The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh (1971)

Brilliant and touching

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Attractive, confident and haughty, Mrs. Julie Wardh (picturesque Edwige Fenech) has a plethora of men interested in her. Husband and lovers, some more depraved than others, pursue her in this heady, fast-moving chiller. What makes her increasingly fragile state of mind worse is the knowledge that she also appears to be haunted by a series of vicious killings. A coincidence? Her new lover, George (George Hilton) is somewhat intense. Could he have something to do with it all, do you think? Otherwise known as 'Next!' 'The Next Victim' and 'Blade of the Ripper', this has acquired a reputation as one of the best giallo films, and it is not difficult to see why. The pace does not falter, it is very tightly written and the wonderful twists are delivered with expert ease, and don't let up until the very end. The locations – as in many such productions – are mainly real, not studio sets, and as such are packed with colour and detail, from every rusted radiator to flaking window pane, and the lush expansive exteriors are never less than breath-taking. The direction, by Sergio Martino is faultless (at one point a letter, delivered with flowers to Wardh, reads: 'Your vice is a locked room, and only I have the key', which is also the (English) title of another of Martino's giallo films).For many films of this period, females are portrayed as pretty feinting screamers for pretty brave males to rescue, and yet here, Wardh has every reason for hysterics (Fenech is a legendary performer, due in part to this film – she has since become a prolific producer; her most recent film acting credit is in 'Hostel 2 (2007)') as she is given no respite in between scares and attacks. Crucially, the audience is entirely with her throughout, which makes the fact that she really doesn't appear to stand a chance that much more powerful.

The strongest proof that this Italian Seventies-trash film carries a strength of its own: its female nudity is relatively scarce.First of all, we are presented with a coherent story that makes sense. Second, its plot succeeds in building up real tense. And third, its surprising ending fits in well.For the rest, 'the strange vice of Mrs. Wardh' is very Seventies. And very Italian. Performed by actors & actresses who cannot act. And shot in a pretty mediocre way, even to Seventies-standards.Somehow this strange and incoherent mix keeps you on your seat right up to its very end.

Good Giallo full of vicious killings , suspense and eerie events . This genuinely mysterious story deals with the ambassador's wife (Edwige Fenech) who discovers that one of the men in her life - either her husband named Neil Ward(Alberto De Mendoza), a sadistic ex-lover named Jean(Ivan Rassimov) or her new lover named George (George Hilton ), the handsome cousin of her friend Carol;- may be a grisly serial killer . In Vienna happens several murders with bloody and gruesome executions. There a razor wielding slasher is killing women and some clues seem to implicate about anybody are dieing. Julie's husband Neil is away frequently, so George pours on the charm .She also meets both are newly rich, thanks to an uncle's death. Jean, her brutal previous lover, immediately contacts her, certain that only he can satisfy her strange vice , but she rejects him. Meanwhile the series killer goes on a real massacre on various unfortunate victims as a woman is slashed , another attacked in her apartment. Slowly more people are found dead and the inspector investigates the strange killings with numerous suspects .Sergio Martino's great success is compelling directed with well staged murders plenty of startling visual content with translucently pale turquoises and shimmer red when the killings take place . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . This suspenseful movie is plenty of thrills, chills, high body-count and glimmer color during the murders in lurid pastel and deep orange-red with phenomenal results . The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre that was invented by Mario Bava along with Riccardo Freda (Secret of Dr. Hitchcock, The ghost , I Vampiri) , they are the fundamental creators . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color with shining red blood, usual zooms, and utilization of images-shock . Later appears Dario Argento (Deep red, Suspira,Inferno), another essential creator of classic Latin terror films. Sergio Martino's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and more inclined toward violence and lots of killings . It's a co-production Italian- Spanish financed by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero , for that reason appears Spanish actors as Manuel Gil , Alberto De Mendoza , Miguel Del Castillo and Italian as Edwige Fenech , Ivan Rassimov , among others . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Emilio Foriscot who photographed splendidly Vienna and Sitges, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain . Very good and thrilling score by Nora Orlandi. The picture is well directed by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, comedy, Western, and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He especially was expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and ¨Arizona returns¨ and Giallo as ¨The case of scorpion's tale ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tales¨ and of course ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨. Rating: Good, this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.

This is a great typical Italian Giallo genre example, that has all of the usual and required elements in it, such as lots of fake blood, bad dubbing, weird sound effects, some surreal dream-like sequences, a lunatic murderer, an eerie atmosphere and lots of sex and naked women (for some reason they even start to wrestle naked in the movie).These Italian thriller/horror productions from the '70's and '80's are often fantastic to watch and are totally overlooked by the big audience. It's a great and original genre on its own and it uses different 'rules' than the Hollywood productions from the same era and beyond. It for instance has different kind of editing, different kind of cinematography (often also hand-held to increase the movie its atmosphere and tension), a different style of build-up (real European-style). It's always something special and unusual to watch. It has an unpleasant and creepy kind of atmosphere, in which unexpected things happen all the time. There's never really much to the story of these sort of movie, even though they always try hard. It's simple but it always works well. This movie is not really an exception to this, even though it surely has its original moments and like always a great twist at the end and some twists in between.The acing is above average and is by genre standards. The women are cast because of their beautiful looks and the men because of their charismatic appearances, both pretty and villainously ugly. Especially Ivan Rassimov works out great, while Edwige Fenech is also a pretty good leading lady, who perhaps faints and scream one or two too many times. She now also plays a small part in "Hostel: Part II", an obvious reference and homage to her Giallo past, by director Eli Roth. The movie has a great typical Italian genre movie musical score by Nora Orlandi. The kind of stuff Ennio Morricone also used to compose in his most early days. Very unusual sounding but wonderful at the same time. The musical score was even reused later again by Quentin Tarantino, for his movie "Kill Bill: Vol. 2".Not the best but still a great example of the genre.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/