Tombs Of The Blind Dead (Noche del terror ciego) poster & wallpaper

Andres Isbert, Cesar Burner, Francisco Sanz

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60% liked it

1,865 ratings

PG, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Amando de Ossorio

Release Date: September 29, 1972

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DVD Release Date: September 27, 2005

Stats: 133 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (133)

  • flixsterman
    February 23, 2009
    flixsterman
    What happens when a cult of satanic, devil-worshiping, excommunicated knights find themselves dangling at the business end of a rope while crows peck out their eyes? They return as disabled zombies, of course.

    Horror movie survival has always been a topic of interest among fan...( read more)s. Here, in Tombs of the Blind Dead (aka The Blind Dead) the key to not being eaten alive is pretty simple, DON'T SCREAM. If you don't make a noise it's rather difficult for an eyeless flesh-eating skeleton to find you. Oh, there's also the possibility that they can hone in on your loudly pounding heart, but when you're dealing with the hungry undead, why take chances?

    If you're a parent with young, impressionable children at home this might be the answer to your prayers. Just sit them down in front of the TV and pop this in the DVD player. Then, tell them that this is what happens to people who won't BE QUIET when they're told to. From that point on all you have to say is, "there are blind dead in the closet" and you'll never hear a peep out of them at bedtime. Who's to say that peaceful nights for you now isn't worth a lifetime of therapy for them later?
  • RCCLBC
    February 21, 2008
    RCCLBC
    There are aactually several different "Blind Dead" films to enjoy, this is the first one that I saw. The actual "blind dead" creatures are kinda cool and very creepy (in an old school sort of way) the other eliments of these films are just HORRIBLE. Several minutes of woman scr...( read more)eaming as the creature slowly approach...bad dubbing...I could go on. But a fun late night film none the less.
  • FangsFirst
    October 22, 2007
    FangsFirst
    The title is not a literal or exact translation (more like "The Night of Blind Terror" or something) but it's the one it bears today.

    There are two versions floating around, one dubbed, which runs about 83 minutes, and one subtitled (audio is Spanish) which runs 97 minute...( read more)s. Gee, which one do you think you should watch?
    Well, my answer was, unsurprisingly, the original uncut Spanish version.

    I'm not sure, exactly, why I'm reviewing this; I can think of about three people I know in reality who might have any interest in it whatsoever, and one of them already saw it--and she hated it. I'm not sure which cut she saw though, so maybe that makes a difference. I accidentally started the English cut after I finished the Spanish one, and already I could tell it was different, so, who knows?

    Anyway, the point is, this is one of very few Spanish movies I've seen (I'm actually coming up dry on finding another mentally--I can find Mexican, Argentinian...no straight-up Spanish though--apparently not a surprise, I filtered my collection by that country of origin and found these four movies, El Maquinista--hardly Spanish--and El Spinazo del Diablobut Guillermo is Mexican, whether he filmed it in Madrid or not) and certainly the only Spanish horror movie.

    I've bounced back and forth on reviews of this film (and its brethren--three sequels made in the four years following its release) from first reading about them a year or two ago and finding the concept terribly enticing, on to "these are classics," and then a slew of "these movies are disappointing and suck" type reviews followed. Unfortunately for those folk trying to prevent people seeing these, I'd already seen the box set--which is shaped like a coffin. That was the end of it there. Gimmicky packaging for cult horror released by Blue Underground? I'm all over that.

    I started watching this with trepidation; that one person (previously mentioned) is usually a solid enough source, so I thought perhaps this would not turn out well. As it began playing, I was reminded, in terms of direction and style (to some degree, at least) of Lucio Fulci (or at least Zombi 2) and Italian horror in general, as it was clear they did the same trick as the Italians--everyone just speaks their own language and gets dubbed later, so no cut ever has dialogue completely matching lips. But, I've been a Godzilla fan for ages, and I've seen enough of Argento's work that this stopped bothering me long ago (though I still obsessively watch and see who's speaking what language if I can).

    It has been accused of being slow, which I guess is a decently fair accusation, but I was entertained throughout. It bore marks of exploitation (there was a lesbian scene, apparently excised in the English dub, which sort of worked but still seemed a BIT extraneous) but was oddly not entrenched in it. It skipped numerous opportunities for female nudity (ie, a woman starts stripping or changing clothes--but it cuts away! How odd...) and I was sort of proud of it for at least not completely sinking that low. Score 1 for director Amando de Ossorio.

    We have a strange little love triangle on a cross-country trip by train, which leads to one third-wheeled member hopping off the train when she sees a village in the distance. When she walks to it, she finds it is actually the abandoned and overgrown ruins of a medieval town with a cemetary in the middle of it. Finding no one there and barricading a door inside, she takes out her sleeping bag to camp there for the night.

    She wakes up to scrabbling, thumping and knocking noises and looks out a small window only to find a skeletal face peering in from under a tattered hood. A chase scene ensues and we see the beautiful image of Virginia--this character--being pursued in silhouette as she climbs across the crumbling ruin of walls in the town, pursued by the dirt-encrusted cloaks of a legion of undead...knights? This is what's so great. The concept: a group of knights returns from the Orient with treasure and occult traditions. They are excommunicated by the Pope and hanged for their vicious practices (including, of course, human sacrifice) until crows peck out their eyes. Now the undead corpses are blind and must find their victims by sound alone.

    Here's where the rest of my appreciation for these comes in. The idea is so great that I'm okay with any budgetary limitations (and apparently they were severe from what I've read) so long as the rest is pretty competently put together. And it is. The background plot is acceptable enough, the love triangle a bit rough but not too banal, and a nice sideplot about smugglers. And of course the awesome backstory of the undead knights. Put that together with a brilliant set (actual ruins) beautiful photography (such as the aforementioned silhouette), excellent zombie/vampire thing designs, a little gore, and a great score (pseudo-jazzy harpsichord music in "normal" scenes, and a haunting baritone chant over a pounding intermittent rhythm during the horror scenes) and I'm quite happy with this. It does suffer from its nature as an early film by an inexperienced director and a budget that's not giving him much room to work, but it works for me in spite of all of this quite easily. I dearly loved the night time chase scenes, clearly shot day-for-night, but in an odd way that leaves it looking like a disturbingly bright full moon casting long shadows on everything but leaving open spaces terribly bright--a very wonderfully atmospheric effect.

    Who do I recommend this to? I have no earthly idea. It's good, not like the naysayers (who I think are often suffering from the film's reputation) claim, and I think that's enough for me.

    I really want to note, though, that Blue Underground deserves some kind of insane reward here--this film is 36 years old and is not exactly well known, had little budget and has probably been largely ignored despite its cult following, at least insofar as negative preservation--it is STUNNING. I am trying to think of another film of this age, especially one of this level of fame, that looks this good. Well done, indeed. (The English dub, from what I've seen, does not look as good--but who cares, really?)

    Sidenote: I was almost tempted to review "Revenge from Planet Ape" instead, but, alas, I only have the intro, not the entire film.
    What the hell is that, you ask? Well, it's the alternate cut drive-ins made to try and get the film to cash in on the success of Planet of the Apes. The intro is included here and is unbelievably hilarious, talking about anthropomorphic apes coming back from the dead to take over the planet because of a 3,000 year old war with humans or some such nonsense. Has to be seen to be believed.
  • thefog1331
    July 25, 2007
    thefog1331
    A zombie-ish tale about a sect of the Knights Templar who turn cannibal, are killed and then come back to eat some more. Great atmosphere and the Knights look fantastic but the movie is a bore.
  • flynnparadox
    September 13, 2006
    flynnparadox
    Atmospheric supernatural horror film with creepy villains. Check it out.
  • killerkittyclothing
    September 12, 2009
    killerkittyclothing
    One of the most beautifully shot horror films I've ever seen!
  • iamthethinman
    June 12, 2009
    iamthethinman
    Well, this movie was a 70s franchise and I can understand why. The main zombies are a great concept. They are typical slow moving skeletons in giant black hooded robes that ride horses. The horses don?t have the same undead appearance, but that would have been a feat for this typ...( read more)e of budget. However, with this movie, I wonder why they made sequels. It is stiff in its story and has plenty of extraneous sex scenes and innuendo and a bizarre flashback to the origin of the blind dead. Plus, this movie has a completely unnecessary rape scene that really didn?t have any bearing other than maybe making you hate someone, but it doesn?t matter. Everyone hated or identified with can be a victim in this movie.

    I wanted to watch this because I knew it was a franchise and that it had an amazing ending. Well, the entire movie in the DVD version I had was greatly underlit or transferred to dark. I guess they were counting on the bright, loud 70s clothing to help lighten. But it?s a good group of villains and the ending was surprising. Besides that, not much.
  • lothda
    May 16, 2009
    lothda
    Creepy Spanish exploitation horror at its best. Gratuitous sex and violence just as you like it - if you like it 8).
  • HarleenQuinzel
    December 2, 2008
    HarleenQuinzel
    Atmospheric but still not devoid of cheese.
  • jk2two
    September 19, 2008
    jk2two
    Wow... I can't believe this movie was made in 1971. The visuals in this thing are amazing and I was really impressed with the direction - it is actually a very artistic and beautiful film - those Europeans do gore with such class sometimes - particularly in the 70's. The Zombies ...( read more)in this film are so old they practically look like dust. Sometimes they're puppets and sometimes they're guys in suits, but they always look pretty damn authentic. Plus, zombie knights on horse back, is there any thing more beautiful than that?

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