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:

Makes "Night of the Living Dead" Look Like a Kids Pajama Party!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ossorio has stated that Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer's Gothic horror legend El monte de las ánimas (1862) and George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) both influenced the creation of his film.

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Goofs

One of the Blind Dead seen riding in the climax has a normal human left hand.

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Alternate Versions

Both the UK cinema and 1988 Channel 5 video releases featured the dubbed English print and, although the former was intact, the video was cut by 1 min 57 secs by the BBFC. Later releases featured the longer Spanish language print and the 1994 UK Redemption video release was heavily cut by 1 minute and 51 seconds by the BBFC. The edits made were to the flashback sequence where a girl, tied to a wooden cross, has her breasts slashed and the blood drunk by the Knights Templar and to the scene where Betty is raped by the smuggler in the graveyard. The current UK Anchor Bay release has most of these edits restored with the cuts, solely from the rape scene, now reduced to 16 seconds.

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Connections

Featured in Movie Macabre: Tombs of the Blind Dead (1984)

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.