As other commentators have noted, this movie has a lot of "sketchy" character decisions. The most egregious is this one: Virginia, if you thought your boyfriend was paying too much of the wrong kind of attention to your female friend, the thing to do was to cause a scene right there on the train...not bail out in the middle of nowhere and start walking! Jeez, passive-aggressive drama queen....
Aside from that, and aside from some other logical plot holes, character decisions that make no sense, and a revived victim scene that seems to be there for padding, this can be enjoyed as a wonderful visual treat. It's way better than "Horror Of The Zombies", a later "Blind Dead" film that I actually saw first. (That movie was sabotaged by unlikable characters and some intermittently terrible special effects).
Also contributing to the atmosphere are the historical and mythic resonances. These weren't really "zombies" in the classic sense, more like mummies with a taste for human blood. Mummies are way scarier than zombies, because mummies have an implacable intelligence that wants you, you personally, dead. And this comes across in the film. These particular mummies also have a basis in an actual (if controversial) historic cult, which is nice. And the way they advanced on their victims was mysterious and creepy instead of repulsive and gory. In fact, actual gore is kept to a bare minimum here.
My other quibble with the plot: After the disastrous botched rescue attempt and the messy dispatching of the train crew and passengers, wouldn't the authorities roll a bunch of tanks through that castle and destroy everything with fire? But that's probably just my American desire for happy endings and closure...apparently not a priority in Euro-Horror.
I don't really feel the need to see another "Blind Dead" movie after this, but this was worth my time.
Aside from that, and aside from some other logical plot holes, character decisions that make no sense, and a revived victim scene that seems to be there for padding, this can be enjoyed as a wonderful visual treat. It's way better than "Horror Of The Zombies", a later "Blind Dead" film that I actually saw first. (That movie was sabotaged by unlikable characters and some intermittently terrible special effects).
Also contributing to the atmosphere are the historical and mythic resonances. These weren't really "zombies" in the classic sense, more like mummies with a taste for human blood. Mummies are way scarier than zombies, because mummies have an implacable intelligence that wants you, you personally, dead. And this comes across in the film. These particular mummies also have a basis in an actual (if controversial) historic cult, which is nice. And the way they advanced on their victims was mysterious and creepy instead of repulsive and gory. In fact, actual gore is kept to a bare minimum here.
My other quibble with the plot: After the disastrous botched rescue attempt and the messy dispatching of the train crew and passengers, wouldn't the authorities roll a bunch of tanks through that castle and destroy everything with fire? But that's probably just my American desire for happy endings and closure...apparently not a priority in Euro-Horror.
I don't really feel the need to see another "Blind Dead" movie after this, but this was worth my time.