The truth is out there

 For centuries, people have been obsessing over the Roanoke mystery.

In short, in  1585 Sir Walther Raleigh created a colony in Roanoke in what is today North Carolina. He returned to England for supplies but when he came back, the entire colony was missing. The buildings were there, but every man, woman and child were gone with no sign of battle or struggle. On a post someone had carved the word "Croatan".

Since then the mystery has endured. People from historians to horror writers have puzzled, speculated and dreamed about what happened, but now we finally know. 

Below is a really interesting documentary about this mystery, I highly recommend it.

Direct Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY7sYjSDT2I

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week.  

The Weekend Murders

I heard of:

The Weekend Murders (1970),

and decided to watch it.

An old and very wealthy aristocrat has died and the family gathers for the reading of the will. One by one we are introduced to the relatives and quickly realize that they are very dysfunctional. The more you get to know them, the more you understand why they tend to stay away from each other. Only the demand of British propriety keeps them from being physically at each others throats. Soon after the reading of the will, family members turn up murdered, starting with the butler, prompting the tagline, “At least they knew the butler didn't do it... his was the first body they found”.

The Weekend Murders is an Italian take on an English murder mystery with comedic elements. The movie was shot in Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, and as I was watching, I was momentarily confused. The entire movie is essentially a comedic Agatha Christie mystery, and as such we have the grand old manor, the old cars, gentlemen's straw hats, the usual trappings. But, we also have modern cars (for 1970), modern clothes and other similar trappings. It feels like they wanted to do a 20's Christie mystery but ran into problems going all the way. Instead of backing off that idea and staying in the current year, they mixed the two eras and for some reason it works. I can't explain it.

With all the murders around, the local police sergeant Thorpe (Gastone Moschin - The Godfather II, Caliber 9) calls in Scotland Yard. They send Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival) an arrogant investigator, convinced of his own brilliance, and together the two police officers investigate the crimes. This is where most of the comedy comes into play. Even though Thorpe is a clumsy heavyset man, he turns out to be a better investigator than his superior. Moschin to my surprise turns out to have some pretty good comedic chops. The Weekend Murders isn't a laugh a minute movie, but there were some pretty funny scenes.

This comedy stands in stark contrast to the murders, and the fear, grief and pain they bring. If they had made fun of the killings, I think the movie would have failed hard, but they manage to balance between the two polar opposites fairly well.

I have in my time seen a lot of movies and TV shows with the same basic premise as The Weekend Murders, starting with Agatha Christie herself all the way past Midsomer Murders to this very day. Still, I didn't manage to solve the case. To be fair, they don't give you all the facts, but I had no clue who the murder was, and I enjoy that.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, it's not a superb film by any means, but it was fun. It has appeared on some lists of Gialli movies, which I can't agree with. It is very Italian, yes, but the Giallo aspects are almost accidental. The Weekend Murders is worth watching if you like whodunits and if that's your cup of tea, have at it.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

I decided to watch a Giallo with a wonderful title:

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972).

Mild Spoilers Ahead

The movie opens with a young girl, Kitty, playing with a doll in a castle garden. Her sister Evelyn steals it and runs away. Their invalid grandfather tries to make peace between them until Evelyn, apparently influenced by a grisly portrait stabs and destroys the doll.

The painting is of a woman dressed in red with black hair stabbing a blond woman in a black dress. This is the legend of the Red Queen who tormented her sister, the Black Queen, until she snapped and killed her sister. The Red Queen then rose from her grave and killed six people culminating with the Black Queen being the seventh victim. Every hundred years two sisters are born that are cursed to reenact the original Red Queen – Black Queen drama.

Cut to ten years later. The uncle, Tobias Wildenbrück is suffering from a bad heart as well as being confined to a wheel chair. His eldest granddaughter Franziska and her husband lives with Tobias in his castle, when one night the Red Queen appears and he dies from fear induced cardiac arrest. Everyone is shocked, but Kitty, now a successful fashion photographer is horrified. A year or so earlier Kitty fought with Evelyn when Evelyn hit her head and fell in the moat. Everyone knew the sisters hated each other, so Kitty and Franziska hid the body in the castle cellar since no one would believe that it was an accident. Then they told everyone that Evelyn had moved to America.

Soon enough, more people get murdered, and each time, someone sees a woman with long black hair and a red cape fleeing into the night laughing maniacally. The Red Queen is back!

This Italian movie is directed by Emilio Miraglia who also directed The Night Evelyn Came out of Her Grave. The movies are not connected despite the similar names. It stars Barbara Bouchet, Ugo Pagliai, Marina Malfatti and Sybil Danning amongst others.

Overall, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times is a really nice mystery thriller. The cinematography is excellent, the actors are a cut above the norm but the soundtrack is pretty awful. Several tense scenes are accompanied by an upbeat jazz score that really doesn't fit at all. The kills are good, suitably violent and sometimes pretty gory but not too over the top. There is some nudity, but it is tastefully done and avoids feeling too sleazy.

The overall story is actually really good. It had me guessing from the start and I failed to solve the mystery before the movie ended.

There are a couple of missteps though. The biggest has to be Peter, a sleazy, greasy junkie who blackmails Kitty. He claims to know that Evelyn is not in the US and demands money to keep quiet. Later on he assaults Kitty in her bedroom leaving her traumatized. But then this is never mentioned again. The scene of her sitting half naked, horrified and barely sane is a harrowing image and in the next scene she is fine. Why include this if it has no impact on the character on indeed on the movie?

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes I do. The Red Queen Kills Seven Times is not a masterpiece, but rather a pretty solid middle-of-the-road affair. It does what it sets out to do and does it well enough. Not one of the great classics in the Giallo genre, but nevertheless a solid watch.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!