Tombs of the Blind Dead
Encyclopedia
Tombs of the Blind Dead is a 1971
Spanish
horror film
written and directed by Amando de Ossorio
. Its original Spanish title is La Noche del terror ciego, which means "The Night of the Blind Terror".
The film is the first in Ossorio's Blind Dead series.
(a real-life order that was eventually obliterated after charges of witchcraft
) come back from the dead as zombie
-like revenants. Their blindness
is explained as the result of their eyes having been pecked out by birds after their hanged bodies were left on the gallows
.
The story follows a couple who run into an old friend on vacation. The man invites the woman along for a train trip, but his girlfriend (embarrassed over his obvious interest in the other woman - and over the lesbian affair they had in school years ago) jumps off the train and ends up spending the night in the ruins where the Templars are buried. The Templars wake up from the trance and kill her. The rest of the movie follows the efforts by the victim's boyfriend and girlfriend to find out what happened.
The film is notable for the slow, creepy atmosphere it maintains throughout. The zombie knights templar are blind and hunt by sound, leading to several sequences where characters are attempting to be as quiet as possible so as not to be found and killed.
Although the Knights are identifiable by their uniforms, they are never called "Templars" in the movie; they are referred to as "Knights from the East."
Ossorio objected to the description of the living dead Templars as "zombies," insisting that they more resembled mummies and that, unlike zombies, the Templars were not mindless corpses.
The film nearly ended up being severely rewritten for its English language release, to turn it into a "Planet of the Apes" cash-in. The original plan for its US release, was that the film would be completely re-written to be a post-Apocalyptic future where the undead would be deceased intelligent apes similar to the ones seen in Planet of the Apes. This was ultimately aborted however, though location footage scenes from the film were edited together and a narration explaining the premise was commissioned and finished before the decision was made to simply adapt the original script.
The Blue Underground
DVD contains both versions of the film (though the original Spanish version is subtitled only) and the unused "Planet of the Apes" opening sequence.
.
The Blind Dead Knights Templar
villains were resurrected in the unofficial 1975 entry La Cruz del Diablo
.
More recently, the Knights Templar
appeared in the unofficial, shot-on-video sequel Graveyard of the Dead. In addition, they have briefly been featured in supporting roles in Don't Wake the Dead and Unrated: The Movie, two recent films by German director Andreas Schnaas
.
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
Spanish
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
written and directed by Amando de Ossorio
Amando de Ossorio
Amando de Ossorio was one of the foremost Spanish horror film directors during the European horror film surge in the 1970s, known especially for his "Blind Dead" tetralogy....
. Its original Spanish title is La Noche del terror ciego, which means "The Night of the Blind Terror".
The film is the first in Ossorio's Blind Dead series.
Plot
In it, Ossorio introduces the concept that the Knights TemplarKnights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
(a real-life order that was eventually obliterated after charges of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
) come back from the dead as zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like revenants. Their blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
is explained as the result of their eyes having been pecked out by birds after their hanged bodies were left on the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
.
The story follows a couple who run into an old friend on vacation. The man invites the woman along for a train trip, but his girlfriend (embarrassed over his obvious interest in the other woman - and over the lesbian affair they had in school years ago) jumps off the train and ends up spending the night in the ruins where the Templars are buried. The Templars wake up from the trance and kill her. The rest of the movie follows the efforts by the victim's boyfriend and girlfriend to find out what happened.
The film is notable for the slow, creepy atmosphere it maintains throughout. The zombie knights templar are blind and hunt by sound, leading to several sequences where characters are attempting to be as quiet as possible so as not to be found and killed.
Although the Knights are identifiable by their uniforms, they are never called "Templars" in the movie; they are referred to as "Knights from the East."
Ossorio objected to the description of the living dead Templars as "zombies," insisting that they more resembled mummies and that, unlike zombies, the Templars were not mindless corpses.
Production
The Spanish version, La Noche del Terror Ciego, differs from the English version Tombs of the Blind Dead. The English version moves a flashback of the Knights Templar (still alive) torturing a victim to the start of the film as well as removed most of the gore (in particular, the train car massacre sequence removes a sequence where a woman holding her daughter is murdered in front of her child).The film nearly ended up being severely rewritten for its English language release, to turn it into a "Planet of the Apes" cash-in. The original plan for its US release, was that the film would be completely re-written to be a post-Apocalyptic future where the undead would be deceased intelligent apes similar to the ones seen in Planet of the Apes. This was ultimately aborted however, though location footage scenes from the film were edited together and a narration explaining the premise was commissioned and finished before the decision was made to simply adapt the original script.
The Blue Underground
Blue Underground
Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD....
DVD contains both versions of the film (though the original Spanish version is subtitled only) and the unused "Planet of the Apes" opening sequence.
Influence
The film influenced La Mansión de los muertos vivientes, a 1985 film directed by Jesús FrancoJesús Franco
Jesús "Jess" Franco is a Spanish film director, writer, cinematographer and actor. His career took off in 1961 with his cult classic The Awful Dr. Orloff, which received wide distribution in the United States and England...
.
The Blind Dead Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
villains were resurrected in the unofficial 1975 entry La Cruz del Diablo
La cruz del diablo
La cruz del diablo is a 1975 Spanish horror film directed by John Gilling and starring Carmen Sevilla, Adolfo Marsillach and Emma Cohen. A British writer travels to Spain to visit his sister only to discover she has been killed by a sinister cult...
.
More recently, the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
appeared in the unofficial, shot-on-video sequel Graveyard of the Dead. In addition, they have briefly been featured in supporting roles in Don't Wake the Dead and Unrated: The Movie, two recent films by German director Andreas Schnaas
Andreas Schnaas
Andreas Schnaas is a German director and actor, working exclusively in the horror genre. Since he first appeared on the film scene in 1989, Schnaas has become a leader in Germany's ultra-violent low-budget horror film industry.- Early years :Andreas Schnaas was born in Hamburg and embraced cinema...
.
Films in the Blind Dead series
- Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971)
- Return of the Blind DeadReturn of the Blind DeadReturn of the Blind Dead, also known as Return of the Evil Dead and El Ataque de los Muertos Sin Ojos , is a 1973 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio....
(1973) - The Ghost GalleonThe Ghost GalleonThe Ghost Galleon is a Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio and starring Jack Taylor. It is also known as Horror of the Zombies, a title frequently found on public domain DVD copies.-Plot:...
(1974) - Night of the SeagullsNight of the SeagullsNight of the Seagulls is a Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio. The film appears to have been inspired by the work of American author H.P. Lovecraft; in particular, the ominous inhabitants of an isolated fishing village, where an ancient fish-god is worshipped, suggest...
(1975)
External links
- Online Trailer at Blue UndergroundBlue UndergroundBlue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD....
- Review