Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)

☆ ☆

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) – A. de Ossorio

I was looking for creepy and this story about the accursed Templar Knights who were executed and had their eyes pecked out by birds but then came back from the dead to haunt their abandoned medieval Portuguese town seemed just the ticket.  Reviews suggested that the gore was on the lighter side for this kind of Euro-Horror and that’s true enough – however, a nasty rape scene was not what I wanted.  Although the human rapist does meet his doom at the bony hands/teeth of the Satanic knights, this does not justify sexual violence against women.  Considering the film without that scene – and, apparently, it was edited out in some prints – the film does have a spooky quality.  These lumbering blind zombies and their slow-motion horses are rather relentless.  Of course, as could be expected, the acting is not strong and the actions of the characters are implausible at best.  Moreover, the Foley artists were really working overtime (I’m reminded of the recent and recommended Berberian Sound Studio, 2012).  But I can’t recommend this film given its content -- not unusual for horror during this time period and in Europe, but still unwelcome.  I just wanted creepy.