Stylish, violent and with fine cinematography by Alberto Spagnoli and
a beautiful soundtrack by Bruno Nicolai .... and, with the great Barbara
Bouchet in the main role, that makes for an entertaining Gialli watch.
Oh, almost forgot about Sybil Danning in a slutty role also, Great Stuff!
Finally i get to see these 2 Miraglia gialli again and in these nice
Arrow Blu-ray editions.
The last time was 14 years ago in 2006 when the fine gents at US NO
Shame released a double DVD box with a figurine of the The Red Queen
and as i'm a bit nerdy i still have it standing in my bookcase, pointing
her bloody knife against me
Figurine from the 2006 No Shame Box
The rich Wildenbrook's lives in an impressive castle
in Germany (the film was shot in Würzberg in Bavaria) and their
family and the castle
is tied to a curse, the local legend about the Red Queen. Supposedly
once upon a time there were 2 sisters who hated each other living in
the castle, and finally one killed the other and the latter rose from
her grave to extract revenge and killed 7 people. Every 100 year this
thing
is supposed to happen and when one of the Wildenbrook sisters, Kitty
(Barbara Bouchet), accidently kills her sister Evelyn and buries
her down in the castle dungeons, and when in 1972 a century has passed
since the last re-animation from the grave, something will happen.
Kitty has growned up with her sisters Fransisca (Marina
Malfatti) and Evelyn (now dead ... maybe?) and Kitty works for a Fashion
Factory
and/or fashion clothing seller as a photographer. Aaah, the Gialli fashion
house, so popular in the genre and something that our own Swedish
Arne Mattsson may have started with his proto-giallo Mannekäng
i rött, 1958, and who Mario Bava continued with his Blood and Black
Lace.
So, there are lots of suspicious persons working at the Springe Fashion
House and lots of fodder for the murderer when the inevitable happen,
when a darkhaired and hysterically laughing woman in a red cape appears
and starts killing people, The Red Queen has risen from the grave.
Reversible sleeve
Kitty's boyfriend Martin is played by Ugo Pagliai, Marina
Malfatti could be seen also in Miraglia's 1971 La
Notte che Evelyn Usci' dalla Tomba
(The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave)
and she's great in both films, and the luscious Sybil Danning can be
seen as the beautiful Lulu.
There are J&B whisky bottles, a bright red phone, red-haired actresses,
a red lamp, a blood red cape, a red dress and red blood.
Arrow Video presented the film in widescreen 2.35:1 with an italian
or english mono audio with english subtitles and with an introduction
to
the movie by production designer Lorenzo Baraldi.
Extras: Audio commentary by Alan Jones and Kim Newman, The Red Reign:
Critic Stephen Thrower about the film (13 minutes, 2016), Life of
Lulu: Interview with Sybil Danning ... still Hot! (19 minutes, 2016),
Alternative opening, Trailers,
Archival Features: Dead á Porter (No Shame 2006, 13 minutes)
interview with Lorenzo Baraldi in italian with english subs, Round Up
the Usual
Suspects (No Shame 2006, 17 minutes) interview with Marino Masé,
If I met Emilio Miraglia today, My favourite films with Barbara Bouchet