The Blind Dead Collection

Anchor Bay’s The Blind Dead Collection compiles all four of Amando de Ossorio’s Knights Templar movie into a single boxed set. In the case of all four films the discs found here are identical to those of the individual releases right down to the packaging and extras. (The collection comes as five amarays contained within a slip case.) As such, all four have also been previously reviewed individually on the site and can be accessed below by clicking on the links. However, The Blind Dead Collection also comes with a fifth disc of bonus features not to be found elsewhere and these two are discussed below.

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Disc One: Tombs of the Blind Dead
1971 / 1.66:1 Anamorphic PAL / Starring: Lone Fleming, Cesar Burner, Helen Harp, Joseph Thelman and Rufino Ingles
Full review can be found here

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Disc Two: Return of the Evil Dead
1973 / 1.66:1 Anamorphic PAL / Starring: Tony Kendall, Esperanza Roy and Frank Brana
Full review can be found here

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Disc Three: The Ghost Galleon
1974 / 1.85:1 Anamorphic PAL / Starring: Maria Perschy, Jack Taylor, Barbara Rey, Carlos Lemos, Manuel de Blas and Blanca Estrada
Full review can be found here

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Disc Four: Night of the Seagulls
1975 / 1.85:1 Anamorphic PAL / Starring: Victor Petit, Maria Kosti and Sandra Mozarosky
Full review can be found here

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Disc Five: Amando de Ossorio, Director

Disappointingly, the fifth disc isn’t all that impressive. Not so much because the extras themselves are in any way poor, but simply because they could have easily accompanied the films themselves on their respective discs. Indeed, the total running time of the pieces to be found here amounts to little over 35 minutes!

The Last Templar
This piece is an entertaining 25-minute Spanish documentary devoted to de Ossorio and his career. We are offered a potted biography of the director, from his childhood and early days working for Spanish radio through to, of course, the Blind Dead movies. Given the fact that he’s so little known outside of his home country, this proves to be a welcome addition, all the more so as it included clips and stills from his other cinematic achievements. Remarkably, his debut, The Black Flag, consisted of a 90-minute anti-death penalty monologue and was banned for many years, whilst he also produced a number of Spaghetti Westerns and even a Lassie pastiche!

Unearthing the Blind Dead
A 10-minute interview with the director himself, all the more valuable as he passed away in 2001. In contrast to the documentary, this piece spends less time on the career as a whole, but rather allows de Ossorio to offer his thoughts on each of the individual entries in the Blind Dead series. Understandably brief given the running time, this is nonetheless a welcome addition given the lack of commentaries on any of the films.

Cast and Director Biographies
Self-explanatory really, these pieces offer three-pages apiece to de Ossorio plus leading ladies Maria Perschy and Sandra Mozarosky.

Farewell to Spain’s Knight of Horror
Mike Hodges’ 2001 Shivers obituary for de Ossorio available as a downloadable PDF file for those with DVD-ROM capabilities.

Knights of Terror
A 40-page booklet which reproduces in full (and updates slightly) the FAB Press publication of Nigel J. Burrell’s Knights of Terror. An enthusiastic appraisal of the series, the booklet offers individual synopses and discussions of each of the films, some background into the real Knights Templar, plus a complete filmography for de Ossorio as compiled by the ever reliable Julian Grainger.