The Torturer (2005)

The twenty-four year-old aspirant actress Ginette Cazonni goes to an audition with the underground director Alex Scerba and they have one night stand. Ginette finds one earring identical to... See full summary »

Director:

Lamberto Bava

Writers:

Lamberto Bava (screenplay), Diego Cestino (screenplay),

Stars:

María Blanco-Fafián, Elena Bouryka, Carla Cassola

Cast

Credited cast:
María Blanco-Fafián	...	Sehare
Elena Bouryka	...	Ginette
Carla Cassola	...	Carla Sherba
Simone Corrente	...	Alex
Valeria Cramerotti
Emilio De Marchi	...	Moscale
Daniela Giorgini
Alevtyna Huzar
Martina Micozzi
Antonella Salvucci
Eleonora Sannibale
Alessandro Santini

Storyline

The twenty-four year-old aspirant actress Ginette Cazonni goes to an audition with the underground director Alex Scerba and they have one night stand. Ginette finds one earring identical to the one that belongs to her friend Marzia Foster that has been missing for three days on the stage and keeps it with her. Alex invites Ginette to go to his studio and they go to an isolated house where she meets Alex's deranged mother and his stepfather and producer, but soon Ginette returns home. When she calls Marzia again, she learns that her friend had also gone to an audition with Alex and has never returned home. Ginette suspects that Alex might have abducted her friend and she decides to break in Alex's parental house to investigate and she finds Marzia's fate. Meanwhile three other women go to the theater to have an audition with Alex and they are tortured. Will Ginette have the same destiny of the other women?

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Plot Keywords:

whipping | pierced belly button | wheelchair | audition | snuff movie | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

December 2005 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A Tortura

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, Due P.T. Cinematografica S.r.l., Surf Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

THE TORTURER (Lamberto Bava, 2005) *1/2

This is only the fourth effort from Bava Jr. that I've watched – not counting the co-directing credit on his father Mario's last film, THE VENUS OF ILLE (1978); the others were BLASTFIGHTER (1984), DEMONS (1985) and DELIRIUM (1987). I hadn't been impressed thus far, and this latter-day giallo with the current (regrettable) torture-porn mentality certainly didn't improve his lot – if anything, it further sank his chances of ever hoping to equal his old man's influential achievements!

Being shot on Digital, the film displays no style whatsoever and looks ugly into the bargain; as for the plot, it's strictly by-the-numbers fare and, therefore, wholly uninvolving. A handsome young man is revealed to have had a disturbed childhood – cue an excruciatingly annoying and recurring ditty – so that we're led to believe that he's the titular figure (especially since the victims are aspiring actresses who had just been auditioning for the would-be boy genius). Then comes the admittedly stunning heroine – who's really there to probe into the fate of a friend who's gone missing but, lo and behold, she instantly falls for the hero. Also involved is his domineering father-in-law/agent and mother (a Daria Nicolodi wannabe) who's all-too-obviously crackers.

Needless to say, Bava Jr. lazily opts to pile up, and linger on, the gore (and nudity) rather than – pardon the pun – pump new blood into the exceedingly tired situations. As I said, the revelation – of both the reason behind our hero's torments and the villain's identity – provides no surprise at all, nor the fact that the heroine is rescued (by her lover's mother, who suddenly regains her senses!) in the nick-of-time from a fate worse than death. For what it's worth, I have a bunch of other titles by Lamberto on hand – namely GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE (1987), UNTIL DEATH (1987), THE PRINCE OF TERROR (1988) and THE OGRE (1988) – which I may or may not get to in time for this Halloween challenge…