Horrorfest 2020 Presents: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971, Sergio Martino)

Edwige Fenech certainly was a talented horror actress, appearing in many giallos. She is quite good in the entertaining film The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, a movie where a woman is being stalked by a crazed killer. There is a limited number of suspects naturally since this is a giallo, and yet I did not figure out the mystery early which is nice. Some parts of this movie work better as an erotic drama or thriller than a horror movie.

However there are plenty of great horror moments scattered through the movie. The garden scene is a prime example of classic freaky giallo murder terror, proving to be most shocking. I also liked how the film lures the viewer into a false sense of security just before leaping up to grab their attention. Even though this flick isn’t quite as good as some of other giallos, I did really enjoy it. I hope to view even more of both Fenech and Sergio Martino’s movies at some point.

Horrorfest 2019 Presents: All The Colors of the Dark (1972, Sergio Martino)

Edwige Fenech has that wide eyed, haunted look down pat, and she channels her character’s nightmarish journey in Sergio Martino’s cult film All The Colors of the Dark. One thing I liked about this movie is how you are not sure if anything is real, if Fenech’s Jane is going mad or if she is falling prey to evil. Martino clearly has an eye for visuals and he also is able to craft a film that has a high level of strange, the eerie just dwelling beneath the surface of what appears to be reality. There is a reason I enjoy giallos so much: they feature stylized violence but also make the viewer pay attention by offering up scenes that are engaging even if they do not add to the film’s overall plot. Well that and they have scenes that sometimes do not make any sense.

Despite being a tad dull at times I really enjoyed this movie, and I think another viewing is in order to discuss it’s twists and turns. Midway through the movie goes down a strange and rewarding path, and the ending was nicely done if a bit expected. I got some Rosemary’s Baby vibes, however I was also reminded of the belief that if it happens in a dream, it can happen in real life. While I don’t believe that, I often wonder if perhaps I am mistaken. Is it a nightmare if you are wide awake and it is happening before your very eyes? Are we doomed to create new mistakes that echo those of the past? And why in horror movies is it often always fall weather? Watch this movie and find out. Maybe.

2019 Movie Log

It’s that time again already. Should I go for 200 movies this year and give up all my sanity and free time? Eh I think 100+ is enough.

January:

1. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018, Ramsey, Persichetti Jr., Rothman)-99, Theater Viewing
2. The Day After Tomorrow (2004, Emmerich)-35, AMC
3. Deep Impact (1998, Leder)-40, AMC
4. Under the Skin (2013, Glazer)-92, Netflix Instant Viewing
5. Crazy Rich Asians (2018, Chu)-93, RedBox
6. Night of the Living Deb (2015, Rankin)-81, Shudder
7. The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972, Pierce)-70, Shudder
8. Vice (2018, McKay)-96, Theater Viewing)
9. The Town (2010, Affleck)-91, AMC
10. Paddington (2015, King)-93, TubiTV
11. Samurai Cop (1991, Shervan)-90, TubiTV
12. Island of the Fishermen (1979, Martino)-65, Shout! TV
13. Mad Ron’s Prevues from Hell (1987, Monaco)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
14. Enemy (2014, Villeneuve)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
15. Up the Creek (1984, Butler)-64, Charge TV
16. Night of the Living Dead (1990, Savini)-84, DVD

February:

17. Once Upon a Crime (1992, Levy)-71, This TV
18. Happy Death Day (2017, Landon)-88, RedBox
19. The Favourite (2018, Lanthimos)-96, Theater Viewing
20. Hereditary (2018, Aster)-96, RedBox
21. BlacKkKlansman (2018, Lee)-100, RedBox
22. Bird Box (2018, Bier)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
23. You Were Never Really Here (2017, Ramsay)-93, RedBox
24. Happy Death Day 2U (2019, Landon)-84, Theater Viewing
25. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019, Mitchell)-91, Theater Viewing

March:

26. Brain Damage (1988, Henenlotter)-90, Shudder
27. Captain Marvel (2019, Fleck, Boden)-86, Theater Viewing
28. Deadbeat At Dawn (1988, Van Bebber)-82, Shudder
29. The Old Man & the Gun (2018, Lowery)-93, RedBox
30. Us (2019, Peele)-100, Theater Viewing
31. Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016, Waititi)-96, Hulu
32. The Highwaymen (2019, Hancock)-73, Netflix Instant Viewing
33. Annihilation (2018, Garland)-91, Hulu
34. The Meteor Man (1993, Townsend)-70, Comet! TV

April:

35. Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019, Burgin)-95, Shudder
36. Deathgasm (2015, Howden)-81, Shudder
37. Pet Sematary (2019, Kolsch, Widmyer)-86, Theater Viewing
38. Meet the Feebles (1989, Jackson)-80, Tubi TV
39. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001, Smith)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
40. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009, Lussier)-30, Netflix Instant Viewing
41. Hardcore Henry (2016, Naishuller)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
42. Cecil B. DeMented (2000, Waters)-90, Tubi TV

May:

43. Avengers: Endgame (2019, Russo Brothers)-90, Theater Viewing
44. Urufu gai: Moero ôkami-otoko (1975, Yamaguchi)-89, Shudder
45. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019, Letterman)-91, Theater Viewing
46. Destroy All Monsters (1968, Honda)-86, Tubi TV
47. John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum (2019, Stahelski,)-92, Theater Viewing
48. Demon Wind (1990, Moore)-50, Shudder
49. Her (2013, Jonze), Netflix Instant Viewing

June:

50. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019, Dougherty)-90, Theater Viewing
51. Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine (2016, Grove)-20, Theater Viewing/RiffTrax
52. Rocketman (2019, Fletcher)-92, Theater Viewing
53. Miami Vice (2006, Mann)-90, Netflix Instant Viewing
54. Zodiac (2007, Fincher)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
55. The Day the Earth Froze (1959. Ptushko)-35, Netflix Instant Viewing
56. Men In Black: International (2019, Gray)-68, Theater Viewing
57. Aladdin (2019, Ritchie)-81, Theater Viewing

July:

58. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, Watts)-93, Theater Viewing
59. Child’s Play (2019, Klevberg)-87, Theater Viewing
60. Kill The Irishman (2011, Hensleigh)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
61. Nightmare at Shadow Woods (1987, Grissmer)-35, Shudder
62. Brooklyn’s Finest (2010, Fuqua)-60, Netflix Instant Viewing
63. Midsommar (2019, Aster)-96, Theater Viewing
64. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, Tarentino)-97, Theater Viewing

August:

65. Hellfighters (1968, McLaglen)-65, Blu ray
66. The Babysitter (2017, McG)-86, Netflix Instant Viewing
67. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, Gilliam)-70, Netflix Instant Viewing
68. The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018, Fogel)-75, Hulu

September:

69. Ready Or Not (2019, Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett)-90, Theater Viewing
70. The Saint (1997, Noyce)-73, Netflix Instant Viewing
71. It Chapter 2 (2019, Muschietti)-90, Theater Viewing
72. Summer of ’84 (2018, Simard, Whissell, Whissell)-82, Shudder
73. The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019, Talbot)-95, RedBox
74. The Ranger (2018, Wexler)-90, Shudder
75. Get Carter (1971, Hodges)-93, Netflix Instant Viewing

October:

76. Viy (Kropachyov, Yershov)-77, Shudder
77. Under The Shadow (2016, Anvari)-92, Netflix Instant Viewing
78. Twins of Evil (1972, Hough)-81, Shudder
79. Vampire Circus (1972, Young)-78, Shudder
80. Final Exam (1981, Huston)-65, Tubi TV
81. The Love Witch (2016, Biller)-86, Shudder
82. The City of the Dead (1960, Moxey)-84, Tubi TV
83. Charlie’s Angels (2000, McG)-83, Netflix Instant Viewing
84. The Corpse Grinders (1972, Mikels)-40, Tubi TV
85. Cannibal Girls (1973, Reitman)-71, Tubi TV
86. Hell Night (1981, DeSimone)-65, Shudder
87. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985, Craven)-20, Shudder
88. Hands of the Ripper (1971, Sasdy)-81, Shudder
89. The Mutilator aka Fall Break (1985, Cooper)-75, Shudder
90. Stage Fright (1987, Soavi)-83, Shudder
91. Thirst (1979, Hardy)-85, Shudder
92. De Lift (1983, Maas)-65, Shudder
93. I Drink Your Blood (1970, Durston)-87, Shudder
94. Kamera o tomeru na! aka One Cut of the Dead (2017, Ueda)-91, Shudder
95. All the Colors of the Dark (1972, Martino)-83, Shudder
96. Demons 2 (1986, Bava)-75, Shudder
97. Der Nachtmahr (2015, Akiz)-55, Shudder
98. You Might Be The Killer (2018, Simmons)-73, Shudder
99. Day of the Animals (1977, Girdler)-60, Shudder
100. The Awakening (2011, Murphy)-75, Shudder
101. Bloody Pit of Horror (1965, Pupillo)-82, Tubi TV
102. Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl (2016, Calvo)-83, Shudder
103. Mayhem (2017, Lynch)-86, Shudder
104. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019, Fleischer)-85, Theater
105. Jack Frost (1996, Cooney)-65, Shudder
106. Dark Water (2002, Nakata)-88, Shudder
107. Happy Birthday To Me (1981, Thompson)-74, Blu ray

November:

108. The Lighthouse (2019, Eggers)-92, Theater
109. Cleopatra Jones (1973, Starrett)-87, Tubi TV
110. Bride of Re-Animator (1989, Yuzna)-81, Shudder
111. Dolemite (1975, Martin)-76, Tubi TV
112. Joker (2019, Phillips)-93, Theater Viewing
113. King of New York (1990, Ferrara)-95, Pluto TV
114. Midway (2019, Emmerich)-73, Theater Viewing

December:

115. The Hurricane Heist (2018, Cohen)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
116. Rebel Without a Cause (1955, Ray)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
117. Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967, Scorsese)-84, Netflix Instant Viewing
118. Street Trash (1987, Muro)-53, Shudder
119. Hobgoblins (1988, Sloane)-0/94 MST3K episode rating, Netflix Instant Viewing
120. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003, McG)-40, Netflix Instant Viewing
121. Cop Car (2015, Watts)-88, Netflix Instant Viewing
122. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987, Harry)-70, Shudder
123. From Paris with Love (2010, Morel)-75, Netflix Instant Viewing
124. The Grinch (2018, Mosier, Cheney)-81, Netflix Instant Viewing
125. 3615 code Pere Noel (1989, Manzor)-83, Shudder
126. The Street Fighter (1974, Ozawa)-85, Tubi TV
127. Matinee (1993, Dante)-90, Blu Ray
128. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019, Kasdan)-85, Theater Viewing
129. She’s Gotta Have It (1986, Lee)-90, Netflix Instant Viewing
130. Some Like It Hot (1959, Wilder)-99, Blu Ray