"The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1971) was the film that first turned me on to giallo director Sergio Martino, as well as the charms of cult actress Edwige Fenech. I just had to have more, and so checked out "All the Colors of the Dark" (1972) just as quickly as I could. This film reunites not only the director and star of "Mrs. Wardh," but also costars George Hilton and Ivan Rassimov from that previous film, as well, and although "Dark" is not the 10-star masterpiece that "Mrs. Wardh" is, it still has much to offer, even to the casual viewer. In this one, Edwige plays a woman named Jane who, when we first meet her, is something of an emotional mess. She had recently suffered a miscarriage following a car accident, and is now having persistent nightmares about the blue-eyed, knife-wielding whacko who killed her mother many years before. And soon, Jane meets the man of her dreams, as Ol' Blue Eyes (and I don't mean Frank Sinatra!) starts stalking her through the streets of London. After psychiatry fails to calm her, she takes a friend's advice and attends a local Black Mass (!), but, not too surprisingly, her new devil-worshipping acquaintances only add to poor Jane's problems.... Anyway, Martino again directs his picture with abundant style to spare, and Fenech is astonishingly beautiful throughout. Twenty-three in this film, she looks a bit like Carolyn Jones' better-looking sister, or a brunette Karin Dor, but in truth is far, far prettier than either of those lovelies. When she's on screen (which, happily here, is most of the time), you just can't take your eyes off her. Thus, we have a slightly overly plotted giallo that combines a stalker, devil worshippers, a psychedelic Black Mass, nightmare sequences AND beautiful Edwige in the buff. Can't be all bad, right?

Though typically billed as a traditional giallo, All The Colors of the Dark owes more to Rosemary's Baby than it does The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. The stunning Edwige Fenech plays the lead character who finds herself getting wrapped up in a bizarre cult after a neighbor tells her that it might help her get over some of her issues. Naturally, things don't end well when she starts suspecting that this cult doesn't have the best of intentions.

For those expecting buckets of blood, you'll be disappointed, but the script for All The Colors Of The Dark and much smarter and more thoughtful than a lot of other giallo scripts and is filled with twists, turns, and even some honest-to-God suspense.

One of the many things I enjoy about the giallo genre is that whilst the structure is similar with each film, the overall style can be infused with various other flavours. Here, the horror/thriller style is given a kind of 'Rosemary's Baby' treatment, with the incredible Edwige Fenech playing Jane, who appears to becoming immersed into the world of the occult (this is a far more successful melding of genres than 'A Black Ribbon for Deborah' two years later).

Traumatised by the loss of her unborn child, Jane begins seeing the image of an impossibly blue-eyed man. As time goes on, this figure tries to kill her, and desperately lonely with her husband away for his work, she befriends nearby mysterious and condescending Mary (Marina Malfatti), who promises that if Jane attends a Black Mass ceremony, all her problems will vanish. As solutions go, it was never going to work. The blue eyed figure, now wielding a knife, warns her not to renounce the group.

Looking fabulous, poor Jane is catapulted from one nightmare to another, with partner Richard (George Hilton) turning up to save her. However, could he become ensnared in the cult too? You would hope not. Incidentally, in a sadly brief role as Jane's sister Barbara is Nieves Navarro (here billed as Susan Scott), a million miles away from the carefree characters she played in 'Death Walks... ' giallos from the early 1970s.

Beautifully directed in an occasionally hallucinogenic fashion by Sergio Martino, and mesmerizingly scored by Bruno Nicolai, 'All the Colours of the Dark' features a typically exciting climax. If you like giallo films, you'll like this. If you're uninitiated in the genre, I'd recommend it without question.