Blade of the Ripper

Blade of the Ripper aka The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is a 1971 giallo film directed by Sergio Martino and staring the fabulous....Edwige Fenech. :::sigh:::

Ok, now that that's out of the way. :::grin:::

When the film started, I had a bit of an eye roller moment. A woman is killed horribly with a razor and I wasn't sure I wanted to see another TORSO-like hack and slash film. This film was directed by Sergio Marino of TORSO fame, so I wasn't sure if it was in the same arena. Then, poor Edwidge gets slapped around and her dress ripped off and I did another eye roll. However, once that business is out of the way, things started getting rather interesting.

Edwige plays Julia Wardh - the wife of a diplomat. They get along, but are not fab together. Not as well as she gets along with George Hamilton - her lover George Corro. She plays the game of being the good wife and even better lover, going from one man to the other in a kind of dance. When her old lover resurfaces, she's scared of just what he's capable of. As more murders happen around her, she starts to think that one of these men may be madman with the blade. But, which one?

I don't want to say much more about the plot here. It would be rather easy to spoil.  Suffice it to say that this is a great offering and well worth a watch. It's shot well, there are some fun set pieces, and there is a lot going on.

This film really turned around for me. I was half paying attention through much of the first act, but as things start to shift, I got a happy little smile on my face. "Ahhhh...I see what you're up to, movie. I see." I loved the shifts through the film and it's definitely a new gialli fave.