Fashion & Italian Horror: The Night Evelyn Came out the Grave & The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

When I first started writing entries for my blog I intended for the majority of my posts to be straight up reviews of various gialli with the odd top ten post thrown in for good measure alongside the occasional foray into style in these films as it was something that interested me personally. When I wrote my in-depth feature on the fashions in Tenebrae I had no idea that it would be so popular and I was delighted at all the wonderful feedback I received which spurred me on to write more in my Fashion & Italian Horror series. It's been fantastic to share some of my thoughts and to hopefully bring some new perspectives to these films by examining some of the ways in which fashion is used to reflect themes and ideas in gialli. Mostly its just a great way of sharing some of the wonderful looks and examples of seventies fashion throughout these films. 

Amazingly, writing these posts has led to paid work with Arrow Video and I'm absolutely delighted to announce that I have completed a piece for Arrow on style in the films of Emilio P. Miraglia which details fashion and interior design in The Night Evelyn Came Out the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Time. My piece will be published in the accompanying booklet for the film and this will be released as a limited edition set in May which you can preorder now from Amazon and Arrow. So if you want to read my detailed thoughts I would recommending getting your copy ordered!

As fantastic as it has been writing a piece for Arrow, sadly I've not been able to provide visuals for each film. I've decided to make a post here on my blog showing you all of the looks on display throughout both films and to give you an overview of the fashions. So here are all the looks in The Night Evelyn Came Out the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. Enjoy and as a warning some of these pictures contain spoilers.

The Night Evelyn Came Out the Grave (1971)

The Night Evelyn Came Out the Grave features period influenced fashions that combine modern examples of early 1970s fashion with period fabrics and designs. Lord Alan wears an array of velvet smoking jackets, shirts and cravats paired with tailored suit trousers. His look is kept modern through the use of vibrantly coloured fabrics which give a contemporary twist to his traditional look. Marina Malfatti's Gladys also wears an array of period influenced fashions which often mirror the interiors of Lord Alan's manor. The costuming of Gladys also has modern elements which are displayed best in her introductory and concluding looks of the film which combine vibrant colours and unusual cuts. Overall, the film has heavy Gothic influences with an injection of modern style - the opposite to its sister film which is more contemporary in its style.

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times is a lot more contemporary in feel than its sister film. Gone are the period influenced fashions replaced by cutting edge design courtesy of Italian fashion designer Mila Schon. Lord Alan's double breasted smoking jackets in rich velvets and suedes have been replaced by contemporary nineteen seventies styles so expect to see grid and checked patterns in neutral colours on double breasted jackets and flared trousers. Barbara Bouchet's Kitty differs considerably from Malfatti's Gladys and the opulent, period fashions of The Night Evelyn Came Out the Grave are replaced by modern designs that are reflective of the wardrobe of a stylish working women in her twenties. Kitty's clothes have a masculine influence with checked blazers, cravats and peaked shirt collars being some of the fashions worn by her character. This makes Kitty an unusual giallo heroine as she isn't dressed in a provacative manner and has morenofba preppy professional style than her counterparts. We also see a contrast between the supposedly frigid Kitty's wardrobe with that of the glamorous models of Springe who wear the highest of fashions in daring cuts and colours as exemplified by the checked blue and orange suit worn by Rosemary. As the events of the film take place in Springe Fashion house, style is an important part of The Red Queen with photo shoots, models and glamorous fashions being a major part of the action.