Body Puzzle

Very decent horror/thriller, not quite falling into the 'giallo' category as few of the classic ingredients are present, except perhaps plot holes and inefficient policemen, but let us not be churlish. This is a grisly tale with more than a few twists and killings. It is more what happens after the kills that is particularly grisly and then we have various bits being sent to the leading lady. Joanna Pacula plays throughout the movie a heroine in peril and pretty well too. Stylishinteriors at the start remind one of A Blade In The Dark and whilst this is not as consistent as that film it is nonetheless a decent ride.

"Body Puzzle" is a typical Italian thriller,not exactly a masterpiece,but it delivers some surprising twists.The death scenes are pretty vicious and graphic,especially when the woman has her hand chopped off.Director Lamberto Bava creates a reasonable amount of suspense and Luigi Kuvellier("Deep Red","Blood for Dracula")does the slick photography.Polish horror queen Joanna Pacula("Warlock 2","The Kiss" and awful "Haunted Sea")is pretty good as a widow in peril.It's also very nice to see Giovanni Lombardo Radice("House on the Edge of the Park","Gates of Hell","Cannibal Ferox")as the epicene Morangi.Overall this one is worth a look,if you like Italian giallos.

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"…).

Body Puzzle is something of an atypical giallo in so far as that the face of the killer is seen from the outset. The rest, as they say, is business as usual, with director Lamberto Bava delivering a convoluted murder mystery with a beautiful woman in peril (Joanna Pacula), a tough cop trying to crack the case (Tomas Arana), and several elaborately staged, mean-spirited murders.

Pacula plays widow Tracy, who begins to receive gruesome gifts from a serial killer: body parts from his victims. As the murderer goes about his business, police detective Michele (Arana) tries to figure out the motive for the slayings, thereby leading him to uncover the killer's identity. It all gets a little tough to follow at times, but Bava's stylish direction and the grisly death scenes ensure a good time for giallo fans.

Gory highlights include the vicious murder of a pastry store owner (who loses his ear) and the chopping off of a woman's hand in a toilet cubicle, but the most ingenious killing has to be that of a teacher in a classroom full of blind children, the psycho committing his crime as the kids happily listen to a recording of 'Peter and the Wolf'. Fans of italian horror will also get a kick out of seeing genre favourite Giovanni Lombardo Radice as camp stable owner Morangi, who supplies Michele with a vital clue.

I recently came across this movie after seeing a review for it on a certain Horror website (who gave it a positive review) & after finding out that Lamberto Bava directed it, I instantly thought to seek it out after enjoying some of his other movies such as 'Demons' & 'Rabid Dogs' & well I was disappointed by this rather lacklustre effort.

The plot follows a detective on a trail of a serial killer who leaves his victims body parts in a young widow's home, all of which seems to be connected to her late husband's death.

Initially this title sounded a little bit highbrow & yeah, I'd say it is, but that doesn't make it better, despite a promising premise. There's no mystery as to who the killer is as its revealed right from the start, but you don't know why & that could have made for an interesting set up. But as the movie goes on it all becomes muddled with a very unsatisfying twist, that not only comes across as ridiculous, but makes the detective incredibly stupid.

However, there were some cool scenes & some well-maintained tension, but overall, there was a lack of flourish and comes off as very generic with a lack of interesting cinematography, tones & lack of style, coming across as very on the nose. The performances were also very stilted & stuff, despite both actors giving far better performances in other projects.

Overall 'Body Puzzle' isn't one of the better Giallo movies & you can see why this genre died out as by the 90's, the genre clearly run out of gas.