La cavalcata dei resuscitati ciechi

Return of the Blind Dead aka The Return of the Evil Dead aka El ataque de los muertos sin ojos is a solid sequel to the first movie (Tombs of the Blind Dead, 1972). The dead Knights Templar walk again and crave for tender flesh and blood. The living scream and die - one of those fine pieces of oldschool horror that are spiced up with some trash and nudity, and are free from the slightes hint of p.c.-correctness. Yummy.

I started watching this sequel to Tombs of the Blind Dead, and at first was remarkably unimpressed. But by the final minute of the film, I had watched a stirring, atmospheric film that, by a slight nod, bested its original. Again we have the evil Knights Templar out for an evening of murder and mayhem at a village festival celebrating their deaths. The film drags a bit in the beginning, and the dubbing is rather poor on the Anchor Bay video(despite advertising subtitles instead). But once the leprous, rotting, decaying Knights break from their earthy pits to exact their vengeance on the villagers, the film starts and remains at a high, fast, tense, frightening pace with some wonderful filmed images. The basic premise of the film has a group of survivors holed up in a Church and what becomes of them through the dark night. The acting is fair, and the actor playing the mayor is humorous in a way. If you enjoyed the first film, I am sure you will like this sequel. I look forward with anticipation to watching the third and fourth installments of this gothic, moody series.

A rural Portuguese village is preparing to celebrate the annual festival commemorating when their village overran and killed the Templar Knights who had been sacrificing its villagers. The mayor of the village on the advice of his fiancé Vivian, hires a fireworks expert Jack Marlowe, to ensure the festival is a hit, little knowing they have a past. Jack and Vivian immediately rekindle their passions in the ruins of the local abbey, where they are spied on by the village idiot, Murdo, he regales them with the gory history of the abbey and how the Templars had their eyes burned out in case they returned to avenge their deaths, which they swore they would. He tells them that the Templars will return tonight during the festival and he duly has a secret plan to sacrifice a local girl to ensure the curse of the Templars comes true. Sure enough the dead arise, and seek to avenge their deaths, they ride into town to kill all they encounter, Jack and Vivian along with the mayor and his cronies hide out in the village church and with the mayors pleas to the local authorities ignored, they must fight for their lives. Pretty decent follow up to de Ossorio's Tombs of the Blind dead, some striking Gothic visuals and just a little gore make this a sight to behold, things are also spiced up by a bevy of local beauties. The Blind Dead makeup and costumes are also very effective even if their pace is a tad slower than a comatose sloth.

Those pervy devil worshipping Blind Dead Templar Knights return to ruin their own anniversary celebrations. As a follow up to the entertaining Tombs of the Blind Dead, the Return of the Blind Dead does a good job. The film has the usual mix of a deformed hunchback who kills a woman to bring back the Templars, a "hunky" hero who saves the day, an array of busty women for the Blind Dead to prey on, a little sex, and the usual villain who we don't mind being killed. Add into the mix a celebration in the village which soon gets overrun with Blind Dead, a comedy interlude with the mayor and his maid, a few chase scenes and a surprisingly good ending and you have a good concoction for 1970's horror. One of the greatest parts of these films is the use over and over again of the Templars rising from their coffins, women just managing to escape the Blind Dead, usually with one of their shoes stuck in a hole or ladder rung right up until the last second, and my personal favourite, a bony hand reaching through a hole or window. Classic Zombie/Vampire fun for all the family.

I really enjoyed Tombs Of The Blind Dead (1972) it blew me away and left me really excited for the other three movies in the franchise.

Sadly I knew it was too good to be true as this second film is very underwhelming by comparison.

The first thing that struck me is the timeline. Is this a sequel? prequel? remake? Every potential answer to that has an valid argument against it so I was already more than a little frustrated.

The film does however have most of the strengths of the first film, the concept is great and the cast do a good job. Sadly the plot is hit and miss this time and honestly a great deal of mistakes were made in its creation.

Return Of The Evil Dead isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination it's just a let down after the outstanding Tombs Of The Blind Dead.

This time we see the blind dead raise from their graves to assault the near by village who are in the middle of annual festivities and ripe for the slaying.

Watchable second film but not the best start to carrying on a franchise.

The Good:

Most of the cast

The Bad:

Confusing timeline

The big "Battle" has to be one of the dullest fight scenes ever

Couple of the effects are really screwy

Weak ending

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Blind Dead zombies can walk around in a near skeletal form but die from being impaled

Asking a little girl to be blindfolded, telling her its a game, asking if she wants to play with you and telling her she's not allowed to make any noise has to be one of the most unintentionally uncomfortable scenes in movie history