Blade of the Ripper(1971) Movie Review

Trailer here.

Blade of the Ripper a.k.a. The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is a 1971 Italian giallo directed by Sergio Martino and starring George Hilton and Edwige Fenech.

Julie Wardh(Fenech) is a married woman who is on her way home when she gets stopped by a police man who tells her that there is a killer on the loose. She arrives home and she is met by a present from her ex lover, Jean(Ivan Rassimov). This makes her uncomfortable as they had an abusive releationship. She married another man to get away from him. Her husband is Neil(Alberto de Mendoza) and he is not the most attentive husband. Julie is having dreams of Jean. The killer is at large and he claims another victim. Julie meets her friend, Carol at a party and is introduced to a man called George(Hilton). They like each other immediately. They meet once again and then he turns up at her place. They kiss and get it on. 

Julie gets a call from someone who saw them together. The person demands money to keep quiet. Julie thinks that it is probably Jean. Carol tells her that she will go to meet the blackmailer in her place. This is a huge mistake as the killer is there and he kills Carol. The police investigate. They ask Jean to come to the station. Julie is convinced that he is the murderer. Julie informs them that she was being blackmailed. Jean has an alibi, so they can't hold him. George wants to take her away. The killer taunts Julie. He tries to kill her, but she escapes. She tells Neil what happened. They go over to confront Jean, but find him dead.

Julie is upset by the whole thing. The murderer gets killed by one of his victims so this makes her feel better.

She ends up being kidnapped by Jean, who has faked his death. He turns on the gas and runs off. She is rescued by George and a doctor. They arrive just in time. The doctor tries to save her. Julie is taken to hospital. The doctor later tells George and Neil that Julie has died. Jean is revealed to be working for George. He was hired to kill Julie and make it look like suicide so that her husband could get her life insurance money. Carol was killed so that George could get an inheritance. Jean gets shot by George so that there are no witnesses. Neil and George are working together. They think that they have covered all bases by giving each other an alibi for the killings. They are going to escape when they see Julie. She is not dead after all. She leads the police to them and they end up dying as the police chase them. The doctor figured out that there was something fishy and realised that the murderer was not the original killer but someone else, trying to make Carol's murder look like she was just another victim. Julie survives.

This is a good film with a lot happening. There are a few suspects and two killers and I didn't figure out what was going on until the end. I did enjoy it, though and it was entertaining overall. I always enjoy a mystery and this is an above average one. I will give it a 6/10.