La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba

Nice mix of giallo an Gothic horror, brought to you by Emilio Miraglia, writer/director of Red Queen Kills 7 Times. Maybe Miraglia likes red, as this is a tale of a dead red-headed wife, and a series of red-headed prostitutes brought home by the rich widower, Lord Alan Cunningham (Anthony Steffen).

Not only does Alan bring a lot of redheads home to his castle, which means a lot of flesh for your enjoyment, but he has a propensity to engage in a little sadism while he is at it, as Susan (Erika Blanc) finds out.

After Susan, he meets Gladys (Marina Malfatti) at a party. He is instantly attracted (and who wouldn't be?) even though she is a blond, not a redhead. So much so, that he asks her to marry before he even gets her in bed. She is much more practical, and goes to bed without marrying, though I suspect she feels it will lead there eventually.

When they are married, the title comes alive as does Evelyn, his first wife. Naturally, I suspected Albert (Roberto Maldera) and Aunt Agatha (Joan C. Davis) in this ruse, but that is quickly dispelled. Needless to say, the foxes didn't have any appetite for breakfast after a late night snack.

Things move forward with a double double cross and a surprise ending. Interesting giallo with boobilicious treats.

Emilio Miraglia's crossover between Gothic horror and Italy's finest cinematic export, the Giallo, really is a delightful film for the fan of cult horror. While the movie is certainly no masterpiece, the story moves well and the imagery on display and imagination on the part of the director that is shown throughout elevates a rather simple tale of insanity and murder into an amazing slice of cult cinema. The title alone is graphic and lurid enough on its own, and I'm pleased to say that the film itself carries on this style throughout, with some well worked and ingenious death scenes, as well as plenty of nudity and some truly beautiful cinematography. The story takes place in a castle just outside London, England. We are introduced to Lord Alan Cunningham and a hooker that he is taking home. After brutally torturing and eventually killing her, we discover that his mental trauma is due to the loss of his wife, Evelyn. His friend and doctor talks him into remarrying to ease his mental anguish, and that's a piece of advice that he takes upon meeting the ravishing Gladys...

Despite the fact that this film is very much a piece of schlock cinema, the director appears to have taken it very seriously, and the result is a film that puts a lot of emphasis on the plot and characters, and ultimately this means a stronger show as Miraglia takes time to draw his audience in, rather than just showing blood and nudity and leaving it at that. The acting performances aren't bad, and even though Spaghetti Western star Antonio De Teffè is a little hammy, he convinces in his role; while Marina Malfatti provides eye-catching eye candy. The murder sequences on display are typically gruesome and beyond the immediately obvious, as we watch a woman being ripped apart by foxes and a scene that sees a man burn in a pool containing sulphuric acid. Bruno Nicolai's rock score works very well and brilliantly accents every scene. The film all boils down to a satisfying ending, which despite seemingly coming out nowhere; works well and adequately describes many of the loose ends up until the conclusion. Overall, while this film isn't the best of its kind; it's certainly a very good one and I'm sure that fans of cult cinema won't be disappointed!

Alan (Anthony Steffen), an English multi-millionaire with a few screws loose (thanks to his first wife's infidelity and untimely death during childbirth), entices sexy, red-headed women to his castle, offering them bundles of cash to stay the weekend. Once back at his ancestral pile, he gets them nekkid, proceeds to flog them with a bull-whip, and then kills them.

But when he meets blonde hottie Gladys (Marina Malfatti) and falls for her ample charms, he decides to give up his murderous ways and get married. Their wedded bliss is short-lived, however, thanks to Alan's iffy mental state, which becomes increasingly fragile when his dead wife Evelyn starts to appear outside his window and a spate of gruesome murders occur within the castle grounds.

So let's recap: a groovy 70s Euro-horror with loads of tasty women in various states of undress; spooky Gothic retreats and misty graveyards; a sadistic rich psycho with a penchant for drop-dead gorgeous babes with cracking bods; several vicious murders (including a great bit where one victim has her head bashed in with a rock and her entrails eaten by foxes). Normally, a checklist like that would guarantee me a good time—so why did I find 'The Night Evelyn Came Out Of Her Grave' so dull? Well, for starters, the plot is way too convoluted: there are red herrings, crazy plot developments, and suspects galore, and it all becomes a bit too much. By the ridiculous ending—in which we discover that, all along, several people have been plotting to get their greedy paws on Alan's wealth, and that our red-head killing nut-job is actually supposed to be the hero of the movie—my head was hurting too much to care! Secondly, Emilio Maraglia's direction is pretty torpid. Stylish, yes; but as slow as molasses at times.

And then there's the bits that are just too damn silly, possibly even for a giallo: the death by poisonous snake bite (surely one of the most bizarre choices of weapon ever); Alan's Aunt Agatha, an old crippled relative who is played by a pretty young woman; the hiring of a group of identical curly headed blondes as maids; the poor attempt at convincing the audience that the film is set in England (mentioning 'pounds' and hiring a crap police uniform for one of the extras is not enough); and then, of course, there is the unlikelihood of finding a bag of sulphuric acid laying next to a swimming pool...

'The Night Evelyn Came Out Of Her Grave' isn't a total waste of time (how could it be, with so much female flesh on show?), but there are much better giallo's out there. Watch this one if you're a fan of the genre and you've already seen the best—but don't expect too much.

Emilio Miraglia's "The Night Evelyn came out of her Grave" is an entertaining slice of perversely manipulative and seedy Gothic Euro-horror. The way the format works out (Gothic crossed Giallo) is a delicious web of eerie uncertainty and devilish twists, where is it the cracking mind of the protagonist or maybe the supernatural has something to do with the mysterious occurrences and demented happenings. Where never quite sure how it will pan out, despite its strictly routine and what you think a simple set-up. It does create many effective and spontaneous passages, like a layer upon layer structure, which compellingly builds up to its show-stopping, and unforeseeable conclusion. Which eventually goes out of its way to shock. Miraglia sharply paints a sombre atmospheric setting that at times embraces a dreamy elegance and for the darker, glum moments it's covered with moody shades due to its shadowy lighting. There's plenty of rough, jolting blocks of viciously nasty violence, sensual nudity and sordid fetishes. Bruno Nicolai's peering camera-work is smoothly orchestrated and Gastone Di Giovanni's wicked, bustling music score fits every scene. The pacing can get rather stumpy and editing can lumber with little rhythm, but it has a certain glow and the strangeness of the idea seems to hold you. The performances fair up decently, with a voluptuous Erika Blanc looking rather stunning and nailing down her part. Antonio De Teffè's nervous wreck portrayal is finely tuned in a neurotic sense and Marina Malfatti is there to shower us with her gratuitous looks. Rod Murdock colourfully hams it up, with winning results and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart is suitably adequate as the stable-headed doctor. There are able performances from Joan C Davis and Roberto Maldera too. The story can get patchy with few plot-holes, but it has a sedately arresting, stylised appeal.

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.