When making a horror movie, at least the most basic kind, there are only a few things you need to make it really successful.  Having a killer or a monster is essential.  The audience needs someone or something to be scared of and the heroes need a villain.  There has to be death in the film as well.  Aside from torture, there is nothing a person fears more than the ultimate consequence and it gives the villain credence.  And lastly, nudity.  If you want your slasher movie or want your low budget film to be viewed more than a handful of times, nudity is the great equalizer.

Evils of the Night has all of these things, and it works on every level, from the terrible script and the corny dialogue to the aging cast of stars to the numerous scenes featuring the naked breasts of nearly every woman in the film.  This movie literally has everything you could ever want in a horror film.  Well, maybe not everything.  But close.

So what is this film about?  Why, space vampires that come to Earth looking for blood to keep themselves young and healthy for hundreds of years.  They are not vampires in the traditional sense as they have no fangs and they remove the blood medically in a cheap looking hospital they set up shop in.  Why they cannot do it on their ship is a little mind-boggling – but perhaps they just were not set up for that kind of thing though you would think they would be.  Also, even though they require blood, it can only be the blood of people who are young and in their prime which explains the copious amounts of beautiful beach people.

John Carradine is the leader of the alien race and is looking haggard, perhaps by simply agreeing to be in this film.  His underlings are Ginger, Tina Louise from Gilligan’s Island and Catwoman, Julie Newmar and while they do not look as rundown as Carradine, they do look a little tired.  As with everything in life, they must have needed the money to ever sign a contract to star in this movie about bloodsuckers from space.  Surprisingly, they do a decent job despite the poor script in the few moments they actually get some screen time.  The filmmakers were smart in one respect knowing that the public would rather watch the younger stars, particularly the women even though they could not act, and so featured them a little more prominently.  Aldo Ray and Neville Brand also star in the picture as the aliens helpers who supply them with their victims.  Both men had long and distinguished careers in film and television, and appearing here might have seemed like a step down (and it was), but they genuinely seemed to be having fun with their roles.

There is a some violence of course and one gruesome little death scene featuring a drill, but the real horror comes from watching the lecherous old men paw the young women.  Nothing ever looks as horrific as that.  There were some other deaths, due to the blood being drained out of the bodies it resided in, but overall, the film was pretty tame on gore front.  A little more would have been appreciated.

Director Mardi Rustam does a fairly good job though writer Mardi Rustam and writer Phillip D. Connors do a pretty poor job on what passes for a script.  The score is okay but the music is horrendous in every respect, but somehow in spite of all that is bad with this film, it is still a fun and enjoyable picture.  Could it have been better?  Infinitely.  But for a mid-80s low, low budget horror film with sci-fi elements, which you will most likely forget about soon after viewing, and a ton of nudity, it is not the worst way to spend eighty-five minutes of your life.

3 our of 5