Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (1971)

Director:

Sergio Martino

Writers:

Vittorio Caronia (screenplay)
Ernesto Gastaldi (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

An ambassador's wife discovers that one of the men in her life - either her husband, an ex-lover or her current lover - may be a vicious serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Lover | Serial Killer | Friend | Killer | Razor

Cast

George Hilton	...	George Corro
Edwige Fenech	...	Julie Wardh
Conchita Airoldi	...	Carol Brandt (as Cristina Airoldi)
Manuel Gil	...	Dr. Harbe
Carlo Alighiero	...	Commissioner
Ivan Rassimov	...	Jean
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Neil Wardh
Bruno Corazzari	...	Killer
Marella Corbi
Miguel Del Castillo	...	Medico Spagnolo
Luis de Tejada
Brizio Montinaro	...	Ospite Al party
Pouchi
Mira Vidotto	...	Cameriera Della Wardh

Also Known As:

Blade of the Ripper (USA)
La perversa señora Ward (Spain)
Next! (UK)
The Next Victim! (USA)
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Italy:98 min | Spain:92 min | USA:81 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

Copercines, Cooperativa Cinematográfica

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 57415 delivered on 23-12-1970.

Quotes:

George Corro: My specialty is courting ladies in the presence of their husbands.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

excellent giallo, that had been made to look poor previously by poor quality videos

I first saw this movie on videotape, Alpha Video's pan and scan, cut version under the title Next! So generic was this release that it had a primitive painting on the cover pretty much unrelated to the movie.

No Shame has put a DVD of the movie out which is uncut and widescreen, with the original title. It's much better. To my mind, anyone complaining about the camera-work or lighting in the movie was really complaining about the bad pan and scan job, and the bad print quality. It looks really good on the DVD. There is some somewhat unusual camera-work, as when at a party, the camera bumps around a bit like the POV of one of the partiers. When someone is shot later on, the picture is again POV, going out of focus and dropping.

Mrs. Wardh is married to a diplomat (or stock broker? or diplomat who plays the stock market?), and it's a pretty bland marriage. She has an ex-lover named Jean who had really dominated her, and they had fairly violent sex (in one flashback, he uses a broken bottle for foreplay). She's glad to be done with him, and is disturbed when he tries to start things up again.

She also starts a new affair with her cousin George. He, at least, seems to be a decent guy and a good lover.

Meanwhile in the city, there is someone slashing women. And then Mrs. Wardh gets a note from a blackmailer. This is a really very good giallo movie, which gets very twisty at the end. The cinematography is in fact quite good, and there are a number of colorful locations, like a park that makes for a rendezvous with the blackmailer. The park scene is (coincidentally?) similar to one in Argento's 4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971). Martino's direction compares pretty favorably with Argento's.