Buy Body Puzzle on DVD

Body Puzzle

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Synopsis

Body Puzzle tells the tragic and increasingly morbid story of the lovely widow Tracy (Gorky Park’s Joanna Pacula). Not only has her famous pianist husband Abe died in an auto accident, but someone keeps breaking into her house and leaving severed body parts lying around. A candy store owner is gutted, a poor woman has her hand lopped off in a public bathroom, a young swimmer is castrated, and so on. The investigating police officer, Michael (The Church’s Tomas Arana), strikes up a hot and heavy romance with her to keep Tracy’s mind off the rapidly accumulating trophies. Michael’s supervising police chief (spaghetti western pro Gianni Garko) tells him to keep his mind on his job; soon Michael concludes that Abe’s protege and probable male lover, unable to cope with the accident, is responsible for the killings. The clincher is the mysterious link between all of the victims.

"A fine throwback to the delirious Italian mystery films (gialli) of the '60s and '70s." - Mondo Digital

"This is a giallo, with a couple of very nice twists and turns... I admire Body Puzzle for two things: It has misdirection that works, and it surprised me the first time I saw it. It also has a good view on gays, which in Italian cinema often can be very exaggerated and on the brink to parody." - Ninja Dixon

3 Reasons To buy this film

Long out-of-print, this gay thriller from 1992 is coming to DVD for the first time.
Director Lamberto Bava, renowned in his own right, also happens to be the son of famed and acclaimed Italian horror filmmaker Mario Bava.
Giallo fans will not want to miss this largely unseen genre classic.

Review

A grisly but ultimately mediocre thriller that postulates the following theme of a gay relationship: homosexual attraction leads to sexual obsession which in turn leads to a psychologically deranged murder spree. When his bisexual married lover Abe is killed in a motorcycle accident, Tim goes berserk with grief, leading him to become a crazed serial killer who collects body parts of his victims (those victims were all recipients of organ transplants form the body of Abe). The plot gets even more convoluted, but the basic premise is that it doesn't take much for an emotionally disturbed gay man to become a tormented psycho-killer. Half my friends and all my ex's are that way.

-- Raymond Murray

Product Format Information

DVD : $17.99

Availability: In stock and ready to ship
Region Code: 1
UPC: 816018010258

Studio : Raro Video

Languages: Italian (Primary)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85, Widescreen
Features:
Interview(s): with the director Lamberto Bava
Booklet: Fully illustrated booklet containing critical analysis and notes on the genesis of the film

Keywords

Bisexual/Pansexual, Gay Male, Gay/Lesbian, Homophobia/Negative Portrayal, International, Music/Musician, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Urban Lifestyle

Genres

Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense

Customer Reviews

Finding the Link

Amos Lassen wrote on 08/26/2011:

Tracy (Joanna Pacula) is a widow and her story is shocking and sad. He husband, Abe, was a famous pianist, died in an auto accident. As if that is not enough for Tracy to bear, someone has been breaking into her house and leaving body parts that have been severed from victims in her house. The owners of these body parts were killed in very strange ways and Michael (Tomas Arana) has been assigned to investigate the murders and as he does he and Tracy become romantically involved but he did this so that Tracy’s mind would not be on the body parts in her house. However, his police chief has urged him to keep his mind on the case and not on Tracy. Michael decides that it is Abe’s protégé and male lover who hasn’t been able to deal with his death is responsible for the murders and he thinks that the links between the dead upholds that. It seems that each victim has a transplanted organ from the same man but we don’t learn that until later.
The film is filled with twists and turns and we see that homosexual attraction has led to sexual obsession and from obsession to murder. Our killer is on a spree to retrieve organs that have been donated to others by his dead bisexual lover. (Sounds really great, no?)
At first, Michael just can’t get a handle at what is going on as parts are being removed from victims and he races against the clock to save the next victim and solve the “body puzzle”. This is by no means a great movie but it is an interesting concept even though it is a big far-fetched. As a horror thriller, I totally enjoyed it but as great acting it leaves a lot to be desired. The murders themselves are not so bad—it is what happens afterwards that is grisly.
There is a definite feeling of the “giallo” films of the 60’s through the early 80’s and even though we know who the killer is from the very beginning, there are some moments of real horror. I have read others who claim that the story is totally unbelievable and could never happen which makes me reply that we do not go to the movies to see what can happen—we live with that on a daily basis. This film has some very sadistic and gory scenes and it deal with a topic of hidden homosexuality and schizophrenia. Director Lamberto Bava lets us know early on who the killer is and immediately after we watch him stab a woman to death. There are several more murders before Michael discovers that all of the victims received organs from Tracy’s husband.
Please understand that I have not given anything away because everything I have said here you learn in the first few moments of the film so you may wonder that we know all of this, why should we see the movie. My answer is to watch the way it is presented and to remember how movies once were.