The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)

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.

The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971)

Director: Sergio Martino

Notable Cast: George Hilton, Anita Strindberg, Alberto de Mendoza, Ida Galli, Janine Reynaud, Luigi Pistilli, Tom Felleghy, Luis Barboo, Lisa Leonardi, Tomas Pico

What’s brilliant about Sergio Martino giallo films is that, outside of a handful, they are not usually purely giallo. It has been mentioned on this site previously that Martino is a much more diverse and talented director than just what he contributed to the horror genre and that even when he was making a film that was restricted to certain elements like a giallo is, he would find ways to make it feel dynamic. This brings us to the focus of this review, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, his second giallo and one that just received the pristine Arrow Video treatment. While the film maintains a staunch adherence to the elements that make a giallo a giallo (right down to the leather clad gloves and knife), it’s also a film that finds the tight balance of being a smart and intricately woven mystery thriller that slides into horror elements when it needs a spark to keep the film moving forward. It’s not quite the genre mashup that is Suspicious Death of a Minor, but it’s also not the pure slice of giallo that Torso is either. It’s the best of both worlds and The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail is a must have for any fan of either Italian cinema or just great thrillers.

The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)

Director: Sergio Martino

Notable Cast: Claudio Cassinelli, Mel Ferrer, Lia Tanzi, Gianfranco Barra, Patrizia Castaldi, Adolfo Caruso, Jenny Tamburi, Massimo Girotti

Sergio Martino, like many of his peers in the Italian genre film industry of the time period, was not boxed into crafting one genre. He directed horror, science fiction, westerns, and many kinds of films. Sometimes, he would direct multiple genres in one film. While often The Suspicious Death of a Minor is labeled as a giallo, this film is a lot more diverse than just that one classifier would indicate. It occasionally has trouble finding its own momentum and narrative flow as it navigates the treacherous minefield of genre shifting, but it does leave the audience unsure of what to expect in the film as it unfolds and that does add to the experience of watching it. Through the newest Blu Ray release of the film, courtesy of cult cinema champions Arrow Video, it’s time to revisit one of Martino’s most subtlety odd and intriguing films just to see why it succeeds and falters at its own game.

Torso (1973)

Director: Sergio Martino

Notable Cast: Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont, Luc Merenda, John Richardson, Roberto Bisacco, Ernesto Colli, Angela Covello, Carla Brait, Conchita Airoldi, Patrizia Adiutori, Luciano Bartoli, Gianni Greco, Luciano De Ambosis

Torso was one of those films that when I told my cinephile friends I hadn’t seen they would gasp in shock. ‘You really need to see it,’ they would say. ‘I know, I know. I’ll get to it eventually,’ I would reply. Yet, it took my sorry keister a decent amount of years to get around to it and if it wasn’t for the fact that it popped up to watch for free on my Amazon Prime account I would have probably waited longer. Even then, my initial plan was to put it on in the background as I folded laundry, so I didn’t plan to invest myself fully to the film. I’ll be damned though. Sergio Martino directs the hell out of it. Soon, I had forgotten my laundry and found the credits rolling and an hour and a half had disappeared. Torso was a much better film than the sleazy slasher/giallo hybrid concept made it sound and even though the film is flawed in many regards, Martino brings such a solid game to his direction that rarely did I get caught up in the problematic nuances while it was playing. It’s a film that was built to appeal to the more generic horror fans at its foundations of exploitation, but it’s shot and executed like it’s the best damn piece of cinematic art released that year and it’s that intent that carries the film through the tropes and clichés to being such a pleasant surprise.