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In regards to the dark, the world of giallo is still one that I’m fumbling around in, trying to navigate my way through countless films and directors. As I settle in, I’ve started to make out shapes and patterns; that is, until I saw Sergio Martino’s All the Colors of the Dark (1972), a trippy, surreal head trip beautifully restored in an overflowing Blu-ray from Severin Films. My eyes are still adjusting to what they’ve seen.

I’m still fumbling around with Martino, though; other than this, I’ve only seen Torso (’73) and Screamers (’79), and I enjoyed the latter’s high adventure/splattery mermen over the straight ahead straight razor-isms of the former. Colors is easily my favorite of the three, as it offers a heady mix of hallucinogenic horror with a giallo backbone, all done with ferocious style.

Pity poor Jane (Edwige Fenech – The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh...

At the height of the Italian giallo boom in the early 1970s, scores of filmmakers turned their hand to crafting their own unique takes on these lurid murder-mystery thrillers. Emilio P. Miraglia may not be as well-known as Dario Argento or Mario Bava, but he did direct a distinct pair of thrillers that are out today on Blu-ray from Arrow Vide0: The Red Queen Kills Seven Times and In The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave.

In The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972), an age-old family curse hits sisters Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) and Franziska (Marina Malfatti) following the death of their grandfather Tobias (Rudolf Schündler). Every hundred years, so the legend goes, the bloodthirsty Red Queen returns and claims seven fresh victims. Was Tobias just the first… and are Kitty and Franziska next?

Director Emilio P. Miraglia once again combines a conventional giallo whodunit narrative with supernatural chills,...

I cherish a good giallo film. For those unfamiliar with this sub-genre, it’s like a slasher, but with an emphasis on police procedure and a dash of Italian Vogue. (Not to mention the ubiquitous gloved killer.) Starting in the mid ‘60s, they revved up the violence, leading to the watershed of Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971), where Mario Bava singlehandedly invented the “body count” that transferred across the water and led us to Haddonfield and Camp Crystal Lake.

But some gialli still let their freak flags fly, bringing us to The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971), a film that blends bodies, bodices, castles, the supernatural, possible gas lighting, nudity, and triple crosses into an overflowing bath of ideas that is a lot of fun to splash around in. Not all the water stays in the tub, but there’s still plenty enough for a good soak.

Released in Italy in August,...

By Tim Greaves

Two early 1970s Italian Gothic chillers from director Emilio Miraglia have been released in the UK in a dual Blu-ray/DVD box set. Bearing the tantalising umbrella title "Killer Dames", it could equally be looked upon as a Marina Malfatti set, since the actress occupies a prominent role in both of the films contained therein.

A prolific assistant director throughout the first half of the 60s, Emilio Miraglia's fourth spin in the director's chair following a trio of crime thrillers was also his first foray into terror terrain. 1971's The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave (o.t. La Notte Che Evelyn Usci Della Tomba) concerns English aristocrat Lord Cunningham (Anthony Steffan), a man devastated by the passing of his titian-haired wife Evelyn, who he suspected was being unfaithful. Struggling to overcome his grief over her death and rage at her perceived infidelity, Cunningham lures...

Tuesday, May 24th has several fantastic DVD and Blu-ray releases that should get horror fans excited, especially the highly anticipated Collector’s Edition release of Manhunter from the fine folks at Scream Factory. Arrow Video is also releasing a stunning limited edition set entitled Killer Dames, featuring two overlooked giallo cult classics, and for those of you American Gothic fans out there (like myself), the entire series is finally making its way to DVD this week.

Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for this Tuesday include Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Collection, Specters, Paranormal Sex Tape, and The Devil’s Woods.

American Gothic: The Complete Series (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, DVD)

Visit Trinity, South Carolina, a small town with more chills than charm. Sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole) won’t let anyone – including local doctor Matt Crower (Jake Weber) or the determined Gail Emory (Paige Turco...

To mark the release of Killer Dames on 23rd May, we’ve been given 2 boxsets to give away on Blu-ray. In The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, an age-old family curse hits sisters Kitty (Barbara Bouchet, Milano Calibro 9) and Franziska (Marina Malfatti) following the death of their grandfather Tobias (Rudolf Schündler, The Exorcist, Suspiria). […]

The post Win Killer Dames on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Mvd Entertainment Group looks to please Emilio P. Miraglia fans with Arrow Video’s May Us Blu-ray releases, including the Killer Dames box set collecting The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Horror fans can also look forward to Arrow’s high-definition release of 1966’s Blood Bath that features all four versions of the Roger Corman-produced film.

Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with several new titles in May…

Hired To Kill (Director Approved Special Edition Blu-ray + DVD)

No man on earth could get him out of prison alive. Seven women will try.

Release Date: May 17th

List Price: $29.95

Starring legendary actors Oliver Reed (Gladiator, The Brood) and George Kennedy (The Delta Force and the Naked Gun series), Hired to Kill is a hugely entertaining action flick featuring guns, girls and a plethora...

Sleazemeister Umberto Lenzi popularized the Italian cannibal film subgenre with The Man from the Deep River and made gore fans drool with Cannibal Ferox, but you won't get over-the-top violence and a truly seedy story when it comes to his 1972 giallo, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. The director's early gialli were quite tame compared to his later movies. Lenzi lures us to Orchids with a killer opening, featuring the death of a naked prostitute and a stylish murder set piece, starring giallo babe Marina Malfatti. Frustratingly, Orchids starts to dwindle after that. Lenzi bookends his thriller with some of the mood and craftiness we've come to expect of the Italian-made movies, but a bloated middle drags to the finish. Newlyweds Mario (Antonio Sabato, father of soap opera star Antonio Sabato, Jr.) and Giulia (German actress Uschi Glas) find their honeymoon interrupted after a black-gloved psychopath attempts to murder the missus. The unlucky...

While not as high-profile or prolific as some legendary Italian horror/thriller auteurs we've covered on these pages, director Emilio Miraglia has developed a bit of a cult following, mainly due to a pair of creepy and twisty films: the 1972 release The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, and this oddity from the previous year. I picked this one for today's feature, not because it's the better-made of the two – Red Queen is a slicker production, much closer in style and tone to the popular gialli of the period – but because Evelyn is so defiantly weird, and also to emphasize the strange beauty of co-star Erika Blanc. Fans of Euro-horror are already familiar with Erika's work – which includes a breakout role in Mario Bava's Kill, Baby, Kill! and a knockout performance as a sexy but terrifying succubus in the occult thriller The Devil's Nightmare. Her role in this film is nearly as memorable,...

Here’s another helping of immorality and mayhem courtesy of Emilio Miraglia, the man responsible for one of my favorite gialli, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (which, ironically, was glimpsed in last week’s Saturday Nightmare, New Year’s Evil, under the Us title - Blood Feast).

This film, the first of Miraglia’s only two forays into giallo cinema, isn’t as accomplished as its successor but has plenty of perversity to keep things interesting. If you’ve come to expect ludicrous plot twists, unscrupulous characters, sexual debauchery and a solid dose of murder, then you’ll find much to love about this atmospheric little shocker.

To put it mildly, Alan Cunningham has issues. As the Lord of a sprawling estate, the smarmy playboy spends his evenings luring attractive young women to his castle where he tortures them before savagely killing them. It seems as though Alan has...