HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES (1974)
aka El buque maldito, Zombie Flesh Eaters
Article 4873 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-16-2015
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Featuring Maria Perschy, Jack Taylor, Barbara Rey
Country: Spain
What it is: Blind Dead movie

A publicity stunt involving two models in a boat in the middle of the ocean goes awry when it encounters a ghost ship populated by homicidal zombies.

This was the third of Amando de Ossorio’s four “Blind Dead” movies, and, as I noticed when I reviewed the fourth movie, there doesn’t appear to be any overriding story arc to the series; it just features the slow-moving, rotting Templar zombies in a variety of different locations and situations, sometimes with different abilities and weaknesses. I like the premise of having them aboard a ship so that there’s no real place for the victims to run when they attack, but sadly, the movie doesn’t really make good use of the idea. Furthermore, the movie jettisons the most interesting aspect of the zombies (being blind, they were dependent on sound to locate their victims), and, being aboard ship, they’re not allowed to present themselves at their eeriest (which is when they’re riding horses in slow motion). Furthermore, the script is very weak, full of horrible dialogue, and the acting is mostly terrible (though it’s good to bear in mind these faults may be the result of the translation and dubbing). The slow-moving zombies themselves are still pretty creepy, but they were much better used in the other three movies. For my money, this is the weakest of the series.