La notte dei gabbiani

You certainly can't reproach Amando De Ossorio of being lazy or repetitive, as this fourth & final installment in his terrific "Blind Dead" series is again very different in tone and content than any of the previous three. "Night of the Seagulls" is more mysterious and atmospheric than the other films and De Ossorio also throws in an compelling, albeit unoriginal, outsiders-in-a-closed-community sub plot. Young doctor Henry and his wife Joan arrive in a remote seaside village where they're given a VERY unfriendly reception by the oddly behaving locals. Only the town's nut Teddy and maiden beauty Lucy make acquaintance with the new arrivals and also inform them about the village's inescapable "pact" with the undead Templar Knights. For seven nights every seven years, the villagers have to sacrifice their virgin daughters to these eyeless zombies during a nocturnal ceremony on the beach. Okay granted, the sacrifice element in the story is definitely not new and the Templars are given less screen time than usual, but still this is a genuinely creepy exploitation highlight! You can either begin to sum up all the shortcomings and stupidities in the script (and yes, there are quite a lot of them), or enjoy the tense atmosphere and unique filming locations instead! The very weakest moments of the film – like that horribly lame ending – are somewhat more difficult to forgive, but there's graphic gore and sleaze to make up for that. By the way, did you know that skeletons that are dead for more than six centuries still bleed when you destroy them? Oh yeah, massively even! Throughout filming four similar movies, Amando De Ossorio's directing always remained solid, the choreography was always stylish, the music was always petrifying and the acting performances were always above average! That's definitely praiseworthy, too. Every single entry in the "Blind Dead" saga is highly recommended to every true horror fan.