Queens Of Evil (1970)

the audience applauded

Pretty Good

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Blistering performances.

This offbeat art/sexploitation flick is at once typical of an adventurous era in European cinema, and a sort of "fine--but what are you gonna do with it?" curio. Handsome Ray Lovelock (who sings a couple uninspired folk-troubador songs on the soundtrack) is a longhaired motorcyclist lured into the forest idyll of three classic Eurobabes circa 1970 (big hair/wigs, near-Kabuki levels of makeup, outré couture wear when they're wearing any clothes at all) living in a pop-art palazzo in the middle of nowhere for no reason at all. Of course, something supernatural is going on, and it's hardly a spoiler to say that once these three glam spiders have had their way with this male butterfly, he won't be riding off into the sunset but meeting a considerably grimmer fate. Not as much fun as the Swinging London blowout "The Touchables" two years earlier, which had a similar Adam-held-captive-by-three-sexy-Eves premise, this takes its allegorical aspects just seriously enough to be rather ponderous, partly because it's a little too highly polished in presentation without quite being eccentrically individual enough in style. The aesthetic is a little like high-fashion advertising--skilled, artistic, but a little arid. When the violence finally arrives it is bracingly unbridled, but more attention to the creeping dread of the horror undertow and less mild, picturesque erotica would have made the movie seem less mannered and empty as it idles its way towards the inevitable. Still, if you're a fan of such vintage counterculture/Eurotrash kitsch, it's certainly worth seeing once.

A colourful tale in beautiful lakeside, woodland setting where three wondrous ladies reside, in all their mystery. The film opens with Raymond Lovelock as a motorcycling hippie encountering a Rolls Royce owner, who comes across aforementioned ladies. Ida Galli has appeared in dozens of films including many gialli, her very first film being La Dolce Vita. Silvia Monti was in several notable films including the following year's, Lizard in a Woman's Skin and Haydee Politoff was in two notable cult films the previous year, Interrabang and Check to the Queen. I wish I could be more positive about this most likable film but although the ladies are lovely, Lovelock does a fine job and the director also, plus fantastic costumes, so little actually happens.

Queens of Evil is a completely obscure Eurotrash flick, and that's not surprising at all as this film has zero mass market appeal and will appeal only to fans to obscure cult cinema - and even then, not all fans. Queens of Evil is a simply bizarre movie and I really don't know what the point of it is. It can't really be pigeon holed into any of the main genres of Italian cinema - it would probably fall somewhere between a sex flick, an exploitation film and a cult themed Giallo (a la All the Colours of the Dark) - but even that definition doesn't really fit it. Our main character is David - a hippy travelling aimlessly on his motorcycle. After a strange encounter with a man who needs his tire changing, David rides on and soon comes across an apparently deserted house. He decides to spend the night in the shed and is surprised the next morning to be awoken by a beautiful young woman named Liv. Liv seems keen to get rid of David, but after her sisters catch sight of him; they ask him to stay and David soon discovers that he has bitten off more than he can chew...The atmosphere is the key thing about this film. Director Tonino Cervi handles the film well and ensures that it's always mysterious. The locations used make the film feel isolated and claustrophobic and this adds well to the atmosphere. The film boasts a good cast, with the handsome Ray Lovelock fitting into the lead role well and convincing as a hippy. You'd expect some nice female talent too considering the plot here, and the film doesn't disappoint. All three of the leading ladies (Evelyn Stewart, Silvia Monti and Haydée Politoff) provide nice eye candy and also manage to create a foreboding chemistry between themselves and Ray Lovelock. The film is very slow to start and not a lot happens for the first hour or so; but to be honest, I preferred this part of the film to the build up to the climax. Considering how slow the first two thirds are, you would think that the film would kind of explode at the end, and while we do get something of a twist; the ending actually isn't all that interesting and doesn't make a lot of sense. Overall, this is an interesting mood piece and I did enjoy it, but I'm not sure why and I wouldn't recommend it.

A young hippie drifter on motorbike is lured to his destiny at the hands of three stunning females residing in a hidden forest cabin(with interior furnishings that look like they were lifted from the sets of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE).LE REGINE is a more-than-partially successful blend of pop-art post-modernism and fairly standard erotic eurohorror, an intriguing mood piece helped along by its surreal atmosphere and a retro-cool bizarro musical score. Eerily dreamlike and spiked with hot sex and an attractive cast, this largely forgotten item deserves rediscovery and some degree of praise...while far from a perfect film, it is undeniably offbeat and rises above the standard for the bulk of sexy Eurotrash released in its day.7/10...unexpectedly good.