Sergio Martino

“Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” went out in the UK under the title “Next!” and in the USA as “Blade of the Ripper”. It is today best known in English by the more literal and more in-keeping title of "The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh”. Under whatever title, it is one of the greatest of all the gialli. This was director Sergio Martino's first giallo and it could be argued that his film was as influential on the development of the genre as was Dario Argento’s formative “L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo” (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage). In typical giallo fashion the film begins with the murder of a young woman. Attention then switches to Julie Wardh (Edwige Fenech), the beautiful wife of Vienna-based Ambassador Wardh (Alberto de Mendoza). Mrs Wardh has an exotic past, being turned-on by rough sex (and blood) in which she participated with former boyfriend Jean (Ivan Rassimov). While at a party with her racy friend Carole (Conchita Airoldi), Julie meets George (George Hilton) a stylish playboy and begins an affair with him. Meanwhile a crazed sex-killer is on the loose, murdering women in horrific fashion with a straight razor. When Julie begins receiving threatening messages paranoia ensues as the killer closes in and she grapples with the potential identity of the maniac – her husband? her former boyfriend? her present lover? a random maniac?

“Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” has all the critical elements that define the giallo: a black-gloved killer; bizarre murders; strange sex, excellent set-pieces; innovative camera-work; an excellent score and strange left-field plot twists. Director Sergio Martino, however, excels with these elements and delivers a complex film with “red herrings” a-plenty and narrative cohesiveness taking second place to the dazzling visuals. He utilises clever camera angles and his critical set pieces are superbly orchestrated, creating an eerie mood that manages to heighten the strange suspense inherent throughout the film. The flashback sequences where we see the perverse relationship between Julie and Jean are extraordinary; beautifully filmed and stylised to such an extent that they raise questions as to whether they are fantasy or reality (or the strange fantasy / reality of memory?). The sequence where Julie and Jean make violent love in the rain and the sequence where they “make love” over the smashed remnants of a wine bottle are both incredible pieces of beautifully stylised kinkiness. These scenes and the wider film are accompanied by the fantastic, haunting and seductive music of Nora Orlandi – truly one of the all-time great scores. The film’s design is also worth noting, particularly Mrs Wardh’s hotel apartment with its odd, bright, chrome spaceship look around which Martino’s camera slides and glides sensuously. This being a film of its time, we obviously have the most odd furnishings, colour schemes and incredibly funky fashions – all of which add to the weird ambience. Giallo-regular George Hilton is a suave and solid as the male lead and Ivan Rassimov is appropriately sleazy and sinister as Jean. Alberto De Mendoza and Conchita Airoldi provide good support performances, but it is Edwige Fenech, the “Queen of the Giallo” who steals the honours. You cannot take your eyes of the stunningly beautiful actress, who gives a marvellously nuanced performance, moving from a rich and confident Ambassador’s wife (with an odd kinky past) to a paranoid and haunted young woman. "Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” is a wonderful film – a strange, kinky, hypnotic dream that is essential viewing for any fan of the giallo or Italian cinema in general.… (más)

“Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” went out in the UK under the title “Next!” and in the USA as “Blade of the Ripper”. It is today best known in English by the more literal and more in-keeping title of "The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh”. Under whatever title, it is one of the greatest of all the Italian giallos. This was director Sergio Martino's first giallo and it could be argued that his film was as influential on the development of the genre as was Dario Argento’s formative “L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo” (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage). In typical giallo fashion the film begins with the murder of a young woman. Attention then switches to Julie Wardh (Edwige Fenech), the beautiful wife of Vienna-based Ambassador Wardh (Alberto de Mendoza). Mrs Wardh has an exotic past, being turned-on by rough sex (and blood) in which she participated with former boyfriend Jean (Ivan Rassimov). While at a party with her racy friend Carole (Conchita Airoldi), Julie meets George (George Hilton) a stylish playboy and begins an affair with him. Meanwhile a crazed sex-killer is on the loose, murdering women in horrific fashion with a straight razor. When Julie begins receiving threatening messages paranoia ensues as the killer closes in and she grapples with the potential identity of the maniac – her husband? her former boyfriend? her present lover? a random maniac?

“Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” has all the critical elements that define the giallo: a black-gloved killer; bizarre murders; strange sex, excellent set-pieces; innovative camera-work; an excellent score and strange left-field plot twists. Director Sergio Martino, however, excels with these elements and delivers a complex film with “red herrings” a-plenty and narrative cohesiveness taking second place to the dazzling visuals. He utilises clever camera angles and his critical set pieces are superbly orchestrated, creating an eerie mood that manages to heighten the strange suspense inherent throughout the film. The flashback sequences where we see the perverse relationship between Julie and Jean are extraordinary; beautifully filmed and stylised to such an extent that they raise questions as to whether they are fantasy or reality (or the strange fantasy / reality of memory?). The sequence where Julie and Jean make violent love in the rain and the sequence where they “make love” over the smashed remnants of a wine bottle are both incredible pieces of beautifully stylised kinkiness. These scenes and the wider film are accompanied by the fantastic, haunting and seductive music of Nora Orlandi – truly one of the all-time great scores. The film’s design is also worth noting, particularly Mrs Wardh’s hotel apartment with its odd, bright, chrome spaceship look around which Martino’s camera slides and glides sensuously. This being a film of its time, we obviously have the most odd furnishings, colour schemes and incredibly funky fashions – all of which add to the weird ambience. Giallo-regular George Hilton is a suave and solid as the male lead and Ivan Rassimov is appropriately sleazy and sinister as Jean. Alberto De Mendoza and Conchita Airoldi provide good support performances, but it is Edwige Fenech, the “Queen of the Giallo” who steals the honours. You cannot take your eyes of the stunningly beautiful actress, who gives a marvellously nuanced performance, moving from a rich and confident Ambassador’s wife (with an odd kinky past) to a paranoid and haunted young woman. "Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh” is a wonderful film – a strange, kinky, hypnotic dream that is essential viewing for any fan of the giallo or Italian cinema in general.… (más)

Better known in English as “Torso” rather than the direct translation of “The Bodies Presented Traces of Carnal Violence”, this is a highly influential film that spans the transition of the Italian giallo into the slasher genre. The story takes place around the University of Perugia, where the students are in a state of alarm after a young woman is murdered by a maniac, who brutally strangles then mutilates her. The police are baffled and there are a multitude of potential suspects amongst the odd and sleazy male population of university. As more young women are murdered in a horrific and ritualistic manner, four students, Jane (Suzy Kendall), Daniela (Tina Aumont), Katia (Angela Covello) and Ursula (Carla Brait), decide to head-off to the countryside to a nearby villa, owned by one of the girls’ fathers, until the murderer is apprehended. Thinking themselves safe they lower their guard, but unfortunately the killer has followed them to the villa.

“I Corpi Presentano Tracce di Violenza Carnale” falls into the giallo genre, but it is also very clearly a proto-slasher and carries many of the hallmarks of that later genre, including the reactionary linking of sex and death. It is, however, delivered with much creativity and panache and, as you would expect from a giallo, little regard for normal plot conventions and mechanisms. Director Sergio Martino (who also co-wrote the script with Ernesto Gastaldi) directs with a lurid and graphic boldness, providing plenty of violent but stylish imagery, which is matched by gritty edge-of-the-seat suspense. The final 30 minutes in the villa as Jane engages in a grim game of cat-and-mouse as she seeks to avoid the killer is a bravura master-class in sustained, dialogue-free tension. Martino’s approach is accented by his use of voyeuristic POV shots and by Giancarlo Ferrando's elegant and stylish cinematography. The superb score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis also adds immeasurably to the overall tense ambience. The cast are all fine, although most have little to do, with Suzy Kendall essaying the role of “final girl” with aplomb. A number of genre favourites pop up in the under-cast, including Ernesto Colli as a lecherous scarf seller who may know something about the murder weapon. This is a tremendous giallo that rewards repeat viewings. It is incredibly suspenseful and intense, with the final third of the film, in particular, building up and delivering a highly claustrophobic and tension-filled climax – an excellent giallo and early slasher and one of Sergio Martino’s best films.… (más)