 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1971 Italian giallo film The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward Now I posted in in a Facebook group that I have for horror About the dump of giallo films that are coming up by shutter in December of 2020 Which I'm obviously very excited about if you didn't know I love giallo films very very interested in that I even have a playlist on my channel of all giallo films I've reviewed and I'm gonna keep that going obviously so I was excited about that so I posted and I was asking people What are some of your favorite giallo films and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward came up a bunch actually So I made sure to check it out because it's when I'm posting this it's already on shutter It's been on shutter for a bit. I was interested in seeing it already But then when people were saying that they liked it so much it made me hurry up now I will say that when I was watching this film for quite a while I was like, okay, it's decent. It's okay. It's okay And I was kind of a little bit disappointed with you know, how much people said about it but once I got to the end to those twists I was like This changes pretty much everything about the film and I really enjoyed it and I mean That's kind of how it is with giallo films in general like it's all about the twist at the end It's all about the reveal of you know, what's the whole situation here? Who's the gloved killer? In this case wielding the straight razor which a lot of times is a straight razor sometimes knives But yeah, so good payoff on this and that is your warning that I will be talking spoilers obviously because it's an old film So this is directed by Sergio Martino Who's done such films as the case of the scorpions tail all the colors of the dark which I have seen that but I don't I Think I've reviewed it actually. I think it's on my channel Your vice is a locked room and only I hold the key Torso which is another one a lot of people said is great The suspicious death of a minor the scorpion with two tails and American rickshaw Just some of the films that Martino is done. Actually, I think this is only the second Sergio Martino film I've ever seen but I'm hooked. I'm in because I liked All the colors of the dark as well. So I need more of this Written by Eduardo Manzanos who did scripts for the case of the scorpions tail night of the devils and a lot of Italian Western films because that was a phase Ernesto Gestaldi who wrote scripts for the vampire in the ballerina Werewolf in a girl's dormitory the whip in the body the case of the scorpions tail all the colors of the dark the case of The bloody iris your vice is a locked room and only I have the key Torso the suspicious death of a minor and the scorpion with two tails So that's a lot and that's a lot of collaboration with these two with Sergio Martino So I'm very interested to check a bunch of those out now. This was originally released as Blade of the Ripper Which I think that's a better title especially nowadays But it's also known as next or the next victim I think Blade of the Ripper was probably a better title the strange vice of mrs. Ward I don't like for the fact that it's pointing at Julie Ward in this as like a sex maniac I mean that is what's going on is that she's basically addicted to being an adulterer in essence and Nowadays, it's not a good look to do that in a film because her character is kind of thin at least until the end Where she kind of gets her revenge, but she's just damsel in distress type, you know and She's just motivated by sex which makes her a very one-dimensional character But you don't watch giallo for the characters so much you watch giallo for the mystery and the reveal in mystery at the end And the kills that's another thing and some the kills were pretty solid in this I will say the biggest payoff is the end of the film Love the twisting and turning of it, which I did not see coming. That's the big plus I didn't see any of that stuff coming, which is great So this was Sergio Martino's first giallo film believe it or not He had plenty after that and I'm very excited to get to go get to those the spelling of Ward in the Title was originally just W. A. R. D. They ended up having to put an H at the end because a woman with the last name Ward actually threatened to sue because she didn't want to Have her name associated with it basically I Would see why because back then in the 70s this woman being so Sexually active and sexually forward in the film. I see why she wouldn't want her name Associated because of the time period probably very different nowadays, but The film was denied distribution in the UK until an uncut version was actually released in 2011 so that is a long time before they actually let it in the UK, but as I've talked about a few times in reviews Doesn't surprise me the UK banned so many films and Ridiculous just ridiculous. I'm glad things have been fixed with that The film has a seedy feel when it starts because of the backseat view that you get with the guy driving and basically cruising prostitutes For his next victim and then it takes it to that next level of just Just being going from just being seedy to being downright gruesome and violent and intense like it becomes a lot to handle because The killing actually happens, you know, the woman gets naked in the car and then she's immediately slashed up And you're just like whoa, okay. We just we went full throttle with this. We jumped right into it So I it grabs your attention for sure and that's important with these films The quote in the beginning of this film that comes on the screams by Sigmund Freud and I wrote it down The very emphasis of the commandment thou shalt not kill makes it certain that we are Descended from an endlessly long chain of generations of murderers Whose love of murder was in their blood as it is perhaps also in ours And I think this is just kind of there to signal that it could be anyone in this film who is the murder or in The end who is one of three murderers because that's who ended up being involved, you know Neil Jean and George were all in cahoots with this like I said I did not see it coming and I love that twist to it of them coming together and also the fact that There are a lot of Jala films where the motivation of the killer has to do with Hating women or having some sort of trauma in their past or something like that. It's been done so much So it was so cool to see that with this one That wasn't the case. This was actually about financials Literally, you know, John wanted a cut of the money that was being offered by Neil And Neil wanted his wife gone with which I think was a big part because of her Flandering so that I guess that does kind of get to the hating women the thing But just that particular woman basically, but he also I think there was something mentioned about there kind of Him potentially thinking they might end up getting divorced He wouldn't want to have to pay a large portion of his fortune to her and then obviously George had the motivation of wanting his I think it was cousin Carol out of the picture who Neil was the one who killed Carol for him and that worked out for him So that's how he got involved in everything Seems like they're using any excuse for nudity in the film They get to nudity quick and and often in the film so much nudity One of the prime examples that made me write that down was the scene at the party where Julie first meets George when the women are wearing kind of like I don't know it looks like Aluminum foil outfits basically and the one the guy I think it was George like rips one off partially off the woman and then the other woman who has one on Rips it off the other woman and they just start fighting and rolling around naked on the floor There's a lot of nudity in this and it seems like it was just in there for the sake of nudity, which Probably one of the reasons the UK was like Don't think so But yeah, it's just something that struck me But you you know you have to remember that back during this time period that was a selling point for Films, especially horror films because Pornography wasn't available the way it is now. So that was more of a drive for men to check these things out back then With all the dreams Julie has of rough sex with John It seems they're painting the two as lovers on the edge of sexual sanity It plants the seed that John could easily take to a take that additional step to being the killer that they're talking about And this is one of the smart things not just of the film But of what George and Neil and John do in the film, which is they use the backdrop of This ripper, you know, this this killer who's out there to cast suspicion on the deaths To lump it in with that killer and say this is what's going on Redirect you here and one of the brilliant things. I think with the way the film is done is that Sergio Martino and the writers Used did exactly to the audience what Neil George and John did to everyone else in the film Which is direct your attention away from The actual perpetrators and towards this killer who was out there who ends up getting killed in the film Which becomes a very confusing part of it because you're just like was that who it was because if so they showed his face Pretty early on there's a lot more left in the film. I don't understand what we're doing here But then it's all revealed and in very awesome fashion in my opinion. I enjoyed it The shot of the killer leaving after the girls throat is slit and the shower is great It's that cool kind of POV shot from her where she's tumbling down in the shower because her throat's been slit And she's dying but she's seeing a glimpse of the killer leaving as that's going on. That's awesome So, you know, that makes you realize that you're seeing basically two things in the film going on You're seeing the plot that Neil George and John have put together play out But then you're also seeing glimpses of this actual killer who ends up meeting his maker at one point And that's once again done to misdirect the audience to great effect But I love that shot that POV shot of her, you know tumbling back. It looks realistic it it's it's a great POV shot and There's a bunch of good POV shots in this film actually especially like the killer POV Which is common in these giallo films, but it works so well it works unbelievably well and I'll talk I think about a few more I think I have in my notes. I wrote how about George? His quote my specialty is courting women in the presence of their husbands. I thought that that was a funny quote It struck me. I'm like man. This guy is bold, but then you realize, you know, it's There was there were no repercussions for him to actually say that because of that information got back to Neil in the end We understand he was in cahoots with Neil Neil put him up to going after her and getting her to you know Come over to his place and have sex so that John could be outside Creeping on them and then blackmail her so, you know The POV motorcycle shots are cool. That was another thing. There's POV once again POV and this is great They really conveyed George's reckless driving quite well That's when Julie was on the back of the motorcycle as George is like whipping around turns on the road and stuff how they shot it of her POV it It gave you the idea of what she was going through and how recklessly he was driving and how fast to so that very effective So it's Julie's vice of sex with men who are not her husband that starts all the trouble for her And you would probably I mean I would probably argue that it doesn't start in the film It's something that she's had a history of which is what they lay out here Which you know, it's a very simplified thing of women, but once again like I said You got to remember the time period of when this came out that you always have to when you're watching films They talk about John so much and cast suspicion on him so much that you feel like it's certainly not him Killing the women which this is another one of those smart things about the script which is John is referred to so much and if you know about giallo films, you know, there's always misdirections, so It makes you think okay They're they're banging this drum on John so hard because they want you to think that it's John So I'm now gonna think it's not John and then you think even further that it's not him when he's found Dead by Neil and Julie, which you then find out was you know, they staged it and he was actually alive So that's the brilliance of it is that they make you They say so much that it's him and he actually is involved that you think it's not him and then the death thing it you know Takes it home even further and then come to find out. He's not even dead. He's involved in this and it's just like oh, man So good The scene with Carol in the park does a good job of building and maintaining tension through the camera work Secluded setting and gradually creeping darkness. That's another thing. They did a good job of Changing the lighting, you know, I don't know if they actually shot during different portions of the day And that was natural lighting that was doing that or if they changed things somehow But the fact that over the span of that scene it Gradually gets darker and that helps with when it you know, it's building tension. It's getting darker There is barely anyone around you're seeing the killer POV shot You're seeing the POV of Carol kind of going through a bit of a maze In this park and it just ratchets the tension up and tell the finale basically of her getting killed by Neil we find out Love that scene though, it's a good one I love the lurking camera work in the garage the parking garage that follows Julie and the way it follows Julie is So good, especially where it's she's walking and she's in the light Down one of the I lanes of the parking garage and the cameras on the other side of parked cars in the dark Like tracking her on the side. It just looks great and it gives you that feeling of a Dude creeping on her like watching her and moving along with her and stalking her. It's great As soon as they pulled up on John's place, I knew they were gonna end up finding him dead But like I said, we find out not real When the guy with the razor gets killed, I knew it was too early for that to be him It had to be a copycat. So I did put that little aspect of it together I was like, this is not actually the killer especially because he was killed so early on and they showed his face so early on But I didn't know where they were gonna go with it I thought maybe it was George for a while It was like I think it might be George and then for a while I thought I think it is Neil So I was kind of right but very far off from what the actual storyline was Which actually that reminds me makes me kind of want to watch the movie a second time so I can view it through the lens of The cooperation that was going on and the master plan as it was unfolding There's a cool reveal when you see it John who ends up chloroforming Julie that's when you first see that he's not actually dead That was a great reveal they go up to his face and you're just like wait. What how did this happen? And then you're like, oh we faked his death. I guess That ice cube in the lock In the lock trick is very slick The one that that John does when he's trying to set up the scene to make it look like Julie's killed herself Which ends up backfiring in the end because they fake her death the police do But the fact that she gets that That he gets that ice cube and puts it in the lock so that when he leaves it gets slick enough From the melting water and then just falls out and makes it look like it's locked from the inside. That's cool Every all the steps that he went through to kind of set that scene up I thought were really well thought out and I thought worked really well in the film The heartbeat sound during that is amazing as Julie is like kind of waking up and then she's she's also You can tell she's dying because the heartbeat when she wakes up is kind of fast and then it starts slowing down as the Gas is getting to her the carbon monoxide is getting her it's the yeah The carbon monoxide getting to her and about to kill her her heartbeat slowing down It's slowing down slowing down so you can really like you can tell as they're flashing over to George and the doctor Coming to you know save her eventually You can tell where she is like how close she's getting to death So I think that was a very smart way to play that scene and it's a it's an auditory way to do it Which not a lot of people would have thought to do that. So I love it Once again solid twists really good twists with Neil George and John working together I didn't see it coming especially when they took the focus off of the black male so much Because that's something that gets thrown in when you know the person outside who we find out I guess was John Watching Julie have sex with George. She then gets a call about the black male Well, I feel like they did a good job of moving on from that so that you forget that someone was actually trying to blackmail her So you don't really think at least I didn't think down that train of thought Kind of weird with Neil and George laughing and swerving in the car at the end That's a weird scene. That's a scene that I'm just like What I don't get it. I just don't get it. It's just weird It's wacky. It's super wacky. We could do without that Once again, I want to say this again I already said this but I want to say it again The filmmaker uses the misdirection of the killer on the loose to fool the audience just like Neil George and John did And I love that fact that what the killers are doing and the guys involved in this conspiracy are doing is Exactly what the director is doing to the audience just genius The film is pretty slow and a bit meandering actually so this is one of my big Negatives with the film, but the end is so crazy and so interesting and well pulled off Then it's definitely redeemed as you can tell because I really like the film for that reason now That said because it is so slow and meandering and I think a lot of the scenes kind of get drawn out too much there's so much focus on the nudity at times and It doesn't add anything to the film really at least story-wise even though I talked about why I understand it's in there So in the end with a possibility of five stars and half stars in play I'm gonna give a four star rating a very solid four star rating I thought about going four and a half I was between four and a half and four But I think because of the slowness of it and because of a lot of meandering to it I'm gonna knock it down to the four But no if I gave quarters it would be four point two five for sure and I did consider that four and a half I was right there on the edge So anyway would love to hear people's opinions on this film put comments down there Did you love it? Did you hate it in between whatever also? If you want you can also put down Jello recommendations for me because I'm obviously taking those But know that the ones that are coming to shutter. I will be watching and reviewing all of them. Hopefully that's my plan I'm gonna have to hustle on that But I really want to because I love Jello But anyway, do me a quick favor if you can hit that subscribe button because that is the best way to repay me If you like any videos I've ever done this one included Literally takes you a second. It's very very painless and it does mean a lot to me personally I really appreciate that trying to grow things here But also hit the notification bell if you're gonna do that because then that way You know when I'm putting up new review videos or unboxing videos or doing live streams Or any other videos I may do but regardless I do appreciate you taking your time to watch this and until next time Keep it brutal