaro

OTHER CREW
Continuity: Anita Borgiotti

LOCATIONS
Locations: Rome, Lazio, Italy

CAST
Suzy Kendall (Jane)
Tina Aumont (Daniela (Dani))
Luc Merenda (Roberto)
John Richardson (Franz)
Roberto Bisacco (Stefano)
Angela Covello (Katia)
Carla Brait (Ursula)
Christina Airoldi (real name: Conchita Airoldi) (Carrol)
Patrizia Adiutori (Flo)
Ernesto Colli (Gianni Tomasso)
Luciano Bartoli (motorcyclist)
Gianni Greco
Luciano De Ambrosis (Inspector Martino)
Enrico DiMarco (delivery man)
Giorgio Dolfin
Carlo Alighiero (Uncle Nino)
Vincenzo Crocitti
Luca Bonicalzi
Fausto Di Bella
Giuseppe Terranova (Uncle Enio)
Rosaria Della Femmina (prostitute)
Ermelinda De Felice (Stefano's landlady)

PLOT SUMMARY

A serial killer is slaughtering young female students in Rome. The only clue to his identity is that he wears a red and black scarf while committing his crimes. American student Jane and a group of her friends decide to spend a short holiday in a remote villa in the country. But the killer has followed them and starts picking them off one by one. (Full Synopsis)

Positively awash with red herrings and contrived plot twists, Martino's slavish adherence to the Argento school of giallo film-making is crude and obvious, but not without its charm. As usual the psychological explanation for the mayhem is all over the place and the misogyny will annoy many viewers, but technically, the film is impressive enough. Martino and his cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando have a good eye for landscapes and make excellent use of the picturesque villa in which the majority of the second half of the film is set. Indeed, this is one of the best looking Italian thrillers of its day. Particularly impressive is Carol's atmospheric wander through the woods, culminating in her well staged murder by the masked assassin. Rather less impressive, however, are the torturous plot machinations and obsessive accumulation of potential culprits - every male figure that passes through the film is, to greater or lesser extent, set up at one time or another as a possible killer. After a while, it all becomes rather tiresome and predictable.

Australia
Video Distributors: Video Classics

Canada
Theatrical Distributors: Frontier Amusements

UK
Video Distrbutors: Vipco (announced but never released)

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Joseph Brenner Associates Inc
Video Distributors: Anchor Bay Entertainment
DVD Distributors: Anchor Bay Entertainment (DV 11073)

Australia
Rating: R

USA
Rating: R

1972
December
23: Italy - passed by the ratings board

1973
January
4: Italy - theatrical release

November
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical release

2000
March
21: USA - DVD release (Anchor Bay Entertainment (DV 11073))

POSTER TAGS

Enter... if you dare the bizarre world of the psychosexual mind.

To preserve the surprise ending, no one will be admitted during the last ten minutes.

Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence
Carnal Violence - English language title
Los cuerpos presentan señales de violencia carnal - Spanish television title
Torso - UK/US title

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-rama Show Southern Style Volume 2 (1995)
Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell (1987)

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.4 no.4 (Winter 1976) p.31 (USA)
illustrated review (by John Duvoli)

Cinematografia ITA vol.40 no.1 (January/February 1973) p.111 (Italy)
review

The Dark Side no.62 p.21 (UK)
review

European Trash Cinema vol.2 no.6 pp.25-26 (USA)
review

Fangoria no.193 (June 2000) p.53 (USA)
illustrated DVD review (by Michael Gingold and Matthew Kiernan)

Hollywood Reporter vol.234 no.6 (27 November 1974) p.19 (USA)
review by (Charles Ryweck)

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.42 no.497 (June 1975) p.132 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review (by Jonathan Rosenbaum)

Rivista del cinematografico no.3/4 (March/April 1973) p.160 (Italy)
review

Sight and Sound vol.3 no.11 (November 1993) p.62 (UK)
note about Vipco video release (which eventually never happened) (by Peter Dean)

Variety 13 November 1974 p.19 (USA)
review (by Robe)

BOOKS

Hoffman's Guide to Horror, SF and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 pp.78-79
credits, review

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

childhood trauma, dismemberment, dolls, drugs, flashbacks, giallo, gore, hippies, lesbianism, professors, serial killers, students, teenagers

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008