Edwige Fenech

Edwige Fenech Italian film star/giallo queen

by Joe Wallace
Images via the super-awesome Cinebeats

What do the movies All The Colors Of The Dark, plus Case of the Bloody Iris, and the uber-crazy

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh have in common? These films and many, many more prominently feature one of the best-loved Italian actors of the 60s and 70s, Edwige Fenech.

When you see your first Edwige Fenech movie, you’ll remember her instantly–she’s got eyes as memorable as Karloff’s and a screen presence just as distinctive. She was never the heavy in her best-known roles, and it’s a shame–she would have made a great villain. Regardless, at Turntabling, Fenech is much like Ennio Morricone; if you see either name in the credits (preferably both together!) you know you’re in for a good time even if the rest of the film is a pile of nonsense.

We’re huge fans, in case you haven’t noticed…and hope by throwing up a few choice tidbits for the uninitiated we can lure more viewers into the Cult of Edwige. Submitted for your enjoyment are three trailers featuring the incomparable Ms. Fenech, who has since the glorious days of 60s and 70s giallos has become a producer in her own right while still taking acting roles (including a small part in Eli Roth’s Hostel 2.)


Edwige Fenech in one of her best roles in Case of the Bloody Iris.

This is how it all started round the Turntabling digs…we especially loved her with the short hairdo in the beginning of the film. How did she get from near-pageboy to the shiny black mane she’s famous for? In the space of a few seconds she’s transformed…but no matter, GREAT movie. There are plenty of twists, and don’t miss the great nightclub wrestling sequence that seems to be a Jesse Franco moment even though he was nowhere near this production. What is it about sleazy nightclub scenes? Italian cinema from this era is full of them. Not that we’re complaining….



The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is chock full of the strangeness we’ve come to expect from the better movies in the giallo genre. The party scene with the paper dresses (which get ripped off in a party-crashing freakout) is a classic, and the scene where Edwige Fenech falls down in the rain (seen here) is worth the price of the disc alone. GREAT stylish visuals in this. A must-see.


All The Colors Of The Dark isn’t as glorious as the first two, but it’s still a HELL of a good time and there is so much Edwige Fenech in this you’ll wonder why you didn’t get to it sooner. She carries the movie as a woman who is being stalked, tormented, and ultimately lured into a cult full of Satan-worshipping freaks. How can you go wrong with psychedelia AND Satan?


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