The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)

Giallo madness at a castle in Germany with Barbara Bouchet and Sybil Danning

When her aristocratic grandfather dies in southwest Deutschland, a young woman (Bouchet) stands to inherit his wealth and castle, along with her older sister (Marina Malfatti). But they hold a macabre secret as a cackling dark-haired woman in a red cloak goes about slaying people linked to the matter. Marino Masé plays the inspector and Ugo Pagliai a playboy suspect.

“The Red Queen Kills Seven Times” (1972) is a giallo, an Italian psychological crime/thriller with bits of sexploitation, horror and, maybe, the supernatural. The director’s previous film was “The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave” from the year prior. Mario Bava's contemporaneous "A Bay of Blood" is another comparison. “The Devil's Nightmare” is yet another, although that one’s more of a horror flick. In any case, if you like those, you’ll probably appreciate this flick.

The main highlight here is the female cast, including Bouchet (Kitty), Pia Giancaro (Rosemary) and a youthful Danning (Lulù). Both Bouchet and Danning are shown semi-nude in brief bits (just a heads up).

Another highlight is the Euro milieu with the ancient buildings, small cars and quaint villages, as is the early 70’s décor & fashions. The red-cloaked slayer with a sinister cackle is notable as well, not to mention prescient of the comic booky antagonists in soon-to-come slashers. Speaking of comic books, the ending is straight from Scooby-Doo.

The film runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in Würzburg and nearby Weikersheim (to the south) in southwest Germany with studio stuff done 700 miles due south in Rome.

GRADE: B-/C+