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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

SCREAM So They Can Find You!!!

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was the first of Ossorio's "Blind Dead" films, spawning three official sequels: Return of the Blind Dead (1973), The Ghost Galleon (1974) and Night of the Seagulls (1975). Its success helped kickstart the Spanish horror film boom of the early 1970s.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Don't Scream: It's Only a Movie! (1985)

User Reviews

Defining moments of horror in a sea of mediocrity

Yet another example of the perception of a film being superior to the reality of actually sitting and watching it. There is no argument from me that the Blind Dead (The Templar Knights) are fantastic creations and director/writer Amando de Ossorio is to be revered for their birth. The scenes of the Templars stalking their victims and chasing them on horseback are striking and haunting and now occupy a special place in the pantheon of fantastique cinema. Unfortunately, "Tombs of the Blind Dead" is also a slow, boring, illogical mess. The performances are terrible, the "suspense" scenes are hit-and-miss, and the day-for-night photography, though effective in parts, is not believable. The film's bloody climax is a good one and the final freeze frame has some power, but it's sad to see such a wonderful concept handicapped by mediocre scripting and appalling acting. Still, there are defining moments of horror within the frames of this Spanish potboiler.

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