Director: Amando de Ossorio
Year: 1971
Country: Spain/Portugal
Alternate Titles: La noche del terror ciego; Mark of the Devil Part 4: Tombs of the Blind Dead; Revenge from Planet Ape; The Legend of the Blind Dead; The Night of the Blind Terror; Crypt of the Blind Dead; Night of the Blind Dead
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
After a chance meetup at a resort, two old friends decide to spend the day together with a male friend of hers which drives a wedge between them, and when she turns up dead they return to investigate where they find the town where she was found is home to the dead Knights Templar and try to hold off the attacks.
Review:
This is easily the creepiest of the Blind Dead films. Among the most impressive qualities for this is that the atmosphere and suspense is incredibly prominent throughout here. The old Spanish countryside is used to perfection in building suspense, as the rural landscape and abandoned buildings weave a thrilling spell that really adds to the allure of the film. It adds an old-school Gothic feel to the film, as the ghostly, decayed ruins are suitably worn down and abandoned with obvious disuse amongst the stone monuments and structures which is just rife with suspense opportunities, and any time in the monastery is a perfect example. An almost better example is the Blind Dead themselves, as they are completely decayed and zombie-like with few facial features and covered with tattered hoods with bony fingers and a shuffling way of walking after their victims that really adds to their terror and makes them that much more creepy.
It also features a fun setup to appeal to the fans of old horror movies. The legacy of the Templars is also handled pretty well, with the reason for their being is slightly modified from the actual Knights Templar yet still being a clear motive for them. Going into this with a great backstory about their appearance in the area and the sacrifices they carried out on the locals which comes with a prerequisite setup involving the legend being a local legend to scare the children into behaving which is an enjoyable aspect to the storyline. The history they share about being Satanic worshippers who fell out of favor with the church and we subsequently get why they're sightless as a result which is an impressive touch as well as giving an explanation for why they're also in slow-motion which accounts for numerous scenes of them chasing after their victims.
The other positive here is that it has so many great, highlight scenes that provide a lot of action. The first attack in the monastery is great, as its extended play-out allows for numerous set-ups and moments of suspense as the creatures chase her around the monastery constantly closing in on her no matter where she goes until the fateful escape attempt on horseback leading to a fun slow-motion chase through the countryside. The morgue scene is just as good, but the real winner is the attack in the doll workshop as the flashing strobe lighting during the attack, the frantic editing during the assault, the glorious make-up and its action-packed wrap-up is a great all-around scene that mixes together quite well. Any moment from the final assault is worthy of mention, as well as anything involving Templars also helps it out immensely including the flashback moment of them whipping and drinking a victim's blood. These all make for a great time with this one.
There isn't a whole lot really wrong here. The main issue is that the Templars don't get enough screen-time as they should, and are really only in a couple of scenes altogether. For being the title creatures, they ought to be in the movie more. They're creepy enough to hold a viewer's interest for a long period of time, and here their few selected appearances is a bit discerning for the die-hard fans. Its large body count is also dispatched in pretty bloodless ways, as it should've been far gorier than what it is. While some of this can be attributed to the budget at the time considering the effects on display there's still a decided lack of blood on display until the finale where it lets loose to some extent. Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot really wrong here.
Overview: ****.5/5
Despite the fact that there are only a few selected scenes with the Blind Dead, this is a worthy addition to the Euro Zombie craze that is probably more atmospheric than most of its contemporaries. Gore-hounds are advised to investigate, but it's not as bloody as others.
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