''The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh'') is a 1971 ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

Sergio Martino Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre. Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...

, and starring

Edwige Fenech Edwige Fenech (, ; born 24 December 1948) is an Algerian-born Maltese-Sicilian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of ''commedia sexy all'italiana'' and ''giallo'' films released in the 1970s, which turned her ...

, George Hilton, Ivan Rassimov, and

Alberto de Mendoza Alberto Manuel Rodríguez-Gallego González de Mendoza (21 January 1923 – 12 December 2011) was an Argentine film actor who appeared in some 114 films between 1930 and 2005, spanning eight decades. A lifelong figure in Argentine films, De Mendo ...

. Its plot follows the wife of a diplomat who finds herself being stalked by her former abusive lover in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The letter "h" was added to the name "Ward" when an Italian woman named Mrs. Ward threatened legal action over the original title's potentially damaging her good name, just before the film was released. The film was originally released under the title ''Blade of the Ripper'' in the United States. It was also released under the alternate titles ''Next!'' and ''The Next Victim''.

Plot

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, a homicidal maniac is killing women with a straight razor. Julie Wardh and her diplomat husband, Neil, return to the city after time spent in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Julie married Neil to escape her abusive former lover, Jean, who lives in Vienna. Jean begins stalking Julie, and she grows increasingly anxious. Meanwhile, a series of violent murders of women are occurring in Vienna. At a

high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

party, Julie's friend Carol introduces her Australian cousin George. George and Carol's wealthy uncle has just died, and they are his only heirs. George flirts with Julie, who is unhappy in her marriage to the neglectful Neil. After a lunch date, George and Julie begin an affair. Julie receives a call from a blackmailer who threatens to tell Neil about the affair. Julie suspects Jean is the blackmailer, and Carol insists on meeting the blackmailer in Julie's place. Carol goes to meet the unknown individual in a forested park, where she is attacked and slashed to death by someone wielding a straight razor. When Julie learns about Carol's murder, she urges the police to investigate Jean, whom she suspects is the razor killer given his

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

tendencies. Jean has an airtight alibi. Julie is then attacked in the parking garage by a figure with a straight razor, and barely escapes with her life. Terrified, Julie accepts George's invitation to leave the city (and her husband) for Spain. Back in Vienna, the razor killer dies at the hands of an intended victim. Julie is ecstatic when she reads that the killer is dead and that he was a stranger to her. However, someone continues to stalk Julie in Spain, causing her to have a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

. When George goes to get a doctor, Julie is ambushed and knocked out by Jean. Jean stages the scene to look like Julie committed suicide by

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

. When George returns with the doctor, she is almost dead. At the police station later, George learns that Julie has in fact died, and they consider her death a suicide. George drives to a remote location where he meets Jean. George hired Jean to murder Julie and stage it as a suicide. Jean demands his money, but instead George shoots him and arranges the scene as a suicide. George then meets with Neil, Julie's husband. As they drive, their conversation reveals that they have conspired to murder Carol and Julie and stage it as the work of the razor killer. Carol's death makes George the sole inheritor of his uncle's fortune, while Julie's death means a huge insurance payment for Neil. To avoid police suspicion given these clear motives, Neil killed Carol (while George had a perfect

alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...

), and George tried to kill Julie in the parking garage (while Neil had a perfect alibi). After the razor killer died, it no longer made sense for George to kill Julie with a razor, so he instead hired Jean to stage Julie's murder as suicide while both George and Neil had alibis. The police appear, and George and Neil, trying to evade them, drive off a cliff to their deaths. It is revealed that Julie is not dead, but was saved by the doctor. The police faked her death to trick George and Neil into meeting; they were suspicious after Carol's autopsy revealed that her murder, though committed with a razor, did not fit the razor killer's modus operandi. Julie is consoled by the handsome young doctor as they drive away.

Cast

Critical reception

AllMovie wrote, "Sergio Martino's first entry into Italy's giallo genre delivers everything this style of thriller requires and then some", calling it "a skillful example of how the giallo can be a head-spinning experience in style over substance."

References

External links

*
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
at Allmovie.com 1971 films 1971 crime films 1971 horror films BDSM in films Italian horror thriller films Italian mystery thriller films 1970s Italian-language films Films about stalking Films directed by Sergio Martino Films set in Vienna Films set in Spain Giallo films 1970s crime thriller films Films produced by Luciano Martino Films scored by Nora Orlandi 1970s Italian films {{crime-thriller-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Critical reception

See also

References

External links