Die Grotte der vergessenen Leichen

OK, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. If you want to watch great cinematography maybe you should watch this for a base to judge it on. I have the r rated version and I've seen more breasts in this than in a regular porn movie. This is a wonderful movie to have with a ton of friends over. If there were only more spaghetti horror movies like this.

From the get go, there are red heads galore. And more S&M than you'd have thought could be filmed back in the 70s. I'm not saying this is the best movie of the age, but the costume designer should have won an Oscar. Can you say "Titty"? And the under lying theme of "Get rid of your old flame's s**t!" can't be denied.

Perhaps those who don't appreciate this film aren't the "artsy fartsy" types but this movie also can boasts non-stop high quality Sets. And any flick that involves Red head chicks naked, Rufees, and gore can't be bad. Oh!, and foxes eating intestines.

And let's not mention Aunt Agatha getting her head knocked in ala. Apollo Creed in Rocky IV.

"La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba" is a splendidly wicked tale, ably directed by Emilio Miraglia. Possibly the most politically incorrect giallo I've seen, the film is a real treat for fans of spaghetti horror.

The film is a visual feast and has a great score by Bruno Nicolai. It is rich in atmosphere and '70s spirit.

The cast are excellent - Antonio De Teffè is outstanding as the "nuttier than a bottle of chips" Lord Alan Cunningham. There is a bevy of beauties in this movie (which always helps the proceedings), notably Marina Malfatti as Gladys Cunningham.

There are some genuine surprises in this film, I thoroughly enjoyed it. A solid 7 stars.

Italian horror/suspense film about a wealthy English lord who cruises pubs and taverns for girls with red hair just like his recently deceased wife Evelyn. You know he must have really loved his wife, because he brings them to his home - a huge, rotting castle - and makes them disrobe and then tortures them, whips them, and kills them. The most bizarre aspect of this film for me was that somehow by the film's end, we see this guy played by Antonio De Teffe as the HERO of the film. Anyway, soon, under the advice of his playboy uncle Roberto Maldera, De Teffe settles down with a girl he meets at his uncle's party. She moves in and strange things begin to happen to De Teffe's fragile state of mind. He begins to see and hear his dead wife and finally, well, just look at the title if you are still curious. Also, family members and friends begin to die in the most brutal fashions. Poor Aunt Agatha(she looks like she might even be younger than De Teffe and they have her in a wheelchair and trying to look old) meets her fate in a foxy fashion. Another man is injected and then buried alive. And of course, there is a whole explanation as to why/how Evelyn did what she did. Director Emilio Miraglia does do some things fairly well: the settings in the film are well-suited for this film though trying to make us believe it is England is ludicrous at best. None of the actors look English. Many having dark black hair and Mediterranean complexions and wearing clothes an Englishman wouldn't be caught dead in. The cars drive on their wrong side of the road. But all that notwithstanding, the crypt scene was effectively shot and I liked the cheesy resolution too. And of course any film with the sultry, red-headed Erika Blanc is always a plus. There is a streak of sexual perversion; however, which I found somewhat appalling with the idea that torturing women was quite alright and healthy in order to relieve one of his mental demons. C'mon.

Lord Alan Cunningham has been a troubled man since the death of his wife. The only release he can find from his torment is by luring women that remind him of his dead wife to his castle and then brutally murdering them. That is until he meets Gladys. The two are quickly married and Lord Cunningham appears to be cured. But a series of strange events involving the possibility that his first wife has returned from the grave seems to send him over the edge.

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is one part Giallo and one part Gothic horror. It's not the greatest example of either sub-genre you'll run across, but I was reasonably entertained throughout. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing up to the very end. While I've seen enough of these Gialli that I'm rarely surprised anymore, there's no way I could have predicted all the twists in the last act. The acting is about average for this kind of film, but it was nice to see Marina Malfatti with a large role as Gladys. Most of the rest of the cast will be familiar to fans of 70s Italian films.

A word of warning about the DVD - there are a bunch of El Cheapo DVD companies out there that offer The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave. One appears to be about as good as the other. The best that can be said about these DVDs is that they are watchable (and I'm being generous). If this sounds like a movie that would be of interest, I've read that NoShame DVD has acquired the Region 1 rights. Based on their track record, it should be worth waiting for. I'll definitely upgrade once it's released.

Edit (5/7): NoShame's new DVD of The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is, in a word, stunning - especially when compared with what's been available until now in Region 1. I have a new appreciation for the film and actually enjoyed it much more than I did just a couple of months ago. It's like watching a whole different movie.

This creepy Italian thriller tells the story about a widowed lord who still suffers from the memory of the death of his red-haired wife Evelyn who betrayed him. So the aristocrat lures red-haired prostitutes into his castle to take revenge on his dead wife again and again: He whips them before he kills them.

But he's obviously not the only whacko in this film, because after he has found a new wife - a blonde woman this time - he seems to be getting better, but strange things happen and there's even a gloved killer who murders a couple of people in quite nasty ways.

This film from the director of the fine Giallo "La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte" (1972, see also my comment on that one) is a clever blending of gothic horror elements (a creepy castle, mysterious events taking place and an empty coffin that suggests that Evelyn indeed came out of her grave) and a typical Giallo story (gloved killer, nasty murders and some surprising twists during the climax). The only letdown is the slow paced start (after a great opening sequence, though), but the second half makes up for that in many ways. The film is not that gory, but there is one particularly gruesome scene when the killer batters a woman with a stone and then throws her into a fox cage - you actually see the foxes munch on her innards.

All in all an interesting and unusual film that is worth looking for (although it's not easy to get it on tape at the moment).