Seven in Darkness

(DNF) This movie HAD potential. Unfortunately, after the plane crashes & only blind people are left, that's when it gets stupid. Unlike other reviewers, I'm ok with only blind people surviving the crash. Pilots ALWAYS die in plane crashes, and there were only two stewardesses, so no problem.

The problems begin when a blind war hero leads the survivors down a steep mountain, with nothing but some yarn. Uh, yeah, I'm out, can't watch any further. Ridiculous.

It's the story of a plane crash in a remote area, where the surviving passengers attempt to make their way to civilization and life. Here, though, they happen to be blind. Milton Berle is superb as Sam, an embittered, angry man caught up in his past disappointments and who is now in the struggle of his life.

A group of blind people survive a plane crash.

This was probably a lot better in 1969 than it was in 2020. In the 70s several airplane disaster movies came out on TV or in cinemas, so this all seems way too routine now. Also, unlike the later versions, this sometimes features a way too obvious use of studio sets that replace location filming. And finally, the middle section of Seven In Darkness slows down to the point of boredom.

But the movie does have it's strong points, mainly the well directed ending which I dare not reveal. And the musical score was better (and more retro) than a lot of the later plane disaster shows.

I think Irwin Allen was watching and he later pinched ideas - Beyond The Poseidon Adventure (1979) had a blind guy and When Time Ran Out (1980) had a very long bridge walk that resembles this.

Basically, watch Seven In Darkness, but don't expect too much.

Director Michael Caffey, about whom I know nothing, steers SEVEN IN DARKNESS as blindly as the plot's unfortunate seven blind persons who survive an air crash in an undetermined place - and the result is a largely unintentional comedy.

In addition to their handicap, these blind persons suffer from delusions of power, selfishness, they steal, lie, and do all manner of evil. Thankfully, they stop short of gorging each other down (the source of their food is not known and, to make matters worse, it is being stolen by one greedy element) but thankfully there is none of the cannibalism that would occur in a real life aviation crash in the Andes in October 1972.

Their elected leader (democracy among the blind!), Milton Berle - about whom I also know zero - manages to lead them to safety. In the process, these sightless souls manage to find yarn to string themselves together, start fires to keep warm - though none seem to smoke, and why non-smokers should carry lighters on themselves is baffling -, manage to find a makeshift bridge well above the foot of a hill, and even survive an attack, and kill a brute of a wolf who, for reasons known only to itself, strays off its pack to attack first one of the seven blind, then another. Both injured men bleed profusely in wintry and windy conditions, which should put most human lives at risk, but these two brave it all and you don't see any blood on their clothes.

Lovely Lesley Anne Warren is wasted, your don't even get to see her famous legs and curvy waist. Dear old Arthur O'Connel, always a highly reliable supporting actor, disappears much too soon, leaving a motley crew of sadly limited actors to carry the action, often driven by motivations that had me containing laughter out of respect, and just as often fighting dozing off.

Amazingly, the child who they come across and reluctantly rescues them initially seems to speak a different language, but then somehow trots out perfect English. Yet another miracle if ever there was one!

The irony is that this cheapo might be the precursor of all the disaster films of the 1970s, beginning with AIRPORT (1970) and continuing with POSEIDON, EARTHQUAKE, TOWERING INFERNO, and an array of ever worsening AIRPORT sequels.

Photography is typical B TV product of the 1960s, very washed up and low grade filmmaking. The script is downright naive. 3/10.

An interesting little film. The plot is a bit far fetched and corny at times, but not incredible. A chartered plane carrying mostly blind passengers to a convention, crashes in the wilderness and only the blind survive. It is quite interesting to see how they try to extricate themselves and make it back to civilization. Those who see this movie will never again take their eyesight for granted. This film used to be rerun quite often, but, as far as I know, it hasn't been released on video and has not been broadcast for many years. I can't figure out why. It's an interesting and unique addition to the "disaster film" genre with brand name actors; including Milton Berle in a dramatic role; and should do well if re-released.