''Body Puzzle'' is a 1992 Italian film directed by

Lamberto Bava Lamberto Bava (born 3 April 1944) is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Italy, Rome, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father Mario Bava. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film ''La Venere d'Ille'' with his f ...

. The film is about a psychopath ( François Montagutt) who leaves body parts outside the house of a young widow (

Joanna Pacula Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of the ...

). The film was one of the last films released by P.A.C. in Italy before its bankruptcy. The film was re-released in Italy as ''Misteria'' after legal issues of using

Carl Orff Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata ''Carmina Burana (Orff), Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Orff Schulwerk, Schulwerk were influential for ...

's ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...

'' as music in the film came to the front.

Production

''Body Puzzle'' was a return to theatrically released films from director

after a series of television works. The film's script was the work of an American writer

Bruce Martin Bruce Philip Martin (born 25 April 1980) is a New Zealand international cricketer who played Test cricket for the national team. At domestic level he played for the Northern Districts and Auckland in the State Championship and Northland in t ...

that was re-written by Teodoro Agrimi and Bava with the author's permission. The film was shot in 1991. Bava did not get along with the producers while filming. Bava argued with the producers of the film who wanted a say in the direction. Bava later stated that he was offered to direct to more pictures with the producers, which he refused to do. Bava was also frustrated with the score by Carlo Mario Cordio, and during post-production had it replaced with parts of

's ''

''.

Release

''Body Puzzle'' was released in 1992. Legal issues due to the use of Orff's music without permission led to the film being re-released and slightly re-edited with

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

's ''

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian s:St. John's Eve (Gogol, unsourced), literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed ...

'' used in its place under the title ''Misteria''. According to critic and film historian Roberto Curti, the film was released to "bad distribution and minimal box office". The film was one of the last films to be released by P.A.C. before going bankrupt. The film was released on home video in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1990s and on Laserdisc in the United States.

Reception

From retrospective reviews, Adrian Luther Smith in his 1999 book on Italian sex and horror films found the film to be "one of the better horror thrillers" from Italy in recent years specifically noting the quality of the cast.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{Lamberto Bava 1992 films 1992 thriller films 1990s Italian-language films Italian thriller films Films directed by Lamberto Bava Films scored by Carlo Maria Cordio