Body Puzzle (1992)

Director:

Lamberto Bava

Writers:

Lamberto Bava (screenplay)
Teodoro Corrà (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 March 1992 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A police officer makes a terrible discovery during the investigation of a series of murders: Each victim has a transplanted organ from the same man...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Police Officer | Beautiful Woman | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Joanna Pacula	...	Tracy
Tomas Arana	...	Michele
François Montagut	...	Abe
Gianni Garko	...	Police Chief
Erika Blanc	...	Dr. Corti
Matteo Gazzolo	...	Gigli
Susanna Javicoli	...	Mrs. Consorti
Bruno Corazzari	...	Prof. Brusco
Ursula von Baechler	...	Katia Lelli
Sebastiano Lo Monaco	...	Mort
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Morangi
Paolo Baroni	...	Milani
Gianni Giuliano	...	Cemetery Director
Giuseppe Marini	...	Agent Melli
Guido Quintozzi	...	Ass't Pathologist

Also Known As:

Misteria (Italy)

Runtime:

98 min | Spain:90 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 | UK:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.)

Several puzzle-pieces missing in the script, but still a FUN 90's giallo!

There once was an era, approximately from the late 60's up until the early 80's, during which nearly every Italian director delivered his own personal giallo-movie and they featured the craziest plots and the most far-fetched red herrings. What great times they were! After this, however, the magnificent sub genre almost got extinct and there were only TWO directors that regularly attempted to breathe new life into the formula of mad black-gloved killers and sleaze-laden twists. Dario Argento is the king even to this day and the other one is Lamberto Bava, who was responsible for some truly underrated giallo-efforts like "Delirium: Photos of Gioia" and "You'll Die at Midnight". "Body Puzzle" is yet another criminally neglected film that features all the giallo's extraordinary trademarks, although that sadly also includes the major holes in the plot. "Body Puzzle" serves the absolute most implausible story I've ever beheld, but there are plenty of sadistic & gore-soaked murders on display and the absurd screenplay hints at some controversial topics like hidden homosexuality and schizophrenia. Lamberto Bava doesn't really bother to keep the killer's identity secret, as we immediately witness how a handsome young man brutally stabs an anonymous candy store owner to death. Several more grisly murders are committed before police inspector Michael discovers that the victims have one thing in common. They all received donor organs from a pianist who died in a motorcycle accident and the mysterious killer tries to puzzle him back together. The inspect is much quicker when it comes to falling in love with the deceased pianist's wife, played by Joanna Pacula. "Body Puzzle" completely stops to make sense halfway, but you've got to love Bava's enthusiast direction and his desperate efforts to maintain the suspense. The music and camera-work are more than adequate while the cast features some familiar faces. Giovanni Lombardo Radice briefly appears as the exaggeratedly gay acquaintance of both the killer and the dead pianist. Italian horror fans will certainly recognize him as the poor sucker who always dies sensationally ("Cannibal Ferox", "City of the Living Dead", "Cannibal Apocalypse"…).