TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972)

Director: Amando de Ossorio

Writers: Amando de Ossorio, Jesús Navarro Carrión

Producers: José Antonio Pérez Giner, Salvadore Romero

Cast: Lone Fleming, Maria Elena Arpón, César Burner, José Thelman (as Joseph Thelman), Verónica Llimerá, Maria Silva, Rufino Inglés, Simón Arriaga, Francisco Sanz, Juan Cortés, Andrés Isbert, Antonio Orengo, José Camoiras, Carmen Yazalde (uncredited), Pedro Sempson (uncredited) 

In the 13th century town of Berzano along the Portugal/Spain border, there was an occult order of knights that held the region in a grip of terror. They abducted virgins to torture and drink their blood in rituals meant to endow the knights with eternal life. Eventually, the knights were condemned to death for their evil deeds and executed. The knights’ bodies were not buried until crows had eaten their eyes. In the modern day, a young woman named Virginia White (Maria Elena Arpón) spends the night in the abandoned ruins the knights once inhabited. Her presence seems to rouse the desiccated corpses of the knights from their graves to stalk the living and feed on their blood. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Tombs of the Blind Dead is the first in a four-film series by Spanish filmmaker Amando de Ossorio. It introduces the ongoing menace of the Blind Dead that is surely de Ossorio’s lasting claim to fame among horror fans. While it is tempting to say that this film was inspired by George A. Romero’s revolutionary classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), there is a very different take on reanimated corpses happening here. Unlike the ambiguity of reason for Romero’s dead to return to life, this film gives us a clearly defined old world supernatural horror. The appearance and behavior of these Blind Dead are quite unique. They are skeletal creatures with empty eye sockets in hooded robes brandishing swords and riding horses. They hone in on their prey with hearing so acute that they can even detect a frightened heartbeat. They are without expression or voice but have established an iconic image as synonymous with the Spanish horror film as Paul Naschy’s werewolf Waldemar Daninsky.

I suppose that to many American sensibilities the story is frustrating because we always want to see characters taking charge of a situation and furthering the plot. However, in this story everyone is unprepared for what they are encountering. Frankly, that is probably a more realistic, if simplistic, take on horror. Unless there is a lot of foreknowledge and experience that people have to cope with dangerous situations, they are probably not going to fare well. 

What little story there is in Tombs of the Blind Dead seems almost inconsequential. There is just enough character conflict to prompt people to place themselves in positions of jeopardy. This film’s primary effect is to create an atmosphere of uncanny dread. The people involved are merely there to react to the awesome horror confronting them and to stir that fear in us. 

Virginia is the only character motivated by any emotional turmoil in this story. This results in her rash action that seems to be the catalyst for the horror to come. She has an unexpected reunion with Bet (Lone Fleming), the girl she had a lesbian relationship with in college. Virginia gets jealous that her friend Roger (César Burner) is showing Bet a lot of attention. Whether she is jealous of Bet or of Roger or of both of them is never made clear. Virginia impulsively jumps off of the slow moving train the three of them are traveling on and hikes up to the nearby ruins of Berzano. Then the Blind Dead show their lovely guest the most appalling hospitality. 

All of the other characters are presented with a bit of attitude or no personality whatsoever. Character arcs and backstories are not what this film is concerned with. Bet and Roger only become involved in the horror by trying to find their friend Virginia. That’s almost all that we ever get to know about these two. 

Two other characters that are probably the most interesting because they are so sleazy are the couple Pedro (José Thelman) and Maria (Maria Silva). The gorgeous Maria gets some of the best lines as she is always horny, jealous, or both. Pedro is the smuggler and conceited stud that you really hope gets what he deserves. His sense of afterglow is lighting up a cigarette after rape and offering one to his victim. That inappropriate bit of etiquette is as repugnant as the Blind Dead themselves. 

The simplicity of this story lets the imagery of those great Berzano ruins and the undead horde of bloodthirsty knights make the strongest impression. There are also creepy scenes in a morgue, at Bet’s mannequin factory, and aboard the old steam engine train. This film’s focus is on visually interesting settings and horrific situations that present its unique menace to the best advantage. Tombs of the Blind Dead makes its audience experience a wide-awake nightmare.