The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is a 1971 film from Spain and Italy, directed by Sergio Martino, running 98 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1971 · 1970s films
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Director
- Sergio Martino
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (35/100)
- Also known as
- Next! · The Next Victim! · Blade of the Ripper · The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
The Martino/Fenech formula, arriving fully formed. Cut and retitled Blade of the Ripper in the US.
The Martino and Fenech formula arriving fully formed. A diplomat's wife with a taste for dangerous men is stalked through Vienna by a black-gloved killer, and the film weaves her masochism into the mystery until the two are hard to separate.
It is glossy, nasty and expertly paced, with the flashback-heavy structure the cycle loved. Fenech carries it, and Nora Orlandi's score got a second life when Tarantino used it in Kill Bill. Cut and retitled Blade of the Ripper in the US.
A definitive example of the early-70s giallo at its most stylish.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 8 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Written about
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
Filed alongside
Who Saw Her Die?
A child is murdered in Venice. A grieving father hunts the killer through the fog.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
A family curse, a killer in a red cloak, and a legend that kills every hundred years.
Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key
Best title in the genre. Poe adaptation with Edwige Fenech and a black cat.
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
A bridal-couture killer who narrates his own psychosis, and the best ghost gag Bava ever staged.
The Case of the Bloody Iris
The Fenech giallo distilled to its purest form: models, murders, and no reason to solve any of it.
The Psychic
Fulci does a clockwork giallo. A woman's vision of a murder turns out to be her own future.
All the Colors of the Dark
Satanic paranoia in Swinging London. Edwige Fenech is excellent.
The House with Laughing Windows
A rural giallo with no gloss and a deep, patient dread. Often voted the best one going.
StageFright
A killer in a giant owl mask, a locked theatre, and Soavi announcing himself.
The Black Belly of the Tarantula
The killer paralyses you first so you feel it. A first-rank giallo nobody name-checks.
Short Night of Glass Dolls
Narrated by a paralysed man presumed dead. Unusual and very good.
The College Girl Murders
The point where the black-and-white krimi tips over into full-colour giallo delirium.