Killer Dames

A giallo double-feature that represents everything good - and bad - about the sexy Italian mystery genre, Arrow Video's Killer Dames set collects two films by director Emilio Miraglia: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Ridiculously over plotted in that charming way only gialli seem to be able to pull off, both movies mix gothic elements with more modern slasher touches - and a welcome bit of skin - to generate maximum audience appeal. While one detects a whiff of desperation from time to time, Miraglia approaches the material like a "Giallo Greatest Hits" collection, mixing and matching to create his own murderous playlist.

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971) introduces a bit of the supernatural in its story of the mentally unstable Lord Cunningham (Anthony Steffen) whose guilt over the death of his unfaithful red-headed wife, Evelyn, leads him to lure a slew of similar red-heads to his secret torture chamber. While his wealth lets him avoid any prosecution, his illness gets harder to hide after a whirlwind marriage to Gladys (Marina Malfatti) prompts even more frequent visions of his dead bride rising from her tomb. Is it an actual haunting...or is someone after his substantial inheritance?

Evelyn splits the difference between Gothic ingredients (castles, ghosts, secret rooms) and more traditional giallo thrills pretty evenly. There's quite a bit of Bava's The Whip and the Body referenced here in Lord Cunningham's basement pleasure palace, but Miraglia lets it all hang out with copious amounts of nudity. And the film's elaborate murder sequences - including a rather pointless snake attack and the grisly disposal of another body fed to a pack of foxes living on the estate - are typical showy exploitation fare, far removed from the subtle mysteries of Hitchcock's Rebecca.

Yet it's this wishy-washy plotting that keeps the film interesting, despite that fact that it lacks any sympathetic character to latch onto. Add in some slow-motion flashbacks, an interrupted séance, a handful of red herrings and a striptease artist whose act involves emerging from an ornate coffin and you've got a giallo that may never connect all the dots but still offers two hours of pleasant distraction.

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972) skews more towards a predictable body count picture involving a family curse, squabbling siblings and a grandfather's will. Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) and her sister Evelyn have hated each other since childhood, a scenario that seems to fulfill a family prophecy involving one sister's death followed by her ghostly revenge. And, indeed, the prophecy seems to prove all too real when Kitty's accidental murder of her sister leads to unexplained murders by a woman dressed in red.

The film's plot is muddled from the get-go, adding another sister, Franziska (Marina Malfatti, again) into the mix and a host of potential suspects / victims at the fashion design house where they all work. Once more a Bava film comes to mind - this time Blood and Black Lace - but Red Queen takes some unusual left turns including a Phantom of the Opera-style finale involving a flooded castle passageway and hundreds of waterlogged rats. Bouchet's character is asked to do little more that widen her eyes in shock on command and, beyond a quick nude scene from co-star Sybil Danning, this one is light on sex appeal as well. But the score by Bruno Nicolai, which revolves around a childhood tune much like Argento's Deep Red would use three years later, is catchy to the point of distraction.

Miraglia's films almost demand a 10-page flowchart, but logic was certainly never a big part of the giallo's appeal. Both titles fit comfortably in the "above-average" category - with transfers that are well above the curve - and Arrow's Blu-ray / DVD combo is an obvious upgrade from the previous NoShame set from 2006 (whose extras are ported over here under the archive section). Evelyn comes with a commentary from giallo author Troy Howarth and interview with critic Stephen Thrower that combine to shed light on the confusing plot points. Also included is an exclusive interview with co-star Erika Blank and the aforementioned archival extras.

Red Queen adds another commentary (this time from Alan Jones and Kim Newman) to match up with Stephen Thrower's on-camera analysis, plus an alternate opening, theatrical trailers and new interview with Sybil Danning, who still looks marvelous! Both films come with a reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Gilles Vranckx.