When you’re making a low budget movie, you can land big names, but you can’t quite afford to have them be your big stars. So you hire them for a day and make sure their role can be shot on a single set, but can be edited through out the film to fool the audience to think its more than a cameo. This allows a low budget producer to sell their film to a distributor with familiar names versus a bunch of newbies. Evils of the Night sounds like it ought to be an episode of Love Boat with its major names including Julie Newmar (Catwoman on Batman), Tina Louise (Ginger on Gilligan’s Island), John Carradine (The Grapes of Wrath), Aldo Ray (Green Berets) and Neville Brand (The Untouchables). Pretty impressive names for a film originally called “Alien Blood Transfusion.” Yet you’d be amazed that the actors and actresses that dominate the screen time are young and unknown.
The movie opens like a teen jiggle fest with a bunch of kids up at the lake for a fun weekend. These are frisky kids who ready to strip down and get freaky without parental supervision. But the kids aren’t alone. While a pair are making out by the lake, they get knocked out and abducted. The guy wakes up to discover he’s inside a hospital where hot alien women and John Carradine are stealing blood from teens for a nefarious purpose. The head two aliens are none other than Tina Louise and Julie Newmar. They’ve hired two local humans (Brand & Ray) to acquire teenagers. Will the unsuspecting teens at the lake survive the weekend?
Evils of the Night is an unintentional comedy that will keep you confused and amused from start to finish. The movie had me hooked with the promise of Ginger and Catwoman teaming up with an R rating. Except that’s not for any of their scenes. Odds are high that neither actress had a clue that after their day on the set the other actresses would be working bikini-optional scenes by the water. Playing up the skin element must have been the reason why adult film superstars Amber Lynn and Jerry Butler arrive on the scene. Amber’s hair is an ’80s work of art. Brand and Ray must have cost less since they appear to have worked the entire weekend. They get to relish playing extra greasy characters as they nab the kids. The special effects are a hoot including what appears to be a spaceship shot licensed from Battlestar Galactica. Evils of the Night is so worth reviving since it wasn’t as bloodless as its teen victims.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer probably looks better than the original release print. Tina Louise’s hair still shines. The audio is 2.0 DTS-HD MA. The mix is fine for a low budget affair.
Video Interview with Mardi Rustam (9:22) explores how this film was once called “Alien Blood Transfusion.” He graduated from USC. He had produced in the past, but decided to be the director on this film since it was low budget.
Alternate Feature Length TV Edit (93:19) is sourced from a videotape. This is 8 minutes longer than the film. This
Isolated Score lets you appreciate the work of Robert O.Ragland
Outtakes (24:25) is more time with Tina Louise, Julie Newmar and John Carradine. There’s no audio.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:28) is listed as a work in progress. It’s rather rough without a narrator.
TV Spot (O:32) sells us the kids at the beach and a UFO zapping them.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Evils of the Night. Directed by: Mardi Rustam. Screenplay by: Mardi Rustam & Philip Dennis Connors. Starring: Julie Newmar, Tina Louise, John Carradine, Neville Brand & Aldo Ray. Running Time: 85 minutes. Rated: Unrated. Released: August 30, 2016.
