Horror of the Zombies (1974)

Here’s more undead Templar fun from director Armando De Ossorio and the third film in the ever-popular “Blind Dead” saga. The film opens up with two dippy fashion models embarking on a top-secret publicity stunt…of sorts. Their extremely shifty boss conjured up this brilliant idea, which is to set the girls adrift in the open ocean while sporting the latest line of bikinis, or something along those lines. While out on the ocean the two soon encounter a weird fog that makes radio contact practically impossible, and to make matters worse, their small boat is “crashed” into by an ancient Spanish Galleon that appeared to come right out of the mysterious fog. Not sure that the “publicity stunt” is going so smoothly, the girls whine to their boss that they want to come back and are told to sit tight and wait till help arrives. After several hours of waiting, one of the girls of the impatient variety inexplicably decides she “can’t take it anymore” and declares she’d rather stay the night on a strange, creaky old ship than stay put with another person. Brilliant idea don’t you think? Too bad for these nitwits, because this ship just so happens to be occupied by none other than everyone’s favorite blind zombies, the Undead Templar Knights! Appearing from the ships depths, the Templar’s proceed to make quick work of both girls, and now await the rescue party for some more fun and games.

While not the best of the series, “Horror of the Zombies” is somewhat unique if only for the idea of placing the Templar’s on the ocean instead of land. How this really came about is never explained, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. The carrying card of the film is, of course, the zombies and overall creepy atmosphere. The Templar’s ship is full of cobwebs, swirling fog, and the zombies themselves. The Templar’s still look cool, and that chanting music that accompanies their every appearance is still fairly eerie. Besides the zombies and atmosphere, there really is not much else to like with this one. The special effects are rather shabby, especially the scenes of the ghost ship which is obviously adrift in someone’s bathtub rather than the ocean.

As far as the gore quotient, the cassette version I viewed was on the old “World’s Worst” label, so I’m not sure how complete it was in that department. There was a little bloodletting here and there, but nothing to get too excited over. The acting is terrible by all, with some of the dumbest dialogue ever uttered on full display. None of the characters have any type of appeal to them, and you’ll find yourself quickly cheering for the zombies. The pacing is also excruciatingly slow, and unless you’re a fan of the series or euro-horror in general, you’ll be hitting the “stop” button after twenty minutes or so. “Horror of the Zombies” is not the best flick to introduce someone to the series, but for most fans, especially those of foreign horror, it’s still an ok, if rather slow, time waster.