The Red Queen

THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES--1972-In this Italian production, Evelyn, a dark haired little girl steals her blond haired sister Kitty’s doll. They argue in front of their grandfather and large painting. Evelyn stabs the doll and cuts off it's head. The two tussle but Gramps calms them down and tells them the story behind the painting which depicts the Black Queen killing the Red Queen. Years later Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) accidentally kills Evelyn when they have a fight. The death is covered up by their older sister Franziska (Marina Malfatti) and everyone is told Evelyn went to America.  When a mysterious figure that looks like the Red Queen visits Gramps he dies of fright. Kitty believes it's Evelyn. Later after Grandpa's will is read a sleazy character with a knife threatens Kitty with blackmail saying he knows Evelyn's dead. Kitty’s boss Hans (Bruno Botocci) and top model Lulu (Sybil Danning) go for a drive in the park looking for a prostitute for a threesome. Hans is stabbed to death by the cackling Red Queen. The police release a sketch of the murderer and someone mentions it looks like Evelyn. Then Kitty gets a scary voice-mail from her! Just to make sure she’s dead, the sisters check an underground catacomb where Evelyn's rotting body is. Kitty's married kind of boyfriend Martin (Ugo Pagliai) who becomes her boss is a suspect. He visits his wife Elizabeth at a mental hospital. She says she goes on nightly jaunts with someone named Evelyn and when she gets a knife she’s going to kill Martin!

 Kitty's co-worker Rosemary says she knows who the Red Queen is but is abducted and murdered before she can tell anyone. After Martin and Lulu have sex, Elizabeth is lured to her death by the queen. Circumstantial evidence grows against Martin. Kitty admits to him that she killed Evelyn. Peter the blackmailer gets money from Kitty then rapes her. After it's revealed he’s a druggie, he’s dragged to his death by the red caped murderer who he recognizes as Evelyn. Then while visiting Franziska and her husband Herbert she sees the red murderer and chases her/him. She nearly falls to her death. 

In the confused whack out ending, Martin is stabbed and Kitty nearly drowns in a flood full of rats. The killer (s) are also revealed. Pretty slow going despite some interesting murder scenes. Sybil Danning completists might want to check it out. Director Emilio Miraglia also made THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF HER GRAVE.

Thanks for reading!