The People Who Own the Dark (1976)

A group of rich businessmen and military officers who are partying in an old castle are spared when a nuclear war ravages the earth. When they venture out into the nearest town to search ... See full summary »

Director:

León Klimovsky

Writers:

Gabriel Moreno Burgos (story) (as Gabriel Burgos), Gabriel Moreno Burgos (screenplay) (as Gabriel Burgos)

Stars:

Nadiuska, Alberto de Mendoza, Teresa Gimpera

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nadiuska	...	Clara
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Prof. Fulton
Teresa Gimpera	...	Berta
Emiliano Redondo	...	Dr. Messier
Julia Saly	...	Marion (as Julia Sali 'La Pocha')
Tomás Picó	...	Victor
Diana Polakov	...	Tania
Antonio Mayans	...	Vasily
Leona Devine	...	Luna
Ricardo Palacios	...	Dr. Robertson
Carmen Platero
Estela Delgado
Barta Barri	...	Russian ambassador (as Berta Barry)
Gumersindo Andrés	...	(as Gumersindo A. López)
Gonzalo Tejada

Storyline

A group of rich businessmen and military officers who are partying in an old castle are spared when a nuclear war ravages the earth. When they venture out into the nearest town to search for food and supplies, they find most of the residents blinded, and soon they discover the existence of a sinister group called The People Who Own The Dark.

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Plot Keywords:

cult | psychotronic film | castle | nuclear war | officer | 

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Taglines:

Now ... there is nothing between you and ... "the people who own the dark"

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

The People Who Own the Dark

Filming Locations:

Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

José Luis Renedo Tamayo, Newcal, Sean S. Cunningham Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The English dubbed version released in the United States as "The People Who Own the Dark" had a replacement score that included music cues from "The Blob" (1958).

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Alternate Versions

The Spanish language print runs 94 minutes. When the film was released in the US it was dubbed in English and ran approximately 82 minutes and it was this shorter, re-edited version that was released onto home video in the states. The English version is not missing any violence and retains almost all the nudity, but several scenes are trimmed mostly of some dialog.

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Connections

References Night of the Living Dead (1968)

User Reviews

THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (Leon Klimovsky, 1976) ***

This easily makes for the best film from Leon Klimovsky I have watched, since he had otherwise come across as a strictly pedestrian director. Given the apocalyptic sci-fi premise, this plays like a variation on 1962's THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (revolving around a town-folk blinded by nuclear fall-out) and 1968's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (having a besieged unaffected community as its protagonists). The former are led by a vicious real-life case who instigates his 'followers' to gouge out the eyes of one girl and shoot another in the mouth!; the latter, predictably, would just as soon fall out {sic} amongst themselves – best of all in this regard is Maria Perschy's put-down of the Paul Naschy character as "the biggest faggot of all time"! The film, therefore, is an ensemble piece – apart from Perschy's hostess (eventually revealed as a lesbian) and Naschy's rugged but volatile man of action (constantly imbibing drinks and smoking), we get Alberto De Mendoza as a Physicist (who probably knows more than he lets on about their current state of affairs) and Antonio Mayans (later elevated to leading-man status in several Jess Franco pictures).

Interestingly, the opening sequence has all of these (and others besides, notably a fat man who gradually regresses to an animalistic level!) convening for an underground Sadean 'experience' – donning masks so as to conceal their high-profile identities and with several willing girls at their disposal! – which, ironically, saves their hide. Other films which can be seen to have inspired this one to some degree are two popular Charlton Heston sci-fi vehicles, namely THE OMEGA MAN (1971; the look of the 'monsters'), SOYLENT GREEN (1973; the downbeat 'mass of human flesh' finale), and even Luis Bunuel's THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962; the party-turned-survival-game premise). Incidentally, one of the co-writers here was himself a notable director i.e. Vicente Aranda, who had previously helmed the popular "Carmilla" update THE BLOOD-SPATTERED BRIDE (1972). In the end, while the English title of the film under review is undeniably memorable, I admit to being partial to the subtlety displayed by the Spanish original – which translates to "Last Wish"; as for the copy I acquired, it was only let down by the first three minutes which had jerky movement coupled with audio that was both distorted and out-of-synch!