"Tombs of the Blind Dead" often plays like a cross between the supernatural period pieces of Mario Bava ("Kill Baby Kill") and the Westerns of Sergio Leone. Director Amando De Ossorio mixes well-framed shots, a good sense of lighting, and gorgeous imagery to create a film that is...well, fairly boring, redeemed somewhat by the last 15 minutes, which are relentless and brilliant. It's a shame I can't give the film a better rating based on visuals alone, but I found the plot to be slight and uninvolving: Virginia and Betty, 2 friends who had a lesbian tryst years ago, find themselves on a train bound for an exotic locale in the Spanish countryside; when Betty and Roger (Virginia's boyfriend) begin flirting, Virginia jumps off the train and finds herself alone in the abandoned village of Borzamo, burial site of the Knights Templar, notorious for blood sacrifices that would help them cheat death. A very interesting film could have been made out of this backstory, but Ossorio's focus is the dull contemporary characters, who spend most of the running time "killing time." There's no real mystery or thrill in the way the story unfolds, and it is painfully obvious that these resurrected sentries won't be felled by bullets; the characters blunder into contrived conflicts for the sake of padding the film out for its admittedly impressive climax. That being said, Ossorio has crafted a a passable film that should appeal to fans of this particular era in Euro-horror--it's a feast for the eyes, and rather tastefully done...but just lacking in depth.
Review of Tombs of the Blind Dead
