Much like the slasher films of the U.S., the Italian giallo movement is more known for its incredibly high highs than it's truly awful lows. It becomes fairly obvious once you start seeking a lot of these films out that there are more lousy ones than great ones, but every now and then, one surprises you and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is, indeed, very surprising.

Taking a more thoughtful and character driven approach to giallo storytelling, it focuses on Julie, an ambassador's wife who's gotten out of a troubled relationship with a sadist and just wants to move on with her life. It doesn't help that there's a mad razor murderer out there and her former lover has been stalking her. Even worse, she falls for a mysterious and handsome friend of a friend who complicates things even more.

The stunning Austrian location photography, beautiful music score, and hypnotic presence of Edwige Fenech helps things move along at a nice pace and having interesting character drama keeps things exciting even when the mad razor slasher isn't terrorizing anyone. This might make for a good gateway giallo for those unfamiliar with the genre. It's not as wild or supernatural as some of the nuttier ones and not as deathly dull as many of the lesser tier ones.

Sergio Martino's "The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh" is one of the better giallo offerings, basically because it is entertaining from beginning to end. There aren't too many memorable moments, however: after all this time all I could remember about it was the one scene where the women at the party are wearing paper dresses and begin to tear them off each other.

Also, I couldn't forget the fantastic title, made weird by the extraneous "h" at the end of the last name. If I remember correctly, a real life Mrs Ward heard about the movie's production and complained, thinking it might sully her reputation, so instead of choosing another name for the character, they merely added a letter that wouldn't change the pronunciation.

Aside from that, it's all pretty standard. There's a killer on the loose, and the ending packs in some double crosses that are kind of hard to swallow. There's no real suspense, and although the movie has the usual nudity and sex, no real eroticism.

It's also not that violent. "The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh" may feature the single most unrealistic throat slashing I've seen in a movie. There's no attempt to simulate a wound, and there isn't even that much blood.

The movie is about the always captivating Edwige Fenech as the stupidly named Mrs Wardh-with an "H", who had a weird sadomasochistic relationship with a guy who looks like Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs", but ditched him for safety and monotony from an older, much more boring man. She starts getting anonymous letters about her "strange vice", and there's a killer on the loose.

As I said the typical giallo twists in the tail are a little hard to bear, the movie has little in the way of suspense, but it's always entertaining and Edwige Fenech is almost always worth watching in gialli.

The true golden years for Italian giallo-cinema only lasted less than a decade (approximately from 1965 to 1975) and after that it was only the acclaimed director Dario Argento who sporadically managed to deliver a good old-fashioned Italian murder mystery. Yet in this relatively short period, several directors were responsible for a huge amount of terrific gialli, with story lines going from basic to extremely absurd and complex. Sergio Martino's "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" is a simplistic example of the giallo-genre and perhaps that is why it still ranks amongst the best and most successful ones ever. This film pretty much defines the sub genre, with its detailed murders of beautiful women, innovating camera-work, gorgeous music and (most importantly) the exact right amount of plot-twists to keep the story believable and compelling. The story revolves on the unearthly beautiful Mrs. Wardh (giallo-star Edwige Fenech) who finds herself stalked by a black-gloved killer who already murdered some of her closest girlfriends. Mrs. Wardh is an easy target since her estranged husband is often away for diplomatic duties and her sexually perverted ex-lover Jean still regularly contacts her. She looks for shelter in the macho-arms of a new lover (George Hilton), but even he can't guarantee her safety, as the killer seems unstoppable. The amount of graphic murders is rather limited (especially compared with later, more infamous gialli) but they're nevertheless unsettling and extremely well shot. Even when there aren't any ladies being knifed to death, this is a very suspenseful thriller, most notably during the tense garage-sequence. Sergio Martino proves himself to be a master of cinematography, with original camera angles (scenes shot in the reflection of sunglasses or through the peephole of a hotel door) and enchanting outdoor locations (the murder in the park, the climax car chase). The flashback sequences, in which Mrs. Wardh revives her masochistic relationship with Jean, are almost pure poetry and guided by a wonderful Nora Orlandi score. The music is so good that no other than Quentin Tarantino re-used it for his 2004 masterpiece "Kill Bill Volume 2". The acting of the entire cast is far above average. Even the women, who're basically selected on looks because they appear topless, are very convincing. In case you developed an interest in Italian horror cinema, but don't yet know where to start your journey, this film is the ideal choice. In case you're already hooked on the obvious giallo-classics directed by Dario Argento and Mario Bava, "the Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (as well as every other film directed by Sergio Martino) almost becomes fundamental viewing.