The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is the second narrative feature film by director Sergio Martino (he directed one western, and some documentaries prior). It is also the beginning of Martino’s many collaborations with the legendary screen actress Edwige Fenech. These would include Your Vices is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, and All the Colors of the Dark.

The film follows Julie, played to perfection by Fench who is unhappily married to a diplomat named Neil. At the same time she still finds herself traumatized by her past relationship with a man named Jean (Ivan Rassimov), who enjoyed torturing and raping her. In the midst of this Julie takes up with George (George Hilton), it is discovered by an outsider, and Julie finds herself the victim of blackmail, and those around her will be brutally murdered.

One of the greatest director’s of the giallo is Sergio Martino, and while I cannot without a doubt declare a best film by the director I can state that his work here is bizarre and compelling all the way through. There is so much complexity in such a simple concept. The history given for Julie’s character coupled with the performances by Rassimov and Fenech really inject additional depth into the narrative and push the plot forward. The visuals are additional wonderful and stunning, and really show a prototype of where Martino would take the genre in the 3 additional gialli he would create throughout the 70’s.

Severin Films presents Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh in a newly scanned 4k transfer that looks better than it has before, but oddly this film must be a killer for most companies. The disc by Shameless (not that I expect quality from Shameless) was certainly an upgrade from what came before, Severin’s by contract is more natural and filmlike than any preceding version of the film, and yet it still deals with compression issues that seem to plague this one. It’s still the best it’s ever looked. Audio is in HD mono English and Italian and sound just fine without obvious issues. Extras include interviews with Martino, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, another interview with both George Hilton with historian Antonio Bruschini, we also get an archival interview with actress Fenech and an intro by George Hilton. There is a fantastic in-depth commentary by Kat Ellinger, and a trailer rounding off the set, plus a wonderful CD soundtrack. RECOMMENDED.