“Don’t worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex.”
Dr. Fallada-Lifeforce
While making my annual Halloweenfest list, I like to throw in at least one cult classic. It’s usually from the 70’s or 80’s, and it’s normally a film I wouldn’t otherwise seek out. Evils of the Night seemed like the perfect movie choice for this. Relatively unknown with a few old Hollywood actors and a bonkers premise.
Evils of the Night is about a group of aliens who partner with sadistic human mechanics to harvest the blood of teenagers for the purpose of preserving their own race’s youth. The plot centers around a group of unsuspecting teens who head to a remote lakeside for a weekend of partying, only to be kidnapped and experimented on by the alien collaborators.
Some might call this movie campy but for me it was straight exploitation. The film spends its opening scene bouncing between two couples engaged in sexual activity. There’s no setup and very little dialogue. I felt like I was watching something meant for late night Cinemax in the early 00’s. Not only is the nudity gratuitous, but it’s nonsensical. The men never remove their pants and multiple acts take place in a pond covered in scum.
Not only is this a film that exploits the female body but also it feels exploitative towards its elderly cast. The film boasts four familiar actors past their prime.
John Carradine – A prolific character actor known for his work in horror and western films. Carradine plays one of the alien scientists.
Julie Newmar – Best known for her iconic role as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman TV series, Newmar also appears as one of the aliens in the film.
Tina Louise – Famous for playing Ginger Grant on Gilligan’s Island, Louise plays a significant role as one of the alien invaders.
Aldo Ray – A veteran actor in classic war films, Ray appears as one of the human accomplices helping the aliens capture the teens.
Each of these actors were here to cash a check, but this seems almost akin to elder abuse. Their scenes feel so different and outside the rest of the narrative of the film that it’s hard to imagine they knew they were making a softcore pornographic film.
There is a weird twinge of relevance here. You can almost draw a modern-day allegory about Hollywood’s abuse of its young stars by its much older executives. There’s a scene—and I promise you this is in the film—where a character says she’s saving her virginity for Prince Andrew and that one day he’ll whisk her away to a private island. This would seem important if I thought it wasn’t anything more than accidental.
This film is an uncomfortable blend of sci-fi and exploitation. The film’s odd combination of alien abductions and softcore pornographic elements makes for an unpleasant experience. While the premise of aliens harvesting human blood has potential, it’s buried under gratuitous nudity and poorly executed action sequences. The inclusion of old Hollywood stars like John Carradine and Julie Newmar feels more exploitative than nostalgic, as their scenes seem shoehorned into the narrative and far removed from the film’s overall tone.
Evils of the Night is a disappointing detour if you’re looking for genuine horror or compelling sci-fi. It offers little beyond awkward performances, inconsistent pacing, and an odd mishmash of poorly developed ideas. At best, it’s a curiosity for those who enjoy strange 80s cinema, but at worst, it’s an exercise in exploitation with very little substance to back it up.
Rating: 1/10
