The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Genre: Giallo, Horror

Original title: La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba

AKA: The Night She Arose From the Tomb 

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Year: 1971

A wealthy pervert traumatized by the loss of his cheating wife lures beautiful redheaded young women to his castle & kills them off one by one whilst people close to him aren't the friends he believes them to be.

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is a slow burning film that mixes elements of the Giallo genre with the classic Gothic setting. It's a little bit bloated in the middle and definitely could of done with 15-20 minutes cut off but overall it's a pretty solid picture with some nice camera work. I felt it could of done with one or two better known faces from the era to elevate the picture however the performances are all serviceable enough & there's some nice yet restrained flair from the direction of Emilio Miraglia. 

The highlight is definitely the score by Bruno Nicolai who most notably worked alongside Morricone as conductor on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 

However, there is a lack of thrills & whilst the twists are believable & not too over the top they never seem to be delivered with any kind of emotional punch. Despite it's flaws it holds up as a pretty solid mix of gothic horror & Giallo. I'd recommend checking out Miraglia's only other Gialli, Red Queen Kills 7 Times, which overall is a much well rounded & entertaining picture.

Rating: ★★★

Red Queen Kills 7 Times

Red Queen Kills 7 Times

Genre: Giallo, Horror

Original title: La dama rossa uccide sette volte

AKA: The Corpse Which Didn't Want to Die

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Year: 1972

Two sisters, Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) and Evelyn, are cursed by a family painting depicting a seven year-cycle in which a Red Queen is raised from the dead to kill seven times. After Evelyn seemingly perishes and multiple killings ensue, their niece Franziska (Marina Malfatti) and Kitty start to suspect that Evelyn may be the Red Queen.

A year after directing The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave, Emilio Miraglia made his second (& final) Gialli which once again featured a character called Evelyn coming back from the grave.. or has she? 

The problems with his first film were down to pacing issues & a general lack of thrills, this time around Miraglia almost hits the nail on the head. Once again there is a absolutely fantastic Bruno Nicolai score. 

Barbara Bouchet & a very naked Sybil Danning provide the sex appeal & there's some really good kills scattered throughout the film with a story that actually works & is engaging. Sure it all leads an overly ambitious reveal at the end that is as ridiculous as it is outrageous, but that's one of the traits of the genre so you have to kind of accept how far fetched it is. 

After such a vast improvement in just a year from his first attempt it's a damn shame Emilio Miraglia never got to make a third Evelyn film to create a trilogy as further improvement could of seen him make a real classic.

Rating: ★★★½

Red Queen, an overlooked gem