La dame rouge tua 7 fois

Once upon a time in a castle...... Two little girls are playing in the garden's castle. They are sisters. A blonde little girl (Kitty) and a brunette one (Evelyn). Evelyn steals Kitty's doll. Kitty pursues Evelyn. Running through long corridors, they reach the room where their grandfather, sitting on an armchair, reads the newspaper. Kitty complains about Evelyn, while Evelyn is looking interestedly at a picture hanging on the wall. Evelyn begins to say repeatedly: "I am the red lady and Kitty is the black lady". Suddenly Evelyn grabs a dagger lying nearby and stabs Kitty's doll and then cuts her (the doll's) head. A fight ensues. And Evelyn almost uses the dagger against Kitty. The grandfather intervenes and the worst is avoided.

Later on, their grandfather tells them the legend related to the picture hanging on the wall in front of them, in which a lady dressed in black is stabbing a lady dressed in red:

"A long time ago, a red lady and a black lady lived in the same castle. They were sisters and hated each other. One night, for jealousy reasons, the black lady entered the red lady's room and stabbed her seven times. One year later, the red lady left her grave. She killed six innocent people, and her seventh victim was the black lady. Once every hundred years, the events repeat themselves in this castle and a red lady kills six innocent victims before killing the black lady herself."

The grandfather ends his tale by saying that according to the legend, sixteen years from now, the red queen should come again and kill seven times. But he assures them that this is just an old legend.

Sixteen years pass.....

This is the very beginning of the film. There are many twists and surprises in the film. It's better for you to forget about logic (if you really analyse it, the story doesn't make sense) and just follow the film with its wonderful colors, the gorgeous women, the clothes, the tasteful decor, the lighting effects and the beautiful soundtrack.

Enjoy Barbara Bouchet, Sybil Danning, Marina Malfatti, Pia Giancaro, among other goddesses. There's a nude by Sybil Danning lying on a sofa that's something to dream about. And don't forget: The lady in red kills seven times!

If you've liked "La Dama Rossa..." check out also "La Notte che Evelyn uscì dalla Tomba".

In THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES, a family curse puts everyone at risk every one hundred years, when the titular entity apparently goes on a killing spree. This is to avenge the Queen's own untimely demise at the hand of her sister. At least, that's how the legend goes.

Now, the Wildenbruck family -some of whom have dark secrets to hide- has gathered for the reading of their patriarch's will. Very quickly, people are stalked and killed by a laughing, red-cloaked maniac. Has the Red Queen returned once more to seek her vengeance? As the murders continue, Kitty Wildenbruck (Barbara Bouchet) grows increasingly concerned, and for good reason.

TRQK7x is a masterful giallo with a lot of gothic horror overtones. Co-stars the magnificent Sybil Danning as Lulu Palm...

Sometimes confusing plot about two beautiful sisters, a German castle, an inheritance & a series of grisly murders being committed by a mysterious killer cloaked in a red cloak. As always mentioned the plot does get confusing at times, but then that's not unusual for giallo movies (repeated viewings can be beneficial).These films are often more concerned with the look & this one does not disappoint. Nicely & stylish filmed, great soundtrack, beautiful women & some gruesome murders, though they aren't as gory as some other giallos. What I really liked was that it added a lot of gothic horror - much of it takes place inside the castle - and also that there is less emphasis on the police investigation, which I feel can drag some films down. There are better giallo movies, there are also worse but this is a good example & well worth watching.

"The Red Queen Kills Seven Times" follows two sisters who are faced with apparent repercussions of a family curse after the death of their aristocrat grandfather. The legend has it that every hundred years, two sisters in the family bloodline will fight, resulting in the murder of one. After the prophecy comes true, a madwoman in a red cloak begins a killing spree in one of the sisters' lives, stalking the ancestral castle and mercilessly taking lives.

The second and last effort of Emilio Miraglia after the brilliant Gothic "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave," "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times" is a rather similar effort, but with slight modifications in both plot and tone. Where "Evelyn" treaded supernatural Gothic territory, "Red Queen" is a bit more of a heavy-handed giallo that is shamelessly over-plotted and also far more violent. Evoking the kind of giallos that Argento or Bava made in the 1970s, the film really takes its time working up elaborate murders and a faceless killer.

Tonally, it is slightly different from Miraglia's preceding film in that it was shot exclusively in Germany, and very much has a Bavarian aesthetic, featuring a German-European castle setting, rolling forests, and small mountain villages as backdrops. It is an atmospheric film, and in Miraglia's fashion, is oriented toward the Gothic.

As I mentioned, the film is a bit zany in terms of plot, and throws curveball after curveball without pause, so it is a film that demands its audience's attention in order to make sense of what is happening on screen. Barbara Bouchet and Marina Malfatti (returning from Miraglia's previous film) have the lead roles, and are both very good. The finale is fantastically elaborate and the final reveal is thematically quite dark; there is an especially memorable scene set in a flooding underground chamber that really deserves some respect.

Overall, "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times" is a solid effort, and does a fantastic job at juggling elements of the giallo with that of the Gothic thriller. It is a far less supernaturally-oriented film than Miraglia's "Evelyn," and it is also more extensively plotted. The unabashed twists and turns do become a bit redundant and exhausting along the way, but the finale is a nice payoff to an otherwise atmospheric thriller. The killer's red cloak (perhaps a foresight for "Don't Look Now"?) and menacing cackle are also not to be dismissed. 7/10.

When two sisters inherit their family castle, a string of murders committed by a mysterious dark haired woman in a red cloak decimates their circle of friends. Is the killer their ancestor, the "Red Queen" whom legend says claims seven lives every hundred years?

This was Emilio Miraglia's follow-up to "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave". Barbara Bouchet stars, making 1972 a good year for her -- she was also in the highly praised Fulci film "Don't Torture a Duckling". With her is "Evelyn" holdover Marina Malfatti who was also having a god year -- she was in Sergio Martino's "All the Colors of the Dark". Supporting them is Marino Masé, who appeared in even bigger films -- "The Leopard" and "Nightmare Castle", to name a couple. Lastly, Sybil Danning has a smaller early role here -- today (2016) she is probably the best-known of the cast due to her transition into American films.

Composer Bruno Nicolai, another holdover from "Evelyn", really ties the film together. He had done many, many films but I would say this is probably among his best work. Unfortunately, aside from "Caligula", he never seems to have risen above Italian B-movies, even if he was in the same league talent-wise as Ennio Morricone.

Luca Palmerini, no fan of Miraglia, dismisses this film as "mediocre". While it may not be groundbreaking or on the level of the masters (Fulci, Bava, Argento), for me, an average giallo is better than most horror films any day of the week. There is just something about the style and use of color that remains unmatched in American movies. And Palmerini fails to notice the striking villain (one of the most memorable of the giallo genre) and the clever blend of giallo and Gothic that seems to be the defining trait of Miraglia.

Arrow Video hired both Alan Jones and Kim Newman to provide an audio commentary for their masterful blu-ray disc. The two tag team the commentary expertly, and either could have done it alone. But together? It is incredible.