Sergio Martino's Torso on the way from Blue Underground

Blue Underground is getting ready to unleash Sergio Martino's Torso (I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale), one of my favorite films from the seventies, in a couple of weeks on brand-new DVD and Blu-ray versions and I wanted to make special mention of it here and supply links. Martinos ferocious 1973 Giallo starring the dream-team of Tina Aumont, Suzy Kendall and Luc Merenda is absolutely brilliant and hugely influential, more than any other film Torso laid the blueprint for the so called Torture-Porn (a term I despise) genre that came about this past decade, and it has lost none of its power. Eli Roth's equally brilliant Hostel Part 2 is particularly indebted to Martino's shocking classic, and it would make a perfect companion piece for a DIY double-feature. Written by the great Ernesto Gastaldi, Torso will be released on September 27th on a DVD featuring the uncut English language version of the film and Blu-ray, which comes armed with the uncut Italian version as well. Both also feature a new interview with Martino and information can be found at the above links.

Patrizia Adiutori in Sergio Martino's Torso

This is part of my Torso Tribute Week at Harry Moseby Confidential.


Although she only appears in the first few scenes of Torso, mysterious Italian actress Patrizia Adiutori proves to be very memorable as the first victim in Sergio Martino’s seductively savage Giallo from 1973.

I was hoping to find out some information on the lovely Adiutori but I have been unable to locate anything really concrete, with even her date of birth proving allusive. She apparently made her film debut in the 1969 Edwige Fenech vehicle Madame Bovary and it seems that she had done some modeling before that as I found some images from the Italian Google that seem to pre-date that film.

Small roles in Bruno Corbucci’s When Women Played Ding-Dong (1971) and Duccio Tessari’s Winged Devils (also 1971) followed before a larger role in Giuseppe Vari’s 1971 Italian Western Shoot the Living and Pray For The Dead (a Klaus Kinski film featuring one of my favorite titles ever).

More roles followed, most of them small, for directors like Damiano Damiani and Mario Sequi and with actors like Alain Delon before she landed the role of Barbara in Alfonso Brescia’s underrated Naked Girl Killed in the Park (1972).

Her memorable work with Brescia should have led to many more roles but, according to IMDB at least, it marked nearly the end of the line for Adiutori. She appeared in two bawdy period comedies (including one with Sergio Martino) before filming Torso, the film which would provide her with her final role.

Adiutori is a striking presence in Torso and her death scene is one of the most perverse and disturbing in the film. These are some screen shots of Adiutori in, as far I can tell, her final role. I wonder what ever happened to this promising young actress and I wonder why she retired from the screen in 1973.