Customer Reviews

Night of the Seagulls

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1977 saw the last installment of Amando de Ossario's Blind Dead Films. The Night of the Seagulls (aka Terror Beach) was a worthy end for a series that had been going rapidly downhill. Night of the Seagulls is however a vast improvement over the horrid Ghost Galleon.

As always the plot is fairly simple. A doctor and his wife (Victor Petit and Maria Kosty) move to a seaside village. Once there they are given strange warnings by the town's departing doctor and are treated with contempt by the local villagers. It seems that every seven years seven women must be sacrificed to the Knights from the sea in order to keep the town from being destroyed.

Dr. Stein and his wife hire a local girl, Lucy,(Sandra Mozarowsky) to be their servant. One night a neighboring village girl(Julie James) comes to the doctor's door in hysterics before being led off by the local village women in a strange procession. The doctor investigates and learns from the village idiot (Jose Antonio Calvo) about the sacrifices. The next night the villagers come for Lucy and the doctor intervenes and stops the Knights from taking their victim. As usual at this point everything falls apart and the doctor and his wife are attacked by the Knights. The ending has to do with the destruction of the Knights and a pagan idol which controls them.

Once again Blue Underground has done a fine job with the source material. The print quality is basically fine if at times a little soft focus. The audio is standard mono but clarity was good on the English dubbed version. The disc offers the original trailer and a stills gallery.

This is one of the least reviewed entries in the series and probably one of the least seen as well.This is a shame since it is also one of the better entries in the series. The acting is not great and the dialogue runs from the mundane to the just plain awful but the film has a curious ability to keep your attention for its relatively short run time. As with all the titles in this series, you should know what you are in for before spending the money and choose wisely. Well worth a rental for the creepy makeup and costumes. It is also good to see the Knights on horseback again and the riding along the beach scenes provide a iconic image for 70's horror fans.

Rent it.

The fourth and final installment of writer/director Amando de Ossorio's "Blind Dead" films proved the old adage "if at first you don't succeed..." to be true. `The Night of the Seagulls', released in '77, was in my estimation by far the best film in the series. The horrific human sacrifice sequence at the beginning immediately captured my attention and held my interest through to the very end. The storyline was simple, straightforward and coherent. The women where also more attractive then they were in the previous installments which never hurts since this genre of film is attracts a predominantly male audience.

Lots of improvements in this one along with that signature sound we've all come to know and love makes for a fitting ending to the "Blind Dead". If you only see one in the series make it this one.

The classic saga of The BLIND DEAD ends with this creepy tale of a remote coastal town where frightened villagers must acrifice beautiful virgins to the blood cult of the Knights Templar. For seven nights every seven years, these eyeless zombies rise from the sea to feast on human flesh as the souls of the damned are trapped in the screams of gulls. In this final unforgettable shocker from writer/director Amando de Ossorio, the mood is darker, the fear is stronger and the hunger of the Templar more ferocious than ever before!

This is considered by some to be a weak entry in the Blind Dead series, but I personally have no complaints about it. The decrepit seaside village and atmosphere is superb, and the film captured my attention and I never got bored by it. There are many times when not much is happening because the film doesn't have a high body count, but it's well directed and I wouldn't consider it to be a slow moving film. It doesn't have a lot of gore, but some scenes are kind of violent and the Templar knights look great. Also, there's some scenes in the film where crabs are crawling over the remains of the sacrificed victims. It never explains what this is supposed to mean or why that's happening, but I actually liked it. This is among my favorite Spanish horror films but some people won't like it.

Saw the original and first Tombs Of The Blind Dead series in summer of 72 in the United States and have been a fan of the series. Just purchased all the movies and if you liked the first you should like all the others. A little bit campy but.... Still can enjoy and the first still scares me some.

DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE BEFORE WATCHING THE OTHERS FIRST! I FIRST SAW THE "GHOST GALLION" & STILL LIKE IT THE BEST, EVEN THOUGH THE MINATURES ARE CRUDE, THE FLESH EATING ZOMBIES(THE TEMPLARS)ARE SCARY ENOUGH TO MAKE THE GIRL NEXT TO YOU DIG HER FINGERNAILS INTO YOUR LEG, ARM OR ELSEWHERE & OFCOUSE, THAT'S A GOOD THING! SO, ENJOY THESE EYELESS ZOMBIES, THE POPCORN & SCREAMS & WATCH IT WITH A GIRL WHO SCARES VERY EASILY & YOU'LL BE SURE TO HAVE SOME FUN!?