The Blind Dead Collection [Limited Edition] [DVD]

El Buque Maldito
This is the third installment in Amando de Ossorio's "Blind Dead" series featuring the legions of the undead Knights Templar -- a sect of medieval monks who were executed in the 15th century for their occult practices and who periodically rise from their tombs to torment the living. This chapter puts the Templars on a ghostly Spanish galleon (which looks like it was built from a ship-in-a-bottle kit), cloaked in perpetual fog and roaming the seas in search of victims. When two bikini models are set adrift as part of a sporting-good chain's publicity stunt, they are seized by the flesh-eating ghouls. The company's frantic CEO sets out in his yacht to find them, accompanied by the head of the modeling agency, one of the models' friends, and an expert on Templar lore. They eventually collide with the galleon, whereupon the meandering plot finally gets down to business. The blind, slow-moving zombies shamble up from below decks and wait patiently, as always, for their shrieking, flailing victims to stumble into their clutches. This is one of the creepier entries in the series, making good use of the confined, fog-shrouded sets (presaging very similar scenes in John Carpenter's The Fog), and only wavers during long shots of the cheesy-looking model ship. The shock ending is also remarkably effective. Followed by the final chapter, Night of the Seagulls. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

La Noche de las Gaviotas
This is the fourth and final chapter in Armando de Ossorio's creepy Blind Dead series, which centers on the horrific legacy of the Templars, a medieval sect of occult-practicing Spanish knights, executed for heresy, who subsequently return as eyeless ghouls to claim symbolic revenge on the living. This installment finds the zombified knights exerting their horrific influence over the population of a small Mediterranean fishing village, where they arise every seven years to claim nightly sacrifices. When a newly arrived doctor discovers that his wife has been chosen as the next victim, he makes a desperate attempt to destroy the Templars, whose arrival is mysteriously linked to the stone idol which guards their tombs. Though definitely not the strongest film in de Ossorio's saga, it still features an abundance of eerie atmosphere, thanks to some effective lighting and the Templars' creepy trademark theme music (comprised of echoing Gregorian chants). Also known as Night of the Death Cult. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

El Ataque de los Muertos Sin Ojos
The satanic Templars return for more bloodletting and mayhem in this sequel to Tombs of the Blind Dead. This time around, the Templars are shown in flashback killing and drinking the blood of a virgin -- a process by which they hope to achieve eternal life. Local villagers arrest them, scald out their eyes with their torches, and burn the knights at the stake. This differs from the first film which had a legend explaining that crows ate out the Templars' eyes after they had been hung. Either way, the evil blind knights awaken during a festival celebrating the 500th anniversary of their defeat at the hands of the villagers. The drunken shouts of partygoers are quickly replaced by screams at the sight of the skeletal zombies and the massacre is on. A group of survivors -- including fireworks ace Jack, his old flame Vivian, the town's crooked mayor, and a few other eventual victims -- all gather in an old church that is quickly surrounded by the saber-swinging ghouls. One by one, they make idiotic moves that get them killed until only Jack, Vivian, and a little girl remain. As dawn approaches, they make their move to escape in a tense climactic scene that ends in a surprisingly effective twist. Tombs of the Blind Dead was followed by El Buque Maldito. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

La Noche del Terror Ciego
A young woman's unplanned visit to an abandoned village awakens a deadly ancient evil in director Amando De Ossorio's eerie, graphic horror flick that spawned a trio of lesser sequels. While vacationing with a male friend named Roger (Cesar Burner), pretty Virginia (Elena Arpon aka "Helen Harp") runs into her old girlfriend, Betty (Lone Fleming), with whom she once shared an intimate experience. At Roger's insistence -- and to Virginia's annoyance -- Betty joins the couple on a train excursion. Virginia decides to jump off the train and camp out in the solitary village of Berzano. She discovers the place is a ghost town, but as night closes in, evil Templar knights rise from their graves to kill her and to drink her blood. The next day, Betty and Roger begin searching for their friend, but are shocked when a detective (Rufino Ingles) takes them to identify her brutalized corpse. Their investigation leads them to a local expert, Professor Cantell (Francisco Sanz), who explains the terrifying legend of the Templars: 13th century Satan-worshipping knights who were executed and had their eyes plucked out by crows. Meanwhile, Virginia's corpse rises from the dead and kills a morgue attendant before being torched by Betty's frightened assistant. Not wanting to believe Cantell's outrageous story, Roger and Betty meet with the professor's son, Pedro (Joseph Thelman), a suspect in Virginia's murder because of his criminal background. He agrees to help them stake out Berzano and find the real killer, but as night arrives, the blind Knights rise once again from their graves leading to murder and mayhem. Betty manages to escape and jumps on a passing train, but it's all for nought as the horse-riding Templars catch up to the train and continue their bloody rampage. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi