NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS is the final film in the BLIND DEAD series to be directed by Amando De Ossorio. Where the previous film, GHOST GALLEON, dipped in quality (due to an ambitious plot beyond the filmmakers' resources), director Ossorio course corrects with the fourth film and delivers a bloody and frightening finale to his quadrilogy.
The devil worshiping undead Knights Templars return once more from the grave to plague the living albeit in a different capacity this time around. Where the first film is a supernatural murder mystery of sorts, the second entry becomes a full tilt siege/survival flick drawing inspiration from Night of the Living Dead. The third movie takes the Blind Dead onto the high seas taking on the guise of a maritime ghost story legend.
The fourth installment takes on a Lovecraftian identity as our protagonists enter an old world village where the residents are offering ritual sacrifices to appease their unearthly oppressors. It's a "Stranger in a Strange Land" setup where a modern world couple receive a lesson in the ways of primal pagan religions. The demonic Templars take on a different role here, acting as emissaries for a dark elder god, yet still retaining everything we've come to know and fear from them.
Night of the Seagulls is a fresh take on the Blind Dead and a strong film in the series.
THE PLOT
Doctor Henry Stein and his wife Joan arrive in a remote coastal village far from the modern world. Dr. Stein opens his practice in hopes of bettering the lives of the villagers, offering modern medicines and techniques. What the couple discover is a closed off, insular community still very much entrenched in medieval beliefs and practices. One night the call of seagulls awakens the doctor from his sleep. Taking a midnight stroll Henry observes the villagers engaged in a sacrificial ritual, offering a teenage girl to a host of phantasmagorical wraiths on horseback.
The next day a young girl, set to be sacrificed, reveals to the doctor the village's dark secret: once every seven years these wraiths rise from the grave and for seven nights the villagers must sacrifice seven girls to spare the community a gruesome fate. Dr. Stein and his wife set themselves to break this cycle of death, but in doing so set off an even greater calamity of death and destruction.
WHAT I LIKED
The Blind Dead. I say this about each of the films, but it's true. These undead Knights Templars are so powerfully evocative. With them comes a haunting ethereal presence, dreamlike and nightmarish. If director Amando De Ossorio gets anything right and consistent throughout these films it's imbuing the antagonists with mystique and menace. The score by Anton Garcia Abril, present throughout all four films, plays a significant role in the terrifying persona of the Blind Dead. If you've read my reviews of the previous Blind Dead films then you know how much I love Abril's scores for these films.
Gore Galore. One of the standout moments of Night of the Seagulls comes at the very beginning. As sort of a prologue, the movie begins with a flashback to a medieval era where we see the Templars (prior to being undead) abduct a young woman. They take her back to their unholy church, kill her, drink her blood, and cut out her heart. Lastly they place the still bleeding heart in the mouth of an amphibian idol. And the camera shows it all. It's one of those moments where you're taken aback, little suspecting the film would begin with such a striking sequence.
Mystery and Mystique. After a shocking beginning the film slows down and builds the atmosphere and suspense of what is to come. As I said above, Lovecraftian influences run throughout the entire film from the bizarre and backwards nature of the village, the ritual sacrifices, to the implication that the Blind Dead are actually acting in service to an even greater evil. Everything builds towards the bloody siege at the end. Our noble doctor attempts to stop the killing, but instead unleashes a massacre. The finale showcases the Blind Dead once more laying waste to the villagers in signature fashion.
NITPICKS
A bigger opening than the climax. After the intense and brutal beginning the film slows down quite a bit. All this would be fine if it built to a climax even greater than the opening scene. The sacrificial sequence at the onset is so bloody and shocking that it sets an expectation for the climax that the film doesn't quite live up to. It's a good climax to be sure, but falls short of the awe and spectacle of the prologue. The horror fan in me wished for a finale that would've surpassed the intro in terms of gore. While it doesn't quite do that, the film still ends strong.
Take it in Context. Remember, these films were made in the early to mid 70's in Spain with little to no budget. The effects may not hold up as well in comparison to modern horror films but for the time these effects were pretty cool and ambitious. It's like watching the original Planet of the Apes films. I think they're still cool and novel but am aware they may not work for some audiences today. Just bear in mind the time that these films were made.
THE VERDICT
Night of the Seagulls places the Blind Dead in a new horrific scenario, or at least new for them. Melding the European marauders with a setting the likes that H.P. Lovecraft would conjure renders this entry in the series unique among its predecessors. There's a striking and gruesome opening you'll long remember and a chilling atmosphere throughout. The undead Templars are hauntingly realized once more and director Amando De Ossorio ends his quadrilogy on a strong note. I really enjoy the Blind Dead films and Night of the Seagulls is a good example why.
Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 2 out of 10
For more of the Blind Dead films and more Euro horror check out these others below
The Blind Dead
The Blind Dead
Euro Horror films
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