Fun cross-genre mystery

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (AKA The Night She Rose From The Tomb, AKA Evelyn Raises the Dead ~ 1971)

Italian hybrid giallo/gothic horror, directed by Emilio Miraglia, and starring Anthony Steffen, Marina Malfatti, and Erika Blanc. Lord Alan Cunningham (Steffen) is released from a mental institution after suffering a breakdown following the death of his wife, Evelyn. On his release, to help cope with his loss, he entices strippers and prostitutes to his castle and murders them. This novel therapy isn't enough, so on the advice of friends he remarries. But as Cunningham and new wife Gladys (Malfatti) adjust to married life, strange occurrences soon have Alan suspecting that Evelyn may have returned from the grave, angry at his remarriage. At the same time, members of Alan's family who live on the estate start to be murdered by an unseen killer. However, Alan's fragile mental state leaves him in no condition to deal with either situation, and events both natural and seemingly supernatural escalate.

Bizarrely, around the half-way mark the film asks us to start rooting for a guy who we know murders prostitutes. The normal response would be 'well, he's got it coming', but here they try to paint him in a sympathetic light - as though his belief that his late wife was having an affair (never confirmed) somehow justifies what he later did. Still, it's a fun film. It really leans into the gothic aspect - although set in then present-day 'England' (but clearly actually Italy), it has neglected castles, storm-lashed graveyards, cobwebby family crypts, a seance, creeping shadows, a haunting portrait, and ghostly figures at the windows. However, Miraglia's crafty inclusion of strippers and hookers ensures the requisite amount of sex/nudity for the giallo side of things (shoutout to jaw-dropping genre favourite Erika Blank as the top-of-the-bill 'exotic dancer')! Absolutely worth a watch. 7/10