Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Tale has touch of Film Noir
Review: Set in 1940s Hamilton Ontario, I thought this flick did a great job of telling the tragic story of intruige surrounding the Evelyn Dick murder trial. I thought the acting, especially by Fricker, was very good and particularly enjoyed the period setting, lighting, and music.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Tale has touch of Film Noir
Review: So I go to the video store, looking for some Italian gore movies. I come across Torso. I remember hearing about it, so I buy it used (the slip thing with the covers was missing, with Torso simply written on the front in red, so it was real cheap). I go home, put it in the DVD player, and guess what comes on? This awful piece of TV movie garbage. It starts stupid, it ends stupid, it lacks a point, intresting writing, original (or at least different) direction, and sub-par acting. I was mad, and the store only gave me 1/4 of what I paid for it. To quote Hank Hill: "Dang it". Truer words were never spoken.

Rating:
Summary: Dang it.
Review: So I go to the video store, looking for some Italian gore movies. I come across Torso. I remember hearing about it, so I buy it used (the slip thing with the covers was missing, with Torso simply written on the front in red, so it was real cheap). I go home, put it in the DVD player, and guess what comes on? This awful piece of TV movie garbage. It starts stupid, it ends stupid, it lacks a point, intresting writing, original (or at least different) direction, and sub-par acting. I was mad, and the store only gave me 1/4 of what I paid for it. To quote Hank Hill: "Dang it". Truer words were never spoken.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly engaging
Review: Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story (Alex Chapple, 2002)

First and foremost: Torso has nothing to do with the infamous Torso Killer of 1940s Cleveland (and, possibly, 1940s Hollywood). If you're looking for tantalizing Black Dahlia/Elliot Ness conspiracy theory, this is not up your alley. What it is is an isolated case (some Canadian journalist probably caught the Torso Killer headlines and decided they would make good copy for the Dick case) set in Canada just after World War II. Evelyn Dick (Kathleen Robertson of 90210)'s very wealthy husband turns up quite dead, and Dick and various of her family members are the prime suspects. The movie focuses on the courtroom drama of Dick's two trials, and the odd relationship between Dick and her bulldog lawyer, J. J. Robinette (Victor Garber [Alias]).

For a made-for-TV movie, this thing has a seriously high-powered cast and an above-average level of tension. But then, television has always lent itself to courtroom drama better than the big screen has, for some reason (witness the recent made-for-TV adaptations of Twelve Angry Men and Inherit the Wind, both of which are more than capable retellings of the original films). There is certainly quite a bit to recommend this little film, even if I did pick it up by accident, hoping for those Black Dahlia/Elliot Ness conspiracies.