Red Queen Kills Seven Times, The (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

Warning SPOILERS!!! After watching director Emilio P. Miraglia's THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (1971), I just had to watch this giallo film, which was Miraglia's last directorial feature. It's a pity he never made any thing else, because this is a very entertaining mystery with many visual touches, great atmosphere, copious nudity and bouts of graphic violence. Fans of the giallo genre should check this out. A little girl named Kitty is singing to her doll, which she has named Elizabeth, on the property of her family castle. Her sister Eveline skips up to her and steals her doll, running away with Kitty chasing after her. They run into the castle and into their grandfather, Tobias Wildenbrück's (Rudolf Schündler; SUSPIRIA - 1977), bedroom. Tobias tells Eveline to give the doll back, but Eveline looks at a macabre painting in his room and she says, "Kitty is the Black Queen and I am the Red Queen". She then grabs a dagger and stabs the doll seven times, screaming "I hate you! I hate you!", much to the horror of Tobias and Kitty. Eveline then cuts the doll's head off, holds it in the air and laughs maniacally. Kitty tackles her sister and after a short while she calms down. Eveline tells her grandfather that whenever she looks at the painting, "I felt something inside me." Tobias tells the two young sisters the story of the painting: "Many, many years ago, the Red Queen and the Black Queen lived in this castle. They were sisters like you two. They'd hated each other since they were children. The Black Queen silently put up with the Red Queen's wicked schemes, waiting for the time when she could have vengeance. When the Red Queen fell in love with a man, The Black Queen finally got her revenge and murdered her sister one night while she was sleeping. She brutally stabbed her seven times. Legend has it that it that a year after her death the Red Queen came back to life, spreading terror. She murdered six innocent people. The seventh was the Black Queen. At peace once again, the Red Queen returned to her grave, but the same thing happened a hundred years earlier, and a hundred years later, always in this castle and always between two sisters, and it will keep happening every hundred years." (If you think this was a harsh tale to tell children, think of the Grimm Fairy Tales. They were just as violent, if not more so.). When Kitty asks when it is going to happen again, Tobias says, "Fourteen years. In 1972 to be precise." Grandpa then tells his nurse to throw the painting away. So begins this gruesome tale of the macabre. It is now January of 1972 and Tobias is much older and feeble, as his other daughter, Franziska (Marina Malfatti; SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS - 1972), is taking care of him. Tobias hasn't seen Kitty or Eveline in months. While Grandpa is in bed, a woman in a red cape and holding a dagger approaches him. He has a heart attack and dies (1 down, 6 to go). Franziska hears her grandfather calling her name, runs to his bedroom and finds him dead, the Red Queen running through the castle grounds, laughing. An adult Kitty (Barbara Bouchet; CRY OF A PROSTITUTE - 1974) attends her grandfather's funeral, where Franziska's husband, Herbert (Nino Korda; FIRE, ICE & DYNAMITE - 1990), tells Kitty that as Tobias' favorite daughter, she will get the lion's share of the inheritance and his and Franziska's share will be half of Kitty's. Herbert then tells Kitty that he saw the Red Queen last night running through the park and that she looked just like Eveline. Kitty says that is ridiculous and has a flashback to a few months earlier. Kitty and Eveline are fighting on the castle grounds and when Kitty slaps Evelyn, her head hits a stone pillar, cracking her head open and falling into the lake, dead. Franziska silently tells Kitty that she and Herbert know Eveline is dead (no one else does), but are they trying to scare Kitty? Kitty works as a professional photographer, shooting women modeling clothes for Springe's Department Store. Kitty's boyfriend is Martin Hoffmann (Ugo Pagliai; SHADOWMAN - 1974), an executive at Springe's. Kitty brings Martin to the reading of her grandfather's will. In the will, Tobias says the the splitting of his fortune will not take place until the beginning of 1973. He has chosen a Mr. Bauer to be the executor of his will, giving him an envelope containing instructions on how he is to split his fortune and it is not to be opened until the beginning of 1973. This takes everyone by surprise. Eveline's boyfriend, Peter (Fabrizio Moresco; DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT - 1972), pulls a knife on Kitty and wants to know where Eveline is (Kitty has told everyone Eveline is in America). He tells Kitty that he really doesn't want to know where his girlfriend is, as he wants money and plenty of it. He will return later to collect. The Red Queen strikes again, stabbing Springe executive Hans Meyer (Bruno Bertocci; MILANO CALIBRO 9 - 1972) seven times in the back in the parking lot of the department store (2 down, 5 to go). The Red Queen laughs and runs away. Model Lulu Palm (Sybil Danning; DAY OF THE COBRA - 1980) finds Hans' body and screams. Police Inspector Toller (Marino Masé; KIDNAP SYNDICATE - 1975) questions Lulu and the staff, where Lulu tells him that Hans was always looking for a sexual thrill and that she procured prostitutes for him. We also learn that Martin will inherit Hans' position as general manager of Springe's. The police have a drawing of the Red Queen based on eyewitness accounts and Kitty notices that it looks just like Eveline. She wonders how Eveline could have been connected to Hans Meyer. When Kitty gets home there is a message on her answering machine from Eveline, who says she is coming to kill her. Kitty begins to believe that Eveline is alive, so she and Franziska go to the castle's basement cell where they both hid Eveline's dead body. They find blood on the walls (and plenty of bats!), but Eveline's decomposing body is still there. We then find out that Martin is married to a crazy woman named Elizabeth (Carla Mancini; THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS - 1973), who has escaped from her asylum cell. She tells Martin that she is visited by Eveline often in her asylum room and told her that she will kill Martin if she keeps seeing Kitty. The Red Queen then kidnaps Kitty's assistant Lenore (Maria Antonietta Guido), throws her in the back of a van and then stabs her seven times in the torso, her private parts and her legs (3 down, 4 to go). Lulu shows up at Martin's front door, strips naked and says, "Even the police know I'm an incredible nymphomaniac!" They then make love (Who can turn down a naked Sybil Danning???). Martin admires a necklace Lulu is wearing and all she will say about it is, "I only wear it on special occasions. An old friend gave it to me." Elizabeth shows up in front of Martin's apartment. The Red Queen gives Elizabeth her dagger and when she climbs over a dangerous iron fence, the Red Queen pulls her leg out from underneath her and she impales herself under her chin by the fence's sharp spikes. The Red Queen laughs and drives away in Martin's car. Elizabeth's last words are, "Eveline, Eveline..." (4 down, 3 to go). Inspector Toller begins to look at Martin as a major suspect. The Inspector receives a phone call from a woman telling him to talk to Rosemary Muller (Maria Pia Giancaro; WHEN WOMEN PLAYED DING DONG - 1971), Hans Meyer's secretary. The Inspector believes that she is also Martin's new lover, since she resigned her position when Hans was killed. Martin feels the walls closing in on him, so he begs Kitty to tell the Inspector where Eveline is. Kitty finally confesses to Martin that she killed Eveline and in a flashback we discover just how Herbert and Franziska knew about her death. They were both there and helped Kitty cover-up the crime. Kitty begins having nightmares of Eveline stabbing her. Peter shows up, rips off all Kitty's clothes and rapes her when she won't give him any money. We then find out that Peter is a drug addict and is working in cahoots with Rosemary. But why? While high on heroin, the Red Queen gets Peter to come to Martin's car, snags his coat in the car door and drags him to his death, his head getting caved-in when it hits a light pole (5 down, 2 to go). Will there be a sixth and seventh victim? Remember what Tobias told his two young granddaughters and figure it out for yourself. Is Eveline alive? You must be nuts if you think I am going to give it away. I have given you enough clues for you to play Sherlock Holmes. Wonderfully shot, with some fluid, nightmarish visions (the shot of the Red Queen running to Kitty's bed beats anything that Dario Argento has given us) and the mystery element is actually well thought-out and not as outlandish as other giallo films (Screenplay by Miraglia and Fabio Pittorru [THE WEEKEND MURDERS - 1970]). All I will tell you is this: Pay close attention to the necklace Lulu is wearing and think of one character whose name is mentioned, but is never seen (it is mentioned in this review). It's hard to believe that Emilio P. Miraglia never directed another film after this (as far as I can discover, he is still alive, but in his early-90s [at the time of this review]). Based on EVELYN and this film, it's easy to see that he knew what he wanted in a shot, as the widescreen image always has something going on, important information that is lost when cropped for fullscreen presentations. Released theatrically in the United States in a severely hacked-up edition by Cannon Group Film Distributors titled both FEAST OF FLESH and BLOOD FEAST, both titles paired with director Joel M. Reed's BLOOD BATH (1976). These editions were Rated PG and are missing all the nudity and bloody gore that make this film so special. Never released on VHS in the States, it is available on uncut widescreen DVD from NoShame Films (as part of the long OOP "The Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set") and on Blu-Ray from Arrow Video. This review is based on the print I saw streaming on Amazon Prime. It is not only uncut and in widescreen, but also in the original Italian language with English subtitles. It looks gorgeous, like it was shot yesterday. This is a very creepy giallo that will stay with you long after the film ends. Oh, yes: Beware of the rats! Also featuring Sisto Brunetti, Dolores Calò, Nestore Cavaricci and Alfonso Giganti. Not Rated.

I was led to this by “The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave”. Very worth it. Fun story, beautiful style, great kills.Arrow knocks it out if the park again with a beautiful transfer. Gorgeous colors, true blacks, not too much grain.Arrow does Giallo justice! Every time!

For movie geeks, there's nothing more satisfying than a successful blind buy, and I'm glad I made the leap of faith.The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (great title, right?) is yet another excellent release from Arrow Video. These guys do cult cinema justice. A glorious 2K scan of the original negatives, images are sharp yet retain that beloved filmic grain. Colors are vibrant, deep, dark, and bright.This is an excellent film. Brilliant mash up of conventional giallo murder mystery and supernatural horror, where the archetypal black-gloved killer is swapped out with a red cloaked murderess who stalks the halls of a castle and nooks of a city, digging her cold dagger into the flesh of the unsuspecting. One brutal death scene unfolds in a park in the dark of night, amidst a crowd of lingering prostitutes hungry to make deal. The Red Queen creeps by unnoticed, her blood red cloak waving behind, sneaks up on a chubby suit, and visciously stabs him in the neck several times. The locales are great and bounce around between a lavish castle and courtyard, a cavernous underground tomb, fashion sets, dressing rooms, and the city. The cinematography is brilliant, and the score by Bruno Nicolas is elegant and catchy— I've been humming it for days! Typical of early 70s gialli, Red Queen is light on blood but high on violence. There's a dark sinister atmosphere looming over the film, that adds a moody dimension to the suspense and mystery. Speaking of which, the writing by Fabio Pitturo and director Emilio Miragla spins a masterful whodunit with clever red herrings — I'm usually pretty keen on guessing the killer's ID, but Red Queen's reveal was quite a surprise.If you're a fan of gialli this one belongs in your collection. Happy to have it in mine and can't wait to see The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave.

The arrow blu-ray special edition of this film includes both English and Italian soundtracks. I noticed in the description it only says Italian but it does come with the option for English and Italian. Just wanted to clear this up in case there is any confusion.

I liked this movie, but I must turn on subtitles to watch because it's not in English. Good mystery with beautiful actresses, some creepy moments, and overall classic Giallo film. Watched it many times, doesn't get old.

Mostly campy fun. A couple of shots, though, were so beautiful I had to back it up and re-watch them. And the fashion is awesome.

This is an Italian giallo -- that is, a thriller.It makes more sense than several others I have seen recently, and held my interest until the Big Reveal at the end.But comparing it to Argento is ... pointless. IMHO, of course, Argento is in a completely different class.Feel free, BTW, to have your own opinion on this. Tastes vary.And, if you like tense bloody thrillers, this should be worth watching.

Great movie, great picture quality. The reds really pop out for some reason.

This Italian Gaillo is one of two by this particular director. The story takes place at a modeling agency. The killings are well staged and the actors go through their paces with the right mood in mind.Models as victims started with Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace and plenty of others have jumped on board since this classic film.This is one of the better ones with some nice scenes and a fairly good script.Arrow delivers on the clean up and adds a good commentary and other extras.

Not very good.

Excellent supernatural giallo, superb edition. Great bonus features.

Delivered promptly.will definitely buy from this seller again. Very good condition. good movie.

Es gibt eigentlich nicht viel zum Film zusagen außer das er mit Sicherheit zu den besten seines Genres gehört.Der Plot ist spitze, der Soundtrack von Bruno Nicolai großartig, die Kills solide und der Cast super!Für Fans ein Muss!