The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

Barbara Bouchet plays Kitty Wildenbruck, a beautiful blonde who’s family is cursed by the prophecy of the Red Queen, in which one blonde sister will kill the brunette sister, but the brunette will return from the dead as the Red Queen and will kill seven times. But her brunette sister is dead from an accident, so who could be the Red Queen that is killing people involved in a fashion photography business, slowly but surely getting toward Kitty? Could it be her other sister? Could it be her boyfriend? Could it be one of the models? Or could it be that the Red Queen has returned from the dead to exact her prophecy and make Kitty her seventh victim?

Another great giallo from Emilio Miraglia, this movie has a lot of themes common with his previous one, The Night Evelyn Came Out Of Her Grave. Morally corrupt hero (although in this one it’s an ‘accident’), sexually promiscuous suspects, a blackmailer, and the fear of the past returning from the grave. Barbara Bouchet is great in the leading role. I always loved her, especially from Casino Royale and her oh-so-awesome nude scene from Fulci’s Don’t Torture A Duckling. She gets naked here too, but it’s 80’s sex symbol Sybil Danning, playing morally corrupt model Lulu, who steals the nudity show. This was one of her first films, and it shows. She would go on to show her junk in other movies such as Chained Heat and They’re Playing With Fire. But back to this movie, it’s really a top notch giallo. The first time I saw it, I was almost screaming at the tv, trying to find out who exactly was the killer. When you do find out, there’s a lot of twists and turns adding to it all. The ending with the rats and the room filled with water reminded me of The Phantom Of The Opera. A perfect giallo.