Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)

In the 13th century there existed a legion of evil knights known as the Templars, who quested for eternal life by drinking human blood and committing sacrifices. Executed for their unholy ... See full summary »

Director:

Amando de Ossorio

Writers:

Jesús Navarro Carrión (additional dialogue), Amando de Ossorio

Stars:

Lone Fleming, César Burner, María Elena Arpón

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lone Fleming	...	Betty Turner
César Burner	...	Roger Whelan
María Elena Arpón	...	Virginia White (as Helen Harp)
José Thelman	...	Pedro Candal (as Joseph Thelman)
Rufino Inglés	...	Inspector Oliveira
Verónica Llimerá	...	Nina
Simón Arriaga	...	Morgue Keeper
Francisco Sanz	...	Professor Candal
Juan Cortés	...	Coroner
Andrés Isbert	...	Train Engineer's Son
Antonio Orengo	...	Train Engineer
José Camoiras
María Silva	...	Maria

Storyline

In the 13th century there existed a legion of evil knights known as the Templars, who quested for eternal life by drinking human blood and committing sacrifices. Executed for their unholy deeds, the Templars bodies were left out for the crows to peck out their eyes. Now, in modern day Portugal, a group of people stumble on the Templars abandoned monastery, reviving their rotting corpses to terrorize the land.

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Plot Keywords:

bitten by evil dead | zombification | knights templar | knight templar | tomb | 

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Taglines:

See apes rise from their graves to destroy man in a battle that survives death!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Blind Dead (Knights Templar) villains were unofficially resurrected in the 1975 entry La cruz del diablo, directed by John Gilling. The film was an influence on Mansion of the Living Dead, a 1982 film directed by Jesús Franco. More recently, the Templar appeared in the unofficial, shot-on-video sequel Graveyard of the Dead, also known as El retorno de los templarios (2009) and in supporting roles in Don't Wake the Dead (2008) and Unrated: The Movie (2009), two films by German director Andreas Schnaas. The short comic story "Ascension of the Blind Dead" appeared in the 2010 Asylum Press graphic novel Zombie Terrors Volume 1, written by David Zuzelo with artwork by William Skaar. In 2015, Emma Dark and Merlyn Roberts co-directed an unofficial short film sequel, Island of the Blind Dead.

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Goofs

During the films intro titles, the camera is looking around the "abandoned" ruins of the Templars monastery. In one shot, a van with a ladder strapped to its roof-rack can be seen going across a bridge in the background, at the top of the picture.

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Alternate Versions

A heavily edited dubbed English language version was released in the US as "Revenge from Planet Ape" to try and cash in on the popularity of the "Planet of the Apes" films. This came with a narrated introduction saying how "thousands of years ago, humans were slaves to a bunch of intelligent apes, which they eventually overthrew and killed, but the apes vowed to return from the grave". This somewhat bizarre intro can be seen as an extra on the US DVD by Blue Underground.

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Connections

Referenced in Free Enterprise (1998)

User Reviews

Genuinely creepy Spanish horror classic.

'The Tombs Of The Blind Dead' is not strictly a zombie movie, but involves the resurrected dead (in this case blind heretics from the 13th Century). While not as explicit as Romero or Fulci it should appeal to fans of the living dead genre. The movie is strong on atmosphere and style, similar in some ways to Jean Rollin, but without the sex or pretension. The "blind dead" themselves are one of the creepiest and most effective concepts in any horror movie. Slow moving, relentless and deadly, with a penchant for flesh eating. The scenes where the dead ride horses to hunt their prey are classic horror. My only small criticism of this movie is that there were so few scenes of them. Modern horror fans who require wall to wall FX and a killing every 15 minutes will probably find this slow going, but true buffs will be mesmerized. Highly recommended.

Details

Country:

Spain Portugal

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

February 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mark of the Devil, Part 4: Tombs of the Blind Dead

Filming Locations:

Porto, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Interfilme, Plata Films S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 83 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1