Fans of The Curse of Oak Island are familiar with the Knights Templar. The people digging up the Canadian island keep thinking the riches of this Medieval order are buried deep beneath the surface in a secret vault. The Knights were part the Crusades and based themselves in Jerusalem when the Pope’s forces overtook the city. The Templar made a fortune by escorting the rich to the Holy Land and other enterprises such as looting sacred sites. Their rise to power was between 1100 to 1300. They eventually had a major fall from grace as rumors about the order swirled out of control. Many powerful people felt that the Templars no longer obeyed an allegiance to the Pope. They were perceived as being in the servitude of Satan. Thus, they were harshly shutdown and wiped out of existence. But the Knights Templar had a major comeback in 1972 when Tombs of the Blind Dead rose up at the movie theaters and drive-ins around the globe.
Roger Whelan (César Burner) and Virginia White (The House That Screamed‘s María Elena Arpón) go on vacation in Lisbon, Portugal. The couple end up meeting Virginia’s old school pal Betty Turner (Return of the Blind Dead‘s Lone Fleming). She runs a mannequin company nearby. Roger really likes being around Betty. He quickly invites her along on their train ride. During this rail trip, swinger Roger gets tight with Betty which freaks out Virgina. Turns out the two ladies had a very close relationship at boarding school. Virginia can’t take her boyfriend being such a lothario and jumps off the train. Roger and Betty notice Virginia walking into the woods and request an emergency stop. The engineer refuses to pull the brake. He won’t stop for anything on this stretch of the trip. He knows what happens after dark. Virginia hikes around the countryside and comes upon the ruins of the town of Berzano. She camps inside what appears to have been the Cathedral. What she doesn’t recognize is the nearby graveyard is filled with plots for Templar Knights that were executed for their evil deeds. Instead of a traditional cross, they are buried under Egyptian Anks. Why? Because the knights wanted to live forever. That night as Virginia attempts to slumber, the knights rise up from their graves. They sense that there’s someone staying on their property. The undead skeleton wrapped in black and dirty cloaks refuse to be stopped as they keep coming after the horrified Virginia. How hard can it be to avoid slow moving bones? Turns out these undead creatures can still ride horses. Virgina and anyone else who venture near the Cathedral might be their next victims.
Tombs of the Blind Dead gives us an undead creature that isn’t inspired by a Hollywood horror film. Amando de Ossorio gives us something original to scare us in the dark. We’re given a group of “Holy” Knights who embraced evil to make themselves eternal. This element is shown in a flashback of when they’re still Knights. The group kidnaps a virgin and use her in a ritual to gain everlasting life that involves slashing and bloodsucking. These knights are nightmares. It’s easy to see how the Blind Dead were accepted by horror audiences and created a market for three sequels (all made by director Amando de Ossorio).
The boxset has two versions of the movie. The original uncut Spanish language version is 101 minutes long. This is the version director Amando de Ossorio made before various territories snipped up the film for reasons from censor boards to running time. Which leads to the US Theatrical version on the second Blu-ray that was renamed The Blind Dead. The film was shortened down to 83 minutes. They didn’t merely remove scenes. The distributor moved the flashback Knights Templar virgin sacrifice scene to the opening to give us a sense of what wickedness awaits. They also cut up the entire boarding school flashback scene between Betty and Virginia so it stops with them staring at a magazine article about a wedding couple. We don’t get the full reason why she’d eagerly jump off a train in this cut. Guess the distributor figured that he needed to speed up Virginia’s journey to the Blind Dead. The version you probably don’t want to see all the way through was the notorious Revenge of Planet Ape. During the time when theaters were marathoning the Planet of the Apes movies, someone put out a version that removed the Knights Templar flashback and had a narrator describe how the creatures rising from the tombs were really undead apes from the past wanting their revenge on mankind. The skulls with the beards do like undead orangutans. This opening is part of the bonus features to give you a taste of exploitation distribution at its finest.
The Tombs of the Blind Dead is best watched in the uncut Spanish language version. This must be on the short list of must-see Euro Horror for your Halloween viewing pleasure. After you see the film, you’ll demand those guys quit digging on Curse of Oak Island before they discover the graves of the undead Knights Templar.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. There are two versions of the film on each Blu-ray disc and they both look great in 1080p. The Audio on the Spanish Language version includes both the original Lossless Spanish PCM 2.0 mono soundtrack and a Lossless “hybrid” English/Spanish PCM 2.0 mono soundtrack. The hybrid has the scenes the U.S. Theatrical version edited away done in Spanish with English subtitles. Both versions of the film have English subtitles.
Audio commentary with horror film historian and author, Troy Howarth gets into how Tombs of the Blind Dead was important in establishing Spanish horror around the world. He reminds us to listen to the NaschyCast commentary too. He talks about the version of the film that tried to cash in on Planet of the Apes movies. He points out other films that were shot on the same ruins.
Audio commentary with star Lone Fleming has her talk about how she was doing mainly comedies when she was offered the role. She got along with the director. She didn’t think it would be an international cult movie. She speaks in English. She explains what was filmed in Portugal and what they did outside Madrid. She breaks down how she and Elena worked out their tasteful flashback seduction scene.
Audio commentary with Rod Barnett & Troy Guinn of the NaschyCast podcast goes into the history of the locations and director Amando de Ossorio. Turns out as a kid, Amando grew up across the street from a movie theater. They nicely promote Troy Howarth’s commentary track for focus on the cast. They do bring up Paul Naschy connections. They also mention how Antón García Abril’s score for Tombs was just reused on the three sequels.
Marauders from the Mediterranean (88:55) is about Spanish zombie film. We see how the impact of Night of the Living Dead had in Spain. The film originally played the art houses. Joege Grau, director of The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue explains why the film affected him and other viewers. Lone Fleming (star of Tombs of the Blind Dead) saw the film during that time and it stuck with her. We get an in-depth look at how the movie series was started and how it reflected Spain in the early ’70s. Amando de Ossorio set the film in Southern Portugal to “distract” the Spanish censors. They did shoot around the ruins of a church in Portugal since there was a major Templar headquarters there. The documentary also features interviews with: Night of the Living Dead writer/producer John Russo, Stiges Film Festival deputy director Mike Hostench, film critic John Martin, academic Calum Waddell, Tombs of the Blind Dead star Lone Fleming, actors Helga Liné, Manuel de Blas, Antonio Mayans and Jack Taylor, Paul Naschy’s son Sergio Molina, author/film critic Kim Newman and academic/writer Steve Jones. After watching this documentary, you’ll be eager to track down the films mentioned.
Revenge of Planet Ape – Alternate U.S. Opening Sequence (3:24) has the distributor reuse shots of the abandoned church while a narrator claims a weird Planet of the Apes subplot. The full version cuts out the Knights Templar flashback and just makes you think the undead are Apes. It’s a lame execution, but a brilliant exploitation angle.
Awakening of Spanish Horror Cinema (14:25) has film historian Marcus Stiglegger discuss the impact of the film and the three sequels. He gets into the historical context and how the films were able to critique the Catholic Church without getting banned by the Catholic Church in Spain that was tight with Franco. Marcus speaks German so the feature is subtitled in English.
Salem’s Pop “Templar’s Tears” music video (3:22) uses the knights flashback footage and other clips for the instrumental track.
Original Theatrical Trailer (2:40) promises Blind Terror and no escape.
Still Gallery (3:21) are press photos,
Synapse Films presents Tombs of the Blind Dead. Directed by Amando de Ossorio. Screenplay by Amando de Ossorio. Starring Lone Fleming, César Burner, María Elena Arpón, José Thelman, Rufino Inglés, Verónica Llimera, Simón Arriaga & Francisco Sanz. Boxset Contents: 2 version of the movie on 2 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: October 24, 2023.
