Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers by Emilio P. Miraglia (The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (1971) + The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)/MVD/Arrow 2-Disc Blu-ray w/DVD Set)

Picture: B/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: B/B- Films: B/C+

PLEASE NOTE: This Blu-ray/DVD set is limited to only 3,000 copies!

Arrow strikes again with a vengeance in his highly collectible and nicely produced double Blu-ray set of two Italian giallo films by director Emilio P. Miraglia: The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (1971) and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972). Both films have been restored in 2K high definition and have never looked better than they do here on Blu-ray disc. Along with some fantastic extras and a beautiful 60-page booklet containing new writing by James Blackford, Kat Ellinger, Leonard Jacobs and Rachael Nisbet. Both films have some similarities to one another, being whodunnit style mysteries (with the first being a bit darker than the later) with high body counts and impressive filmmaking.

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is a whodunnit mystery with a dash of gothic flare, centered around a troubled wealthy man named Alan Cunningham (played by Anthony Steffen) who tries to move on over the hard hitting death of his wife by remarrying and moving on with his life. Soon, several close relatives start to die around him and we realize that maybe his first wife isn't dead after all. Featuring fantastic set pieces and inventive filmmaking, I found this to be one of the best examples of giallo cinema I've seen.

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times is a creepy Italian horror film that was a pleasant surprise full of both mystery and rich cinematic storytelling. We meet two troubled sisters, Kitty (Barbara Bouchet) and the late Evelyn, who are cursed by a family painting depicting a hundred year-cycle in which a Red Queen is raised from the dead to kill seven times. After Evelyn seemingly perishes and multiple killings ensue, their niece Franziska (Marina Malfatti) and Kitty start to suspect that Evelyn may be the Red Queen and if so who will she kill next? In many ways a gothic slasher film that, as film scholar Kim Newman points out in the commentary, would surely be a successful slasher franchise had it been made in America.

As far as the high definition transfers go, there is little to complain about here. Both films are presented in 1080p high definition and are paired with the original Italian and English soundtracks in Mono audio 1.0 (lossless DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray Discs), giving the original elements a much needed upgrade. Also included are Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks. The DVD editions also sport the mono audio track and a standard definition transfer with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave Extras:

- New audio commentary by Troy Howarth

- Exclusive introduction by actress Erika Blanc

- New interview with critic Stephen Thrower

- The Night Erika Came Out of the Grave - exclusive interview with Erika Blanc

- The Whip and the Body - archival interview with Erika Blanc

- Still Rising from the Grave - archival interview with production designer Lorenzo Baraldi

- Original Italian and US theatrical trailers

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times Extras:

- New audio commentary by Alan Jones and Kim Newman

- Exclusive new interview with Sybil Danning

- New interview with critic Stephen Thrower

- Archival introduction by production/costume designer Lorenzo Baraldi

- Dead a Porter - archival interview with Lorenzo Baraldi

- Rounding Up the Usual Suspects - archival interview with actor Marino Mase

- If I Met Emilio Miraglia Today - archival featurette with Erika Blanc, Lorenzo Baraldi and Marino Mase

- My Favourite... Films - archival interview with actress Barbara Bouchet

- Alternative opening

- Original Italian theatrical trailer

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

This is another great Arrow release of two films that you don't get to see very often that have been packaged and presented in a fantastic way. Highly recommended!

- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/