Emilio Paolo Miraglia created two giallo — this film and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. This one goes more into the horror realm than the typical themes of the genre.Lord Alan Cunningham starts this movie off by running away from an insane asylum, a place he's been since the death of his redheaded wife, Evelyn, who he caught having sex with another man. To deal with his grief, Alan does what any of us would do — pick up redhead prostitutes and strippers, tie them up, then kill them.A seance freaks Alan out so badly he passes out, so his cousin — and only living heir — Farley moves in to take care of him, which basically means going to strip clubs and playing with foxes. Alan nearly kills another stripper before Farley gives him some advice — to get over Evelyn, he should marry someone that looks just like her. Alan selects Gladys (Marina Malfatti, All the Colors of the Dark) as his new wife and comes back home.Sure, you meet someone one night and marry them the next. But nothing could compare Gladys for the weirdness of living in an ancient mansion, along with a staff of identical waitresses, Evelyn's brother and Alan's wheelchair-bound aunt. Our heroine is convinced that Evelyn is not dead. And the other family members get killed off — Albert with a snake and Agatha is eaten by foxes!Gladys even looks at the body in the tomb before Alan catches her and slaps her, as he is going crazier and crazier. Finally, Evelyn rises from her grave, which sends him back to a mental institution.The big reveal? Gladys and Farley were in on it all along. But wait, there's more! Susan, the stripper who survived Alan's attack, was the one who was really Evelyn and Gladys has been poisoned! Before she dies, the lady who we thought was our heroine wipes out the stripper and Farley gets away with the perfect crime.But wait! There's more! Alan had faked his breakdown and did it all so that he could learn that it was Farley who was making love to his wife and killed her when she refused to run away with him. A fight breaks out, sulfur goes into the pool and Farley gets burned by acid. He's arrested and Alan — who up until now was pretty much the villain of this movie — gets away with all of his crimes!This is a decent thriller, but it really feels padded in parts and tends to crawl. That said, it has some great music, incredibly decorated sets and some twists. Not my favorite giallo, but well worth a Saturday afternoon watch. There are some moments of sheer beauty here, such as the rainstorm where Alan sees Evelyn's ghost rise.

Having sat through nearly every pre-1990 American horror movie worth watching, I began broadening my horizon quite a few years ago now. It was a necessary step, an evolution, to see what the rest of the world offered in the genre that I most adore. Growing up with the many slasher films of the 80s, it wasn't long before I discovered the sub-genre, Giallo, and from there it branched out to the many other horrors from Italy. I was hooked. Several Italian horror films are now amongst my favorites. La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba is not one of them, but I still enjoy it. Just because it's not a favorite doesn't mean it isn't worth watching.A very wealthy, widowed English Lord lives in a castle and isn't coping very well with the death of his red-headed, cheating wife, Evelyn. So, being the sadist he is, he brings home many young, red-headed women to torture and kill. Will a new wife cure him? ...and what about Evelyn? I don't want to say more than that. Spoilers isn't really my thing. If you're a fan of Italian horror films, then I suggest you seek this one out if you haven't already. Try to get the uncut version. Trust me, it's much better.

Italian director Emilio Miraglia's second film, "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times" (1972), had previously impressed me as one of the most perfect giallo pictures that I had ever seen, when I first saw it six years ago, so I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy seeing his first. But because of that earlier film's title--"The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave"--I was somehow expecting something more on the order of a supernatural/ghost story. To my delighted surprise, however, "Evelyn" turns out to be both: a modern-day Gothic melodrama that combines insanity and S&M elements and that ultimately segues quite unambiguously into grisly giallo terrain. Released in 1971, the film succeeds dazzlingly well on both fronts, and reveals itself to be a remarkably self-assured outing for the first-time director.In the film, the viewer meets a British lord named Alan Cunningham (Anthony Steffen, who here resembles, at times, a young and dissipated Peter Falk). Sir Alan, when we first encounter him, is in the bughouse, having had a mental breakdown after the death of his redheaded, unfaithful wife Evelyn, who had died during childbirth. After his release, Alan becomes infatuated with his new hobby: picking up redheaded hookers and strippers to bring home and torturously whip--and possibly kill--in his castle dungeon. Two of the strippers are played by yummy Maria Teresa Tofano and scrumptious Erika Blanc; Erika, who had previously impressed this viewer in such films as Mario Bava's "Kill, Baby, Kill" (1966) and Charles Lecocq's "The Devil's Nightmare" (1971), here gets to perform a memorable nightclub striptease after arising from a coffin! Following the advice of the institution's Dr. Timberlane (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, who had costarred with Erika in "Kill, Baby, Kill," although they sadly share no screen time here), Alan resolves to forget his dead wife by meeting another woman. And soon enough, he meets a beautiful blonde named Gladys (squisito Marina Malfatti, who viewers may recall from another giallo film with decided supernatural overtones, Sergio Martino's 1972 gem "All the Colors of the Dark"), who he proposes to after just a few hours. But marriage with Gladys only seems to make Lord Alan's obsessions worse, as the crypt of dead Evelyn is revealed to be empty, her walking cadaver is glimpsed, and ghastly murders erupt around the estate....Happily, "Evelyn" turns out to be a superstylish film that features inventive and off-kilter camera angles (DOP Gastone di Giovanni has done a marvelous job shooting this project), sumptuous sets, a wonderful use of color, and a gorgeous theme song by Bruno Nicolai that even maestro Ennio Morricone could not better. Most viewers will have little idea where this picture is headed during its first 2/3 (the modern-day Gothic section, which showcases an eerie seance, Evelyn's ghost, and that castle), and even less during the stunning giallo section that culminates the picture. And fans of this distinctly Italian genre will not feel shortchanged, either, as the film ends with as hairy and grisly a bunch of murderous set pieces as could be desired: mayhem via a venomous snake, head clubbing, traditional poison, knifings, sulfuric acid...and some particularly ravenous kenneled foxes. Even more pleasing, the film manages to pull off not just a surprise ending, but a TRIPLE twist/surprise ending, for one bravissimo and loopy windup! I could not for the life of me figure out why it was necessary to set this film in England (doesn't Italy have its own strip clubs, castles, and wealthy landowners?), or why we see, in one startling scene, Alan's beautiful but paralyzed Aunt Agatha (Joan C. Davis) arise from her wheelchair and walk, but other than these two minor quibbles, Miraglia's first work strikes me as being a practically flawless giallo gem. The film has been deemed "dreadful" by the often-stingy (when it comes to genre fare, at least) editors of the "Maltin Movie Guide," but this viewer much prefers the verdict of the indispensable film book "DVD Delirium 3," which tells us that "Evelyn" is "particularly deranged," with a denouement that is an "unforgettably unhinged concoction." But perhaps the Maltin editors would revise their old assessment if they could see the DVD of "Evelyn" that is currently available from NoShame. Sporting a gorgeous, uncut, properly framed print in the original Italian and with excellent subtitles ("the first worthwhile video release of this title in any format," "DVD Delirium 3" claims), the film might come as a revelation to those who have only seen it on lousy-looking videotapes with even worse dubbing. Seen in this pristine-looking NoShame format, "Evelyn" reveals itself to be the handsome, stylish, imaginative and surprising giallo outing that it is. Further good news regarding the NoShame DVD are two of the disc's extras: a 21-minute reminiscence by the modern-day Erika Blanc herself (still a looker) as she sits at her makeup table, and a 23-minute talk by the film's set designer, Lorenzo Baraldi. In all, a terrific package for a terrific film. To all the fine folks at the always-dependable NoShame, my most heartfelt "Grazie!"

A wealthy English lord is suffering a mental breakdown following the death of his red-headed wife, Evelyn, whom he feared was cheating on him. He tours local bars and dives, scouring for lovely red-heads willing to come back to his decaying castle in the country, where he seduces them, then tortures and kills them. His friend the doctor talks him into marrying again to help heal his slowly-rotting mind, which he does--but are the doctor's orders really what he needs?Crazy dubbed crappy S&M movie disguised as art. Jekyll and Hyde nut case goes in and out of lunacy. But it doesn't matter which side of the fence he's on, he still gets the chicks and you will find sleep coming on strong.