Director: Sergio Martino
Notable Cast: Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Alberto de
Mendoza, Ivan Rassimov, Conchita Airoldi, Manuel Gil, Bruno Corazzari, Carlo
Alighiero
Over the last few years, as I continue to explore the various
genres of cult Italian cinema, there was a director that stood out as one of
the more fascinating voices of the time period for his diverse work and
incredible visual and tonal abilities. That director is Sergio Martino. One of
the highly regarded genre classics that had alluded me was his erotic thriller,
The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh. Fortunately, the film finally received a gorgeous
Blu Ray release from Severin recently (fully uncut too) and it unquestionably
lives up to the hype surrounding it. Although the film roots itself in many of
the tropes and formulas of the giallo, it’s a film that often deviates ever so
slightly from it to deliver its stronger qualities. Mainly, it plays on the
expectation of the genre and how seductress is used in the erotic thriller. Playing on these expectations, The Strange
Vice of Mrs. Wardh creates an enthralling tale of lust, love, life, and
death in a way that feels fresh even when planting its foundations firmly in
the conventions of a murder mystery.
Following the exploits of the young wife (Fenech) of a
diplomat, the film chronicles the arrival of an evil ex-lover, the potential
new mister, and her crumbling marriage to her husband on her life. When a killer
of women starts knocking off well-off ladies in town, she starts to believe
that perhaps one of the men in her life just might be the killer.