Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2024
Last May I went on a big giallo kick, and out the vast number of new films discovered one of my favorites was The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, a great title for a gothic tale that had all sorts of twists and turns and some truly gorgeous cinematography. So when I checked out and saw that director Emilio P. Miraglia had done another giallo the year before, I jumped at the chance to check it out. And…it’s fine? The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave does a lot of similar things, a few that were even surprising, but still stands a step below Miraglia’s other, greater horrific work.
THE QUICK SUMMARY: Poor Lord Alan Cunningham…what’s a rich aristocrat with a tendency toward murder to do? After the death of his wife under mysterious circumstances seems Alan has a bit of a penchant picking up red-haired prostitutes and torturing them to death. But when his doctor prescribes love and marriage as the antidote to his woes, he literally marries the next girl he meets and sleeps with. Soon Gladys has moved into the renovated Cunningham estate, but who is the mysterious red-haired spectre roaming the grounds? And who is killing the other members of Lord Cunningham’s family? Is this truly the case of Cunningham’s dead wife rising from the grave to exact revenge? Spooky!
Even those with only a few giallo under their belt probably won’t be shocked at anything in The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave. You have copious amounts of female nudity, sadistic torture and hidden rooms, and of course a third act reveal you’ll never see coming because this is giallo and any clue given is always a red herring. The fun is in the execution, and Miraglia, along with his cinematographer Gastone Di Giovanni come up with some lovely framing and great use of colors – particularly green. I don’t know if the use of it is supposed to emphasize the jealousies that prove to be the underlying theme for the murders, but it looks beautiful – there’s one sequence in the opening of the film where Alan – at this time locked up in a mental institution – attempts to escape and runs through a sunken and grassy amphitheater as the men in white give pursuit that had more of a dreamlike quality than any of the actual dreams or flashbacks in the film.
Another interesting thing Miraglia and his team of screenwriters did that’s unique (to me, at least) is give us a protagonist that is far from innocent. Alan right off the bat is a vicious killer who is insane over the death of his wife, who he believes (we never know for sure owing to his insanity) was unfaithful to him. We see his crimes of insanity and yet, that’s not the overlaying mystery of The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave. That comes with the marriage to Gladys, and the mysterious killings that occur at their house once married. So in the end, there are literally zero repercussions to Alan and his killings – they’re literally put aside as this new mystery deepens and. when it’s solved, it seems Alan is Scott free to continue doing what he’s been doing.
The more I think about it, the more that’s the thing that sticks with me. Our killer gets away with it. It’s frankly kind of refreshing to see, and helps to elevate everything else in the film. Also I can’t help but laugh at the little things I notice in these films over and over again. I don’t know what kind of money they laid out but damn J&B Scotch Whisky shows up here and literally in every giallo I’ve ever seen. Also Gladys’s choice of attire at any given moment is not only inappropriate, but hilarious. The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave is b-tier giallo, but even b-tier gives you a solid amount of fun.
Cinema Dual 
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