Night of the Seagulls (1975)

What a way to end a series! This entry is a few notches above the previous film and perhaps just a hair lesser horror than the first 2 movies and overall it's European horror in it's purest form. This film is a bit more surreal and dreamlike than the other Blind Dead films and I'd probably also call it the scariest of the series. Another plus is it kind of plays out like Night Of The Living Dead combined with Straw Dogs. Of course I'm not comparing this film to either of those masterpieces, but what great templates to use.The plot of unwanted visitors to a cursed village might feel familiar to fans of Italian or Spanish horror. While in today's cinema they'd probably CGI a creepy, coastal village but of course nothing beats the real thing. You could probably look into where the movie was actually filmed, but I prefer to think it just exists in a dream (or nightmare if you prefer). When you watch this movie you'll understand what I mean. This locale, combined with some of cinema's best looking zombies, along with the requisite hints of blood and nudity will make any horror fan want to watch. The film starts strong and then slows up a bit in the middle to build tension. The zombies look so good and are so creepy that you'll wish they were on screen more. Never fear because the final 35 minutes are dedicated to our Blind Dead "heroes" and their siege on the doctor's house. Will mankind triumph over the evil zombie hoard in this final chapter or are we all doomed? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.

This proved to be the last in Spanish Director Amando de Ossorio's four-part Blind Dead series.The set-up is far less contrived than in the previous 'Ghost Galleon' (1974); instead of an ill-advised publicity stunt gone wrong, here we have the simple premise of a Doctor (Stein, no less, played by Victor Petit) and his wife (Maria Kosty) moving to an isolated fishing village. Although, why he insists on staying here to take up his post when everyone is either openly hostile, or completely ignores him, is typically baffling. And yet, without such wilfulness, where would horror plots be? Only local Lucy (Sandra Mozarosky, who tragically died not long after filming was completed at the age of 18) and José Antonio Calvo's village idiot Teddy show any friendship towards the couple.There is no denying Ossorio's skill at evoking a creepy atmosphere. Many familiar staples are here – misty graveyards, creaking doors, wonderfully isolated locations and decaying-looking sets. Every effort seems to have been made to make the seaport a closed, sinister, uninviting place. And pretty soon, the Knights Templar are emerging from their foul tombs with agonising slowness, their spindly clawed hands looking as if they could barely give you a tame stroke without turning to dust (perhaps it would have been better to dress the actors' hands, rather than provide separate twig-like appendages).The slow build-up to Lucy's final scene on the beach is excellent, very Jean Rollin-esque. Knowing what is going to happen to her doesn't make us optimistic of a less than grisly outcome. The ever-present shrieking birds from the title have a part to play too – according to Teddy, the pretty girls taken to sacrifice 'become the seagulls,' which is creepily enigmatic.Other than a fairly standard ending, this doesn't necessarily feel like final closure for these withered knights. The series could have continued. Perhaps it still might; there is plenty of mileage left in these memorably ethereal creatures.

The Knight Templars return in this fourth installment of the Blind Dead series. On this outing, the Templars haunt a fishing village, where they rise seven nights every seven years to claim their sacrificial offerings in return for the safety of the townspeople.Maybe this was not such a wise choice given that I don't believe I've seen the other three Blind Dead films, and really haven't seen much from Amando de Ossorio... so my frame of reference is definitely off. But it didn't seem to ruin the plot.I actually really like the mix of modern and medieval. Not only the two time periods, but even when the modern time is shown, the city still has a very old look to it. This seems to be something Spanish and Greek horror films do well, using the countries' old buildings as part of their set.Unfortunately, the film quality was terrible, but this may have just been the version I watched (which had Russian subtitles, too).

Night of the seagulls is my favorite Amando De Ossorio's movie . All the flicks he made about the legend of the templars zombies are pretty decent given the difficulties to surmount to fund and create an horror film in the late 60s early 70s Spanish industry . La noche de las Gaviotas appears as the more credible and well rounded outcome among his creations ( well don't know if we can use the term credible when we are referring to templars zombies) .Ossorio manages to transmit an eerie and creepy atmosphere throughout the film . All action is located in a remote and isolate village in the Galicia's seaside , whose villagers are encircled by the Blind Dead cult . Sole solution to ease the templars' blood thirst is to offer them young virgin for sacrifice .A young doctor and his wife arrived there and, obviously they don't seem to agree with local traditions . Villagers don't seem to love foreigners either , so you can expect a tied match Well , plot might seem a bit dull and won't dare to deny that actually is , but what counts here is the atmosphere Ossorio manages to create a chilly and eerie ambiance , maybe due to the remote localization in which the film was shot but for whatever reason film is actually very effective . Scenes where templar's appears on the beach to regain their victims are pretty well filmed