Queens of Evil (1970)
Giles Clark
David (Ray Lovelock) is a free-wheeling hippie in a society that doesn’t respect his beliefs. Not wanting to be tied down, he travels aimlessly across the country on his motorbike.
After stopping one night to help a wealthy man (Guido Alberti) with a flat tire to his car, he is questioned by the man about his beliefs and weather he would refuse the seductive qualities of the girl who lives down the nearby lane.
Out of no choice of his own, it isn’t long before David finds himself at the small cottage in the woods where the girl lives with her two sisters.
The inside of the small cottage is of stark difference to the exterior because it's designed in the height of 1970's mod chic.
The surrounding woods and lake have a slightly fairytale feel with an abundance of fish to catch and a solitary apple tree which David symbolically eats one of the apples from.
Beyond the woods is a castle owned by an unseen wealthy owner.
David soon falls for the charms of the three girls and their hold over him becomes more surreal where time and events start to become hallucinatory, out of place and more psychedelic.
The concept of having a young free-spirited man whisked away by three girls is similar to the predicament of the male pop star held captive in the giant bubble home by a group of fashionably hip girls in The Touchables (1968). But where in The Touchables the pop star stayed voluntarily, in Queens of Evil, David wants to leave but something is keeping him there which is more sinister and pagan.
When the girls and David are invited to a party at the nearby castle, you know things aren’t going to be what they seem.
Most of the film’s running time is light on horror, except for one of the girls’ hobbies being taxidermy, until the end when the viewer is suddenly jolted with bestial savagery akin to José Larraz’s Vampyres (1974).
Being an Italian/French co production, I was expecting, rightly or wrongly, a bit more skin on display, but sadly this was lacking.
Ray Lovelock, who also plays the lead role of George in The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974), is good as David. He also sings the Dylon-esque title song.
The three girls are played by Euro-babe actresses Ida Galli, Silvia Monti and Haydée Politoff.
The music score in places was good.
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