Villains Wiki

Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!

READ MORE

Villains Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Warning
Scarfaceinthefall
This article's content is marked as Mature
The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older.

If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page.

It was chance that drove me to the necessity to kill dolls.
~ Professor Franz
Blood all over the rocks! Bitches! Bitches! They'll do anything to get what they want! Yes, like Flo and Carol. They played their filthy little games with me! They seduced me. They flattered me. Then they blackmailed me. Filthy bitches!
~ Franz explaining why he killed Flo and Carol.
Death is the best keeper of secrets.
~ Professor Franz

Professor Franz is the main antagonist of the 1973 giallo slasher film Torso. He is an art professor who teaches in Italy and harbors a hatred towards women, because of a childhood trauma which involved the death of his brother.

Portrayals[]

  • John Richardson (Adult Franz)
  • Uncredited (Masked Franz, possibly)
  • Uncredited (Child Franz)
  • Sergio Graziani (Italian voice for Adult Franz)
  • Uncredited (Italian voice for Child Franz)

Biography[]

Franz and his brother Gianni grew up in Tagliacozzo, Abruzzo, Italy. One day, one of their friends, Lisa dropped her doll on the cliff edge. Gianni offered to get the doll if Lisa gave him a peek without her panties. Despite the brothers' reputation her mother warned her about, she begrudgingly agreed and Gianni tried to get the doll, but ended up slipping off the cliff, falling to his death. Franz was deeply traumatized by the incident, leaving him to hold the view that women were manipulative "filthy bitches". As a result, despite being still attracted to their bodies, he was unable to have sex with them.

As an adult, Franz became an art history professor in Perugia. While a teacher, two of his female students seduced him and then blackmailed him when he couldn't perform. Being blackmailed further supported his misogynistic views and Franz attacked Florence and her boyfriend Sean while they were having sex under an overpass. He killed Sean and strangled Flo with a black-on-red foulard, afterwards using a mini kukri to mutilate her corpse. Then, a couple days later, he attacked and killed Carol in the woods while she was high.

The cops find the scarf wrapped around Carol's neck and hold a conference at the University, asking anyone who might've seen someone wearing one like it to come forward. After the conference convenes, the inspector interrogates Gianni Tomasso, the vendor that Franz bought his foulards from. Realizing the opportunity, Gianni keeps quiet, but contacts Franz and attempts to blackmail him. While Gianni is waiting for him to show up and pay, Franz chases Gianni in his car and eventually corners and rams him.

Before killing Carol, when Franz was stalking her in the city, another one of his female students saw him wearing the black-on-red foulard. Realizing that she would remember sooner or later, Franz follows Dani and her three friends to Tagliacozzo. While there, he kills the village idiot who was peeping on the girls, and Dani's crazy ex-boyfriend, who also coincidentally wore a similar foulard. At night, Franz makes his move, showing a dead Stefano at the door with his scar still around his throat, then kills Dani and her two friends. In the morning, he buries Stefano's body and uses a hacksaw to cut the three girls into pieces and make them easier to get rid of. Unbeknownst to him, a woman named Jane, who lived at the same house and he had grown quite fond of, was also at the house and sees him cutting up the bodies.

Eventually, he finds and reveals himself as the killer to Jane. He explains why he had to kill everyone and then tries to strangle Jane with the scarf out of fury over her being a witness. But, the town's doctor, Roberto bursts in the door and fights with Franz. They get into a scuffle in the barn, and though it seems Franz has the upper hand, Roberto manages to throw him off of a cliff.

Victims[]

  • 1: Sean Linch - Throat slit with a mini kukri off-screen, body seen.
  • 2: Florence Heineken - Strangled with a foulard and mutilated post-mortem.
  • 3: Carol Peterson - Strangled with a foulard, drowned in a mud puddle, and mutilated post-mortem.
  • 4: Gianni Tomasso - Rammed with car three times, crushing his torso, legs, and head.
  • 5: Baloc - Throat slit with a mini kukri.
  • 6: Stefano Vanzi - Strangled with a scarf.
  • 7: Katia Nicholson - Throat slit off-screen with a mini kukri, body seen and dismembered with a hacksaw.
  • 8: Ursula Pelisier - Throat slit off-screen with a mini kukri, body seen and dismembered with a hacksaw.
  • 9: Danielle Anselmi - Throat slit off-screen with a mini kukri, body seen and dismembered with a hacksaw.
  • N/A: Jane - Attempted to strangle with a foulard; was rescued.
  • N/A: Dr. Roberto - Fought and attempted to stab and throw off a cliff; Franz was killed from a fall off the cliff instead

Gallery[]

Advertisement