The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Emilio P. Miraglia directed only six films, between 1967 and 1972, before promptly vanishing off the face of the earth - lamentably, for he obviously had a strong visual eye and knew how to stage an exciting set-piece or two. Despite dabbling in crime thrillers and helming a Spaghetti Western, he is probably best known for his two pseudo-giallo films. Of the two, I am of the opinion that his second (and also his final film), The Lady in Red Kills Seven Times, is the more satisfying, but its stablemate, 1971's The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (or La Notte Che Evelyn Uscì Dalla Tomba, to give it its original Italian title), is an equally interesting affair that has garnered something of a cult following over the years, chalking up a formidable reputation that, while not entirely undeserved, in my opinion attempts to paint the film as something that it quite blatantly is not.

The plot is a completely nutty affair, and indeed one of the strangest scenarios ever attached to a giallo. It features more twists and turns than the streets of Venice, and as such a blow-by-blow account of what goes on would be difficult. Essentially, Lord Alan Cunningham (Antonio De Teffè, going, as usual, by the name of Anthony Steffen) is haunted by the memory of his late wife Evelyn, who died during childbirth. His mental turmoil manifests itself in a desire to seduce, torture and murder leggy redheads who resemble Evelyn, during which occasions he frequently suffers from hallucinatory visions of his wife. (Actually, it's not entirely clear that he is the one doing the murdering, and this is one of many loose threads that is never tied up.) Following the recommendation of his physician, Dr. Timberlane (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart), that he find a nice wife and settle down with her, Alan hooks up with the sultry Gladys (Marina Malfatti), has a brief session of rough-and-tumble with her, then marries her and takes her back to the family home. Gladys, however, quickly discovers that certain members of Alan's extended family resent her presence, but events take an even darker turn when she spots a red-haired woman on the premises and, shortly afterwards, Alan's various relatives begin to meet with gruesome fates. Is this nothing more than a case of everyday giallo murder mayhem, or could Evelyn have risen from the grave?

The following text contains spoilers. Click and drag over this box to view.

Most of that probably made absolutely no sense, and as the film progresses the plot holes become more and more obvious as it becomes increasingly reliant on this precarious premise. The nature of Alan's personality, and his culpability in the initial killings, is never adequately resolved, which is frustrating as the film wants to be a whodunit, but the fact that we have seen him whipping prostitutes, threatening them with knifes and pursuing them shortly before their deaths constantly overshadows any attempt by Miraglia to make the audience invest in the mystery. Adam is clearly nuttier than a fruitcake, so why should we seriously entertain, even for a moment, the possibility that Evelyn has returned from the dead? The final revelation of an intricate double conspiracy concocted by Alan's brother George, which involves both the seemingly innocuous Gladys and the apparently dead exotic dancer Susie (Erika Blanc), is so implausible that even the most seasoned giallo veterans will have great difficulty in suspending their disbelief.

A decent cast could have helped salvage this dodgy material - after all, how many ridiculous Ernesto Gastaldi concoctions are saved simply by having the suave George Hilton strut his stuff? - but unfortunately performers with real presence are in short supply here. Anthony Steffen's character is supposed to alternate between being a potentially murderous bastard and a smooth seducer, but he doesn't seem able to pull off either of them. Meanwhile, Marina Malfatti, who also featured in The Lady in Red Kills Seven Times but didn't really get any other leading roles, is far too glacial in both her appearance and demeanour to be sympathetic. She tended to be more successful in supporting roles which could exploit her slightly menacing frostiness (All the Colours of the Dark is probably the best example of this), but here we are all too often expected to see events from her point of view and it doesn't work. All manner of one-note personalities make up the secondary cast here, but only one of them makes any real impression: Erika Blanc. In a film where the other performers possess little if any true charisma, her insertion into the mix proves to be explosive, making a definite mark despite chalking up comparatively little screen time. Her introductory scene, in which she performs a buttock-waggling striptease from inside a coffin, is understandably the most distinguished moment in the entire affair, with many fans of cult horror who have never seen the film having heard of it. It's so bizarre, and Blanc's presence so captivating, that it has to be seen to be believed.

With (excluding Ms. Blanc) sedentary performances and a bamboozling script, what saves the film from being a disaster and indeed makes it genuinely interesting is Miraglia's direction. His compositions are artful and he puts the delapidated setting of the ornate but crumbling Cunningham manor to great effect, far more successfully than the other "gothic giallo" I recently reviewed, Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye. The building, the mausoleum housing Evelyn's corpse and the surrounding land become definite characters in their own right, and they are lensed with a crispness and solid use of light and shadow that belies the film's undoubtedly low budget. Miraglia manages to achieve an atmosphere unlike any other entry in the genre, combining gothic decay with a modern (1970s) aesthetic of debauchery. He would later achieve a similar effect in The Lady in Red Kills Seven Times, but the result is more concentrated here.


DVD Presentation

This is the latest title from NoShame Films, a small DVD company specialising in obscure Italian cult titles. To date, most of their titles have been released in both Italy and the US, but with each version having its own strengths and weaknesses. The Italian releases have tended to be bare-bones and to feature Italian audio only, while the US versions generally add some bonus features and English audio/subtitle options but disappoint in the image quality department. The Italian release of The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is, at first glance, more of the same: the only extra is a trailer, and the packaging lists only Italian audio. First impressions can be deceptive, however, for NoShame have broken with tradition and included an English audio track (in addition to the Italian variant, both being presented in 2.0 mono). The dub is, of course, laughably bad, but it does mean that this release is a viable option for English speakers who don't want to wait for the American release in April, which will, based on past experience, suffer a decrease in image quality.

The transfer on the Italian DVD, by the way, is very good, and it goes without saying that it trounces every single previous release, most of which have been extremely poor, and all of which have featured some degree of cropping. Anamorphically enhanced and in its original Techniscope 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this transfer is a revelation, featuring rich colours, solid blacks and accurate framing. Detail, too, is very good, although a slight softness pervades at times. My only real criticism is some heavy-handed noise reduction, which has a habit of leaving the grain looking frozen and unnatural. All in all, though, a solid presentation, and one that puts NoShame's US releases to shame.


Overall

Long the domain of cut, cropped, distorted and washed out bootlegs, now that the film has finally been released uncut and in its original aspect ratio, fans who have followed it through every cack-handed grey market release will hopefully be able to experience it like never before, while newcomers can enjoy it to its fullest on their first viewing. The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave may not be entirely deserving of the impressive status it has acquired, but it is an interesting curiosity piece nonetheless and one that giallo connoisseurs should not hesitate in adding to their collections.