 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1972 Italian giallo film The Red Queen kills seven times and it's available on the shutter streaming service when I'm doing this review at the moment Now I will say this isn't my favorite giallo film and it actually ranks towards the bottom of a list I'm keeping of all the giallo I've seen but to be fair a lot of what I've seen is either good to great giallo And if you think about it, that's probably mainly all that survived You know like four, you know five four five six decades late well not six three four or five decades later Depending on when it was done. So the good stuff the good to great stuff for the most part is what stuck around There's not a whole lot of bad stuff that we can get our hands on in the US So this is solid not my favorite, but I will say this it is definitely better than the this directors other giallo film he only did to Emelio Maraglia The other one he did was the night Evelyn came out of the grave Which I also have a review for on my channel that one is definitely my least favorite now This one ranks just above it, but it is significantly better in my opinion. So just saying So like I said directed by Emelio Maraglia who was also involved in the writing of the script for this film Also involved with it is Fabio Pitoru who wrote scripts for the weekend murders the night Evelyn came out of the grave shadows unseen nine guests for a crime and macho killers Great titles love it And Marina Malfati is in this film. She looked familiar to me. So I looked her up. I was like, who is that playing francesca? And because I was like she looks so familiar I think she was also in the night at Evelyn came out of the grave and I was correct. She played Galatas in that film She's also been in seven blood-stained orchids Which I plan on seeing at some point because it is giallo and also all the colors of the dark Which I have also seen and there is a review for on my channel So you can check that one out that also has my favorite giallo actress Edwige Fennec in it. So It's a good one This film was shot mainly in Germany, but it actually never opened theatrically in Germany That is a weird thing to happen. Totally weird thing to happen, but It happened It opened in the US as the film of blood feast in 1975 I know there was another film called blood feast. So I'm sure there's some confusion with that But that's probably why when we're seeing it now it is called the red queen kills seven times Which by the way, I think is a really cool title especially how it ties into the storyline of the film and the story that you're told by the grandfather pretty much immediately in The film I like that a lot The apartment where Hoffman lives in in this film is actually the exact same place that the wards live in the film The the strange vice of mrs. Ward sorry Which I also have a review for on this channel and it is a giallo film and it is quite good Which by the way, I should now say that I have an entire playlist on my channel for giallo film reviews Would I have like 20 some maybe at this point? I'm gonna keep going too. I'm doing this All right, so let's talk about the events of this film Evelyn's stabbing fit and saying that she was compelled by the painting is a small bit of this history of the castle Coming through in the new red and black queens And that is what you were meant to believe with the setup with the film You know the grandfather tells the story to kitty and to Evelyn and at that point We believe that they are sisters, but we find out at the end that they're not that in fact Evelyn was that what was her name was sent away one of the women Rosemary was sent away and that was actually kitty's sister and they brought Evelyn in it was kind of like a swap of kids and Said you know you you are siblings and it was meant to be done to kind of break this curse that happens every 100 years where You know everything there's a whole like long story. He tells about the grandfather tells about I can't remember all of it at this point, but the crux of it basically being that the Black queen ends up killing the red queen accidentally or on purpose and then the red queen Rises from the grave and exacts her revenge and ends up killing Seven people total and that seventh person ending up being the black queen and that has always happened every 100 years So Evelyn and Rosemary were switched for the purpose of trying to break that but you can't break curses like that And in fact in this case it was used to the advantage of Franziska to try and get full inheritance Because she was very pissed off that Evelyn and kitty were out living their lives And she was stuck taking care of the grandfather as we find out in the end which Is a believable motive that that's for sure Also, why would the grandpa tell the story to the kids, especially if he believes it's BS That's one of the things that never really made sense to me when I watched the film is that Why would he be telling these kids because he then dismisses it as BS? I mean obviously you find out later that he really does believe in it Otherwise why would he have switched Rosemary and Evelyn, but why would he be telling the kids this it doesn't make a whole lot of Sense especially at their age. I don't know but but early on you do believe that they're That that could be an actual thing that's going to happen in the film this whole curse happening again Because of how violent Evelyn becomes in the very beginning like stabbing that doll Which is disturbing and then saying that the painting made her do it So like that kind of plants the seed in the audience's mind that there might be a supernatural element to it But when you find out in the very end, there's absolutely none of that There may never have even been a curse that all of this was used as a ruse for Franziska to take people out and get the full inheritance from the grandfather, which you know, that's a pretty sweet castle. I'll say I put in here while I was watching. Oh, it's happening kitty accidentally killed Evelyn and it's 100 years after the last time I like how they do set that up and how kitty was saying. Oh, I accidentally killed Evelyn Although I wish they kind of would have explained why they were fighting in the first place because they never do That's just the randomly fighting which I think was kind of set up with how it was said early on and shown that they just Fight all the time, but I mean they were much older. It didn't really make that much sense I really think they should have said why they were fighting and come up with a good reason So she accidentally kills her and then you find out in the end that she was actually still alive She was just bleeding when her body was floating in the water and Francisco went to let her up and then actually decided I'm just gonna kill her right now because I don't want her to be in line for this inheritance at this point But then she also saw it as a great opportunity to be like, oh, yeah, kitty You did kill her, but I'll keep your secret. I'm your ally when all along definitely not her ally and Neither is Herbert who also got roped into it. Franziska's husband Just like the night Evelyn came out of the grave. There's a cool castle and an inheritance people are fighting over two common themes between these two films, so I guess Maraglia doesn't stray far from his source material From that one source material for these two movies Lulu immediately seems suspicious to me because of the scene of her hitting on Martin And then it goes to the scene of Hans being killed who was her husband at that point Now you do find out that Lulu was involved to a degree But there were a lot of people involved with this The inspector introduces the idea that the description of the killer can't be seen as being reliable I do like that and that ends up being a very key clue in the actual film because people keep saying they see Evelyn they see Evelyn they see Evelyn and we find out in the end that Evelyn is actually Rosemary Who's wearing a prosthetic mask and is masquerading as of the red queen? As Evelyn and he and she's convincing because a lot of people say when they get a quick glimpse of her that it is Evelyn even What's that terrible dude's name? He's barely in it the guy who was dealing drugs at the same time I have his name in here somewhere But that guy ended up saying that he believed it was her and he was obsessed with her and I'll talk about that a little bit later When Kitty got the voice message from Evelyn, I thought it it has to be someone who knows that she's dead Francisca said she knows and why would there even be a third sister? So I did kind of guess that Francisca may be involved or was the main person involved very early on because when that message is left and it's Masqueraded as Evelyn's voice You think well who it has to be someone who actually knows about this and based on the Way it was set up nobody knows that Evelyn's really dead except for kitty Francisca and Herbert and that's it So it had to be Francisca especially because when you think about it Evelyn in the very beginning Evelyn and Kitty are the only ones who actually matter So why is there a third sister introduced? Process of elimination says because she's involved So I did guess it very early on although it did take take a lot of twists and turns They kind of threw me from moment to moment and I didn't see it coming that so many people would actually be involved So that was good. I did enjoy that In these films if someone wants to tell you something later They won't be alive for long like Lenore Who says she thinks she knows who the red queen is and she tells that to kitty and then she's like Oh, but I'll tell you later Well, of course, she's not gonna tell you later because always in these films if someone's gonna tell you later They're not going to because they're gonna be dead that happened a lot in the Bella black belly of the tarantula, which is a fun one to watch and is better than this film. I will say I Like how the inspector asked Martin about his whereabouts during Lenore's murder and he says at a meeting with 18 people the inspector. Oh Martin says that he was in a meeting with 18 people. He just like could could have been making that up So the inspector responds by saying that's enough people and then he moves on then he stops questioning him. It's so It's not believable and it's one of those weird moments where it's like He definitely would be pressing him a lot harder instead of saying hey, where were you during this person's murder? And he's like yeah, I was at a meeting with 18 people and he's just like, okay. Well, that's enough people I don't even need to talk to these people. I don't even need their names I don't even get an actual alibi as long as you tell me it's more than one person. Okay That didn't make a whole lot of sense to me And there are a few of those things in the script that are just like for convenience's sake now We'll just move on That's one of those moments for sure. Probably the worst one The inspector then nonchalantly drops information that Martin's wife is in a psychiatric hospital Which he doesn't really press either Terrible inspector it seems like a good candidate for the Red Queen Especially with the laughing during and after killing and then she even talks about Evelyn when Martin ends up visiting her too So she is a good red herring for that reason But I still don't understand why the inspector does not pursue this like at all. He's just like oh, by the way How's your wife who's in the psychiatric hospital? Is she still there? Oh, she's good Okay, it's just It makes no sense like worst inspector ever if I do say so myself Elizabeth's death the the wife who is in the psyche psychiatric hospital is pretty nasty Where she's going to climb up the the gate and it gets pulled out from under her Which I believe it's a rosemary who does that because she's dressed up as the red queen And she falls down and like impales like right through here with the spike of the gate The way they showed it like with her head on it and how much blood was gushing out It looked pretty brutal. It looked pretty good. That was my favorite death scene in the film by far It was the most violent and gory too. So it was good The shot of the red queen running down the hallway with her cape flowing holding up a knife is really cool That was the one that was part of one of Kitty's nightmares They shot it kind of like a long shot of her You know starting very small in the background and just like running towards the camera and just like the flowing cape Her holding up the knife. It looks cool. It looked really really really good So there are a few of those kind of flourishes with the camera that seem very inspired and cool Was there a purpose for the scene where Peter rapes kitty? That's the guy's name Peter the drug dealer guy I would say no there was absolutely no reason for the rape scene I assumed that they put it in there so that you could end up seeing Kitty naked That was an excuse for that, but that's not a good excuse for that because it doesn't add to the story at all We already know that Peter's a piece of garbage. He's dealing drums for Christ's sake He also shows up immediately in the film as soon as he shows up and he threatens kitty Because he wants to know where Evelyn is and then we find out that he wants in on Evelyn's money too. So You know it totally pointless like rape scenes I'm fine with them in film if they have an actual purpose. This one has absolutely no purpose in the film It's an excuse bowl in my opinion. I Wonder how they shot Peter's death scene because it looks very dangerous Stunt wise the one where he's being dragged by the car and then it like runs him into like the curb That looked really dangerous to shoot and I would be very interested to know how they did that and hopefully no one Was actually injured during that because it looked dangerous But it looked convincing for the film a few a few quick times You do see the face of the Red Queen She does look like Evelyn and Peter thinks it's her and he was obsessed with her So that kind of really plants in the audience's mind. Is this Evelyn actually come back to life? But then you know we find out that Rosemary well even before we know it's Rosemary we find the place where Lulu was shot and killed eventually and There was all the stuff there for making that Mask of Evelyn and there were pictures of Evelyn and everything so you're like, okay So she didn't come back from the grave especially because a few times her body is checked on that's Randomly in a vault in the dungeon that apparently doesn't stink because when people open it up They're not like oh my god Which is pretty unrealistic because that body would stink horribly at that point because it's been like months right at that point I think so Martin thinking thinks Lulu To killing via linking I'm sorry My writing I messed up Martin linking Lulu to the killings via the necklace is a moment You knew was actually coming since he made such a big point of Noticing the necklace when she showed up and seduced him Also the fact that she did seduce him after they talked about having an alibi for Lenore's death was Unbelievably suspicious. So yeah, so that link was was interesting But you knew it was coming Note that whispering is something that a lot of killers use in giallo films You wouldn't think so, but it actually really does disguise a voice. Obviously it's used in this It's used in a ton of giallo films and it actually is effective because because it's so low and because it You know kind of morphs the map the the voice enough. It's very hard to tell even times it's been used this way in some Giallo, it's hard to tell if the voice is male or female. So it works. It works very well Was it ever revealed earlier that rosemary was a willed in Brooke? No It gets said it's kind of weird because it gets said that she is before it's revealed that she is But it with the way that it's brought up is kind of like a you should have already known that like you were already introduced to that Information and you definitely weren't so it's kind of this weird thing So they kind of spoiled the information before they get to that kind of big reveal of rosemary being involved So I didn't like that. I think they should change that There's a real excessive use of rats in the basement of this film in the castle I know that it's a way to symbolize you know, scary and dark, but Also, maybe it was a way to symbolize how conniving and terrible The family was is just a bunch of rats, I guess But it's just way too many rats and I you know, I understand that Way back it was this tying in of like You know gross and dirty and disgusting You know associated with rats. I understand that but you don't need to use this many And I especially think it's funny at the part where the water's coming in um, because they're trying to drown kitty in that little vault area where evaline's body is and uh there you can tell that someone is physically shoving the rats out of out of the uh The pipe where the water's coming out because a lot of them are trying to go the opposite direction And they get pushed It's uh, it's just too much though I do like the reveal of francesca having actually killed avaline and then bringing rosemary back into the family Getting her hooked on drugs and making her go out and kill um Yeah, so it wasn't just that she that she told rosemary. Hey, you're actually part of this family But then she intentionally gets her hooked on drugs so she can kind of have her Not totally cognizant so she wouldn't be as opposed to killing people And then she sends her out killing people. So Um, yeah, I like that extra touch. It takes it a little further to you know, maybe it's not so Believable, but it is interesting for the film and I think that the drug aspect of things for rosemary Is probably what's supposed to explain that kind of maniacal laughing that ends up happening at the at the scenes of the crimes just saying The grandpa said that the events that happened every 100 years are always the same So he switched rosemary and avaline to break the curse How did he not realize it could then involve francesca? That's what doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, I understand that it's probably a situation where Maybe they were closest in age Or maybe part of the curse was that it was the first two born or something like that But the fact that The story as it's told in the film is is not that specific So it just seems like it's a sister and another sister as the red and black queens Within the curse. So when he's just like, well, I'll get rid of rosemary and bring this avaline in But there's francesca. So I don't know. So so really, I mean the the curse kind of does Uh manifest in a way But mainly just because the idea of it was planted into the minds of people and francesca found out about it and used it, but Yeah, I don't know. It's just the grandpa's Reasoning for doing what he did didn't make sense, especially when he verbalizes in the beginning that he thinks it's bs You could say that he says that just to make sure that other people don't believe it to kind of deny it And not put too much stock in it. But then at the same time, why is he telling people about it? You know, it's just doesn't make any sense Uh pretty solid film, but it does drag it drags too much. I mean, it's not It's not unwatchable or anything. Like I said, it's definitely better than the night evaline came out of the grave But um, it's not great. It's it's towards the bottom of my list. Uh, it's worth watching once I think it's solid enough and I wouldn't give it a terrible rating. So That said out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm gonna give it a three star rating. It is good enough I think the core story plays out pretty well But there's just a lot of extra crap That's not needed. The runtime is too long. It should be edited down Things need to go a little bit quicker with the film. Yeah But yeah, I mean a decent Decent concept. I kind of wish that I would have watched this one before the night evaline came out of the grave because I think it's um It would have made me a little less tired of the whole castle and inheritance thing because I just saw that with the other film Now, um, it's interesting note that maraglia did The night evaline came out of the grave first and then he did the red queen kill seven So he uh, did a not good job at first and then he honed his skills a little bit better for the next one So good. Um, he didn't do any other giallo. That was it just these two So I'm fine with that because on my main list, these two are at the bottom But anyway, would love to hear what other people have to say about this film or giallo in general What are some of your favorite giallo films? Um, especially if I haven't seen them because I'd like to get those on my list to check out I still have a bunch that I'm working on Put some comments down there. We can talk. Uh, do me a quick favor though Hit that subscribe button if you like this video or any video I have ever done That is your best way to repay me. I don't make money doing this or anything I'm just spending my time trying to build a community of horror nerds So we can talk and be nerdy and my the fact that I'm doing watch parties now through senor With shutter, uh, is kind of the next step of that too so I can talk kind of face, uh What am I trying to say cyber face-to-face with people I can talk about films as we watch them? So yeah, so I'm doing that. But anyway, hit that subscribe button uh to repay me and uh Also hit the notification bell because that way you'll know when I'm putting up any sort of new video But regardless, I do appreciate you taking your time to watch this video and until next time keep it brutal