Note: this review and rating is being applied to the 102 minute long Spanish version.
Betty (Lone Fleming) and Virginia (Maria Elena Arpon) are old friends who chance to meet. Betty is going on a sightseeing train trip with her male pal Roger (Cesar Burner), and Virginia reluctantly comes along. After Betty makes advances towards Virginia, the latter is overwhelmed and hops off the train. She wanders, coming across the abandoned town of Berzano and its monastery. There, she's easy prey for the Knights Templar, who were practicing the occult in 13th century Spain and have now become zombies. And these aren't your typical zombies: they had their eyes pecked out by crows while alive and now must hunt by sound. Betty, Roger and others eventually come looking for Virginia and discover the horrible truth.
"Tombs of the Blind Dead" is so wonderful, in its best horror moments, that genre fans may wish that more of the film played out that way. Instead, there are a number of plot- forwarding sequences designed to get our characters to the doomed location. But writer & director Amando de Ossorio has created a fundamentally entertaining story that is well told. The Knights Templar don't get that much to do, which is a shame considering how genuinely creepy and interesting they are. The scenes where they rise from their tombs are extremely well done. The atmosphere that de Ossorio creates for the monastery sequences is overwhelming; even the scene where Virginina tries to escape on horseback, in the daylight, has an eerie feel to it. The film isn't overtly gory but there *are* some very nasty and effective moments.
The victim characters, not too surprisingly, aren't as intriguing as their tormentors, but the actors all do a commendable job. The ladies are certainly lovely. Jose Thelman has a fun role late in the film as charismatic smuggler Pedro Candal, and just as good is Francisco Sanz as Pedros' father, a professor who handles exposition duties.
Overall, this isn't quite as great as one might like it to be, but it's still entertaining and zombie connoisseurs who want to check out efforts from all countries and decades are strongly advised to give it a look.
Seven out of 10.
Betty (Lone Fleming) and Virginia (Maria Elena Arpon) are old friends who chance to meet. Betty is going on a sightseeing train trip with her male pal Roger (Cesar Burner), and Virginia reluctantly comes along. After Betty makes advances towards Virginia, the latter is overwhelmed and hops off the train. She wanders, coming across the abandoned town of Berzano and its monastery. There, she's easy prey for the Knights Templar, who were practicing the occult in 13th century Spain and have now become zombies. And these aren't your typical zombies: they had their eyes pecked out by crows while alive and now must hunt by sound. Betty, Roger and others eventually come looking for Virginia and discover the horrible truth.
"Tombs of the Blind Dead" is so wonderful, in its best horror moments, that genre fans may wish that more of the film played out that way. Instead, there are a number of plot- forwarding sequences designed to get our characters to the doomed location. But writer & director Amando de Ossorio has created a fundamentally entertaining story that is well told. The Knights Templar don't get that much to do, which is a shame considering how genuinely creepy and interesting they are. The scenes where they rise from their tombs are extremely well done. The atmosphere that de Ossorio creates for the monastery sequences is overwhelming; even the scene where Virginina tries to escape on horseback, in the daylight, has an eerie feel to it. The film isn't overtly gory but there *are* some very nasty and effective moments.
The victim characters, not too surprisingly, aren't as intriguing as their tormentors, but the actors all do a commendable job. The ladies are certainly lovely. Jose Thelman has a fun role late in the film as charismatic smuggler Pedro Candal, and just as good is Francisco Sanz as Pedros' father, a professor who handles exposition duties.
Overall, this isn't quite as great as one might like it to be, but it's still entertaining and zombie connoisseurs who want to check out efforts from all countries and decades are strongly advised to give it a look.
Seven out of 10.