The Blade of the Ripper a.k.a. The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh/Next! 1971 (Mya release 2010
If Lucio Fulci directed the perfect look for psychedelic nightmares, then Sergio Martino directed the perfect kinky sex in The Blade of the Ripper. Rough sex puts it very mildly, as Julie Wardh (Edwige Fenech) flashbacks to her very s & m relationship with Jean (Ivan Rassimov, who is harrowingly perfect here).
She marries a business man Neil Wardh, hoping to escape her twisted relationship with Jean, but somehow becomes embroiled with George Hilton's boring lead...named George.
One of these three men has it for Mrs. Wardh (or it is more than one?) The topsy-turvy proceedings of Jean, Neil Wardh and Hilton's lackluster lead George against Mrs. Wardh grow delightfully more whacked as the film goes on. Even Julie's flight to Spain cannot stop the fact that one of these three gents might be the same serial killer bumping off other young women lately.
So is one of our trio the serial killer?
I am not saying.
Nor am I saying, outside of the extremely lame moment for Jean and George, how Martino's first giallo ends. The pay off is brilliant and only yesterday, after several viewings over the past decade, did I finally latch onto the reveal.
The film does not end in the way you think it would.
Edwige makes for a very smart, perfect heroine. And, boy, does she have chemistry with Ivan Rassimov.
My reason for not giving this excellent little film a higher rating is George Hilton. If he slept walked through any more of his roles (Hilton admitted that his heart wasn't in it) Even after ten years of watching gialli, I just cannot buy George Hilton as a love interest for Edwige. Yet, Martino insisted upon casting them as a couple. There must have been a kick back somewhere because five years on, I'm still annoyed with George Hilton in these films.
Some folks might find the pacing of the giallo a little slow, but that's fine with me. The labyrinth like plots needs time to unwind and to set up all the red herrings and such.
Mya's release of Blade... is not quite the show stopper that No Shame's original release was (no extras), but for U.S. fans this is readily available.
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