Film

The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

Name: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Thriller
Released: 1971
Cast: Anthony Steffen, Marina Malfatti, Enzo Tarascio, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Umberto Raho

Psychological horror
Very dark

A 1971 Italian giallo where a wealthy, disturbed aristocrat marries again after his wife's death—but his obsession with recreating twisted games from the past spirals into murder, madness, and doubt about who's really guilty. Lurid, gorgeously composed, and genuinely disorienting; for people who want style-drunk 70s horror that doesn't explain itself.

TMDb rating

3.0

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Dario Argento's masterpiece of giallo: a pianist witnesses a murder and becomes entangled in a baroque, beautiful conspiracy. More tightly plotted than Evelyn but with the same visual excess and body-horror dread.

But The violence is graphic and the dubbing can feel camp. Also nearly two and a half hours, which tests patience.

The Killer Wore Gloves1974

Another ornate Italian mystery where the psychological unravels alongside the corpses. Less famous than Argento but captures that same intoxicating atmosphere of wealth masking rot.

But Plot threads deliberately don't resolve cleanly. Unrewarding if you demand logic over mood.

Suspiria1977

Argento again, but pure nightmare logic: a ballet student enters a school that may be run by witches. The cinematography and Goblin's score are hypnotic in ways that transcend plot.

But Very slow-building. The story is almost incidental to the visual and sonic fever dream, which won't work for everyone.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Tenebre1982

Both feature wealthy men (or men obsessed with wealth and aesthetics) whose internal chaos manifests as ritual murder. Both ask whether the audience and the killer are complicit in the same act of looking.

Argento's most meta giallo: a writer arrives in Rome and a killer begins murdering his fans. It's about the form itself—about voyeurism, complicity, and the terrible beauty of watching violence. Makes Evelyn look innocent.

But Almost Brechtian in its refusal to let you enjoy the spectacle guilt-free. If you want to be comfortable, don't watch this.

What Have You Done to Solange?1972

A guilty teacher investigates his student's murder; taut, clever giallo with real tension and a mystery that actually holds together. Proof the genre could be both stylish and narratively sound.

But More straightforward thriller than psychological horror. You're solving a puzzle, not spiralling into unreality.

Don't Torture a Duckling1972

Another descent into aristocratic paranoia and murder. The title's misleading simplicity masks a genuinely twisted tale. Captures that same sense of being lost in a mansion full of liars.

But Less celebrated than the Argento films; feels more obscure because it sometimes deserves to be. Patchier execution.

Brides of Blood1968

Filipino horror-thriller with a decadent island setting and psychological unravelling. Different national tradition but same DNA: gorgeous corpses, perverted wealth, mounting dread.

But The English dubbing is erratic and some scenes are genuinely cheap-looking. Cult-film roughness throughout.

The Bloodstained Butterfly1971

Released the same year as Evelyn and hitting many of the same notes: a false confession, a beautiful woman, unreliable narrators, and a mystery designed to keep you guessing.

But The solution, when it arrives, feels anticlimactic. You're locked in for the ride, not the destination.

The Flesh and Blood Show1972

British horror-thriller with a haunted theatre and a troupe of actors picking each other off. Less polished than Italian giallo but shares the voyeuristic atmosphere and sexual dread.

But Very much a B-picture. The gore is unconvincing and the dialogue often wooden. Requires generosity toward schlock.

Strip Nude for Your Killer1975

Peak giallo excess: a photographer, murdered models, and sexual humiliation as plot device. Almost a parody of the form, but committed enough to work as both homage and satire.

But The misogyny is not subtle or ironic. If the film's treatment of women as disposable objects bothers you (as it should), this will exhaust your patience quickly.

Repulsion1965

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Roman Polanski's portrait of psychological breakdown: a manicurist alone in London descends into psychosis and violence. Monochrome, claustrophobic, terrifyingly intimate. A masterpiece of cinema about mental dissolution.

But There's a graphic sexual assault. The film earns its brutality but doesn't soften it. And it's deliberately ugly rather than decorative.

The Leopard1963

Both are preoccupied with wealth as a container for madness and corruption. Evelyn uses giallo's shock tactics to explore what Visconti explores through tragedy: the rotting estate as metaphor for a rotting psychology.

Luchino Visconti's epic of Italian aristocracy in decline: Burt Lancaster presides over a family and a country coming apart. Shot in VistaVision, it's visually opulent in the way Evelyn aspires to be—but the vision is clearer, the tragedy real.

But It's 205 minutes, in Italian, and deliberately paced. Also fundamentally a film about history and politics, not thrills. The slow-burn won't suit thriller appetites.