“A Night You’ll Long Remember!” Synopsis: A wealthy pervert lures beautiful young women to his castle so he can have his way with them. Original Italian title: La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba

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Calamity Brains:

Before watching The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, it’s important to make sure you’re watching the correct version. There are a number of cut down and re-edited versions of the movie in circulation, some of which are so altered they barely make sense. The full movie should clock in at 1:43, so be sure to double check.

Evelyn is one of the more well-known giallo films for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the excessive amounts of sex and nudity. But don’t worry – there’s also excessive amounts of gaslighting, mystery, and #richpeopleproblems. (In other words, it’s giallo through-and-through.)

Though in this genre it’s frequent that many of the characters aren’t deserving of your sympathies, Evelyn makes it particularly hard to care for its main character. When we’re first introduced to Alan (Anthony Steffen), he’s coping with the death of his wife by seducing, torturing, and murdering redheads. He eventually tries to make his way back to a calm and sane response to life through his relationship with Gladys (Marina Malfatti), but um… I don’t want to be sympathetic to a dude who murders prostitutes for funsies. Still, even if a lack of concern for characters is a little problematic, the movie generally makes up for it with its mystery and twists.

Despite the twists being interesting, the story could have used a better editor; there are a number of story threads that are abruptly dropped partway through the movie, and some of the character choices border on nonsensical. Alan’s about-face from killing redheads to suddenly marrying one is enough to give the audience whiplash; his Aunt Agatha (who has to be at least ten years younger than him) clearly has a number of intriguing secrets that are never referenced again; the doctor should have his license taken away for indecision if nothing else. Throughout, the mysteries of the movie are intriguing, but you’ll definitely be left scratching your head more than once.

In the end, Evelyn is not really worthy of its reputation. It’s an interesting watch – once – but if you’re excited about giallo, it’s not the best example of the subgenre.

Calamity Brains’ Rating: B-
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