Cheap The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (DVD) (Sergio Martino) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh

worth a look
A solid, well-crafted giallo that delivers the goods without achieving 'classic' status. Despite the title - and the opening quote from Freud - the film has minimal interest in character psychology. In fact, Mrs Wardh's vice is little more than a plot device, though the weirdly-scored slow-motion flashbacks are certainly memorable. The characters are interesting without being in any way sympathetic. The men are manipulative predators and the women play dangerous games. In the last act, the sado-masochistic undercurrents make way for a series of plot twists. While these are not too predictable, the final 'solution' is unremarkable. Sergio Martino stages some impressive set-pieces, aided by editor Eugenio Alabiso, whose credits include FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. While Martino lacks the artistry of Bava or Argento, he certainly knows how to make a movie.

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A Terrifc Giallo
This stylish Italian murder mystery (giallo) from 1970 is surprisingly good. As a whole it doesn't surpass the mastery of an Argento or Bava film but it comes close. In fact, the stalking in the Vienna park in STRANGE VICE predates a similar sequence in Argento's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET by two years and is quite scarier. There are some stunning images, a beautiful score, smatterings of nudity and gore and a crazy plot that actually caught me off-guard and had me guessing to the end. Edwige Fenech is excellent as Mrs. Wardh although the script should have indulged us with more of her vices and a psychological reasoning behind them. Those quibbles aside, this is a giallo that stands heads above others such as the ludicrous CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT or SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS.

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Let's say three and a half stars. Pretty good giallo!
If the names Martino, Fenech and Hilton mean anything to you, you pretty much know exactly what to expect. Ivan Rassimov plays the usual scum. I won't go too much into the plot, except to say that I didn't guess the ending - well, not all of it, anyway. When you've seen enough of these, you learn all the tricks. Is the killer the least likely person? Are there two killers? Oftentimes the identity of the murderer comes from so far out of left field that there is no guessing - which is perfectly fair in my opinion. Ha ha ha. See if you can figure it who's doing what to whom. <
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>And, without giving away the titular "vice," I will say that I might have liked to have seen it explored in more depth than it actually is in the film. That element could have yeilded more gains in either the cheap thrills or psycholigical depth departments. Still, this has it's kinky moments. <
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>Nora Orlandi's excellent score was recently, uh... "borrowed" by Tarantino. And there is some beautiful location photography. Martino's cinematics are generally in order here - with quite a few scenes more visually interesting than a lot of recent Hollywood product. Fans of female nudity will also find something (or things) of interest - but you probably knew that. <
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>A satisfying disc for giallo fans. (You know what those are, right? Italian whodunnits. If British murder mysteries can be characterized as 'dry', then the Italian ones are definitely 'wet' - style to burn, groovy music, extra sex and violence...) The transfer looks just fine. The documentary is pretty good if a bit overdone in places. (Fenech is still a knockout!) I am happy to find both English and Italian audio tracks along with optional English subtitles. (The English subtitles are considerately placed at the bottom of the screen, and very good except for a couple of sloppy mistakes near the end.) I would have liked to have seen subs for the trailer, but that's a minor quibble. <
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>Let's hope more of these releases are coming. Carroll Baker made a slew of thrillers in Italy, and it would be great if someone could start making those available!