This time the setting is Buazano, a small village in Portugal. (In the first film, the Templars' tomb was located in "Berzano," an abandoned village in Portugal, near the Spanish border.) The protagonist is Jack Marlowe (Kendall), a former captain (presumably in the military), now a pyrotechnics expert, who has come to supply fireworks for Buazano's annual celebration: the 500th anniversary of the day the townsfolk burned the Templars to death (after burning out their eyes)! Jack got the job thanks to the mayor's fiancée Vivian (Roy), who had an affair with Jack awhile back. Jack and Vivian try to rekindle their romance in the Templar cemetery, but they are interrupted by the village idiot, Murdo, who claims the Templars will return from the dead to seek revenge against the town. After listening to Murdo's tales of how the Templars used to sacrifice virgins to serve the infernal powers, Jack and Vivian leave Murdo alone; he promptly reveals a young woman (whom he has presumably kidnapped) and plunges a dagger into her, resurrecting the Templars (seen in stock footage from Tomb), who ride off toward town, their horses hooves kicking at Murdo. The Templars disrupt the celebration, trapping the villagers in the town square. Jack forms the frightened crowds into a makeshift fighting team that manages to break through. While most of the villagers escape (or so it seems) Jack, Vivian, the mayor and a few others take refuge inside a church. Murdo shows up, having hidden himself there, and leads one woman (who helped him earlier when some children threw rocks at him) through a secret escape passage -- but the Templars are waiting. The mayor talks a couple people into a foolish escape attempt that ends in bloody death. Finally, Jack, Vivian, and a child whose parents have been killed, try to sneak out of the church the next morning, tip-toeing their way past the silent, standing Templars (in a scene reminiscent of the ending of Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS).

RETURN is an obvious improvement over TOMB for a number of reasons. Most obviously, the isolated setting and condensed time frame (the film takes place in a single day) focus the story into a tightly packed thrill ride; there is none of the back-and-forth train-riding that engendered a rambling quality in TOMB, marring the pace. Perhaps learning a lesson from the re-editing that befell the first film, writer-director Amando DeOssorio here opens with a prologue showing the Templars being killed by a mob of angry villagers. When the Templars brag they will come back from hell to seek revenge, one of the villagers yells (in the English-language dub, at least), "Try to find your way back without eyes!" -- and plunge a torch into his face!

After that, the Templars are resurrected early in the film, and they remain active throughout the remaining running time, which is loaded with action and bloody violence. Especially effective is the Templars' assault on the town, which is handled with montage that seems to have been modeled after Eisenstein's BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, with shots of the horse-riding Templars swinging swords into the camera, intercut with the gashed faces of their victims. The sequence also gives the film a much "bigger" feel than its predecessor, with numerous extras creating an effective portrait of a small populace in the grip of panic, and it's nice to see a horror film that does not rely on just the old clichés of a lone person being stalked slowly in the dark (although the film contains some of that as well).

There is no real depth to the characters, but they are painted in effectively broad brushstrokes that generate some real tension, especially when the group barricades itself into a church near the end. Although the drama comes nowhere near matching the film's obvious template (i.e., NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), the sequence is better justified by the story than a similar one in TOMB, and it plays out with a reasonable amount of interest, thanks to some outrageous bits of business. The highlight has to be the wicked mayor, who talks a child into acting as an unwitting decoy, urging her to wander out into the street unprotected, so that her cries for her father will distract the Templars while the mayor attempts his getaway (needless to say, he gets what he deserves).

Although restricted to an isolated setting (there are no glimpses of Lisbon or any other major city), RETURN seems to have bigger and better production values, thanks to the fireworks and the crowd scenes. Like TOMB, the sequel uses day-for-night photography to show the Templars riding in slow-motion across the countryside, but this time the effect is handled much better (at least in the print of the original Spanish-language version): there are no white puffy clouds, and the sky is a dark blue, making the scenes at least look like twilight rather than obvious day footage.

In some ways, RETURN seems a tad more restrained than TOMB; for example, a child's life is put in jeopardy, but unlike the unfortunate girl on the train in TOMB, this one survives. The film is also slightly less explicit in its sexism: the nudity is reduced to brief flashes, and the de rigueur attempted rape (the mayor's right-hand man has the hots for Vivian and figures they might as well enjoy themselves before they die at the Templars hands) is interrupted before it can be consummated.

The violence, on the other hand, is every bit as graphic as the first film -- in fact, even more so. This time, during the flashback of the Templars performing a human sacrifice, the unfortunate victim's heart is pulled from her chest and devoured! There is also a graphic decapitation and at least a couple of lingering shots of Templar swords slowly sinking into victims. DeOssorio also seems fond of "slow death" -- in at least a couple places, he likes to let the camera run while the eviscerated victims roll their eyes and gradually give up the ghost, instead of immediately expiring from massive traumatic shock.

In spite of its many virtues, RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD remains a good cult item rather than a classic horror movie. The use of stock footage is unfortunate; the prosthetic gore still betrays its rubber origins, and the story is filled with its share of trite clichés, like the imbecilic Murdo, who's supposed to be creepy mostly because he's mentally slow and physically disabled. (Though not technically a hunchback -- he just twists his face and holds his arm awkwardly, as if partially paralyzed -- Murdo is more or less the equivalent of characters like Fritz in the old Universal FRANKENSTEIN. It doesn't help that actor Jose Canalejas bears a striking resemblance to Stephen King!)

The film also suffers from its over-abundance of action, which occasionally leaves the lead characters on the sidelines, as if unaware of -- or at least not reacting to -- the Templars' predations. The editing fudges this a bit, intercutting various story threads so that viewers lose track of the cause-and-effect relationships (perhaps all these events are supposed to be happening simultaneously, not sequentially), but repeat viewings make it clear that our hero "Captain" Jack Marlow is often standing around and doing nothing for long periods while various supporting characters meet their gory demise.

Nevertheless, RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD remains an effective horror thriller. The unapologetic bloodshed can still elicit gasps of disgust (at least when viewing the uncensored version), and the melodrama of the situation works in a wonderfully over-the-top fashion, as selfish characters looking out for Numero Uno try to save themselves and instead only hasten to their own deaths. The film may not be as sophisticated as George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but it has its own unique brand of crude effectiveness that, in the end, engenders its own special charm.

TRIVIA

The films' English release title, RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD, is probably where Sam Raimi got the idea for this EVIL DEAD films. RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD also includes a brief close-up of one of the Templars' rotting horses (an image that would appear in Raimi's third EVIL DEAD film, ARMY OF DARKNESS).

The Spanish language dialogue for RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD actually mentions the Templars by name, unlike TOMB, which called them "Knights from the East."

Also, on the Spanish-language audio track, the mother (Lone Fleming) who saves her daughter by sacrificing herself, can clearly be heard taunting the Templars with the word “Assassinos!” (i.e., “assassins), but the subtitles translate this as "murderers." This is unfortunate for the following reason: In real life, the Knights Templar were rumored to have been corrupted by occult knowledge gleaned from their Muslim counterparts, the “Hashishim” – otherwise known as the “Assassins.” Although perhaps unintentional, it is interesting that a character would hurl this word at them like an insult, referencing the rumors about their past.

The film seems to be set in an alternative universe from the one seen in TOMB OF THE BLIND DEAD, with many overlapping but altered details:

·       The abandoned village of "Berzano" in TOMB has become the small but populated village of "Buazano" in RETURN.

·       In TOMB, a train passed near Berzano, but there was no stop. In RETURN, Buazano has a train station (though we never see the train, we do see the station attendant's little cubicle).

·       In TOMB, the Templars seemed to rise nightly (or at least at regular intervals), and there were local legends that they were responsible for many deaths over the years. In RETURN, they revive only on the 500th anniversary of their deaths.

·       The mummified Templars are blind when they rise from the dead. In TOMB, this was because their eyes had been pecked out by crows after they were hanged; in RETURN, their eyes are torched before their whole bodies are burned.

·       In TOMB, the Templars acted a bit like vampires, biting their victims and drinking their blood to sustain their undead lives. In RETURN, the Templars seem to be killing simply for the sake of revenge.

DVD DETAILS

Like the DVD for TOMB OF THE BLIND DEAD, Blue-Underground's RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD disc contains both the original, uncut Spanish-language version of the film (with English subtitles) and the censored, English-dubbed version, along with two trailers and a gallery of posters, lobby cards, and stills.

The Spanish-language version (titled "Ataque del Muertos Sin Ojos" -- literally, "Attack of the Dead without Eyes") presents the film theoretically uncut (more on that later). The image quality of the print has a dark, richer look, lending a layer of atmosphere to the proceedings, especially the day-for-night scenes.

The English-language version (titled "Return of the Evil Dead") is not so obviously censored as was the English-version of TOMB OF THE BLIND DEAD (which was cut down to a PG-rating). RETURN retains enough flashes of nudity and gore (such as a severed hand and the decapitation of Murdo) to warrant an R-rating; nevertheless, it was tampered with in numerous ways:

·    The Templars' virgin sacrifice no longer takes place in flashback during the cemetery scene while Murdo provides a voice over narration. Instead, it has been moved up to the prologue, and most of the gore (e.g., the removal of the victim's heart) is missing. This placement of the scene creates an awkward juxtaposition, jumping to the villagers burning the Templars alive, the implication being that they arrived too late to save the girl from being sacrificed.

·    In the Spanish cut, this flashback was soon followed by Murdo's recreation of the Templars' sacrifice, plunging a dagger into the breast of a young woman he had kidnapped. This explained why the Templars finally came back from the grave (the camera pans off her blood running down her leg into the cemetery soil, which starts to smoke before the tombstones begin teetering). In the English version, Murdo's sacrifice is completely deleted; the Templars seem to come back from the grave just because it's the 500th anniversary of their deaths. This makes Murdo a somewhat more sympathetic character, although he is still seen exulting when the Templars rise from the grave (Murdo hates the village because the kids pick on him, and he hopes the Templars will spare him when they kill off the rest of the populace.) On a side note, it's worth mentioning that the identify of the woman Murdo sacrifices is never given, and no one ever mentions a missing person -- the whole sacrifice scene seems almost gratuitous (it comes too quickly after the Templar flashback sacrifice scene), which is probably why it was so easy to delete without anyone really noticing.

·    Several other gory moments are trimmed. Mostly these are insert close-ups of swords sinking into the clothes and piercing the bodies of human victims while blood pumps out. In some cases (e.g., the mayor's death), these deletions create noticeable jump cuts.

The English-language print is remarkable for a couple of other reasons: the dubbed dialogue is occasionally different, and the image is noticeably brighter, at least one or two stops. The dialogue variations are mostly trivial (Vivian is insinuatingly identified as the mayor's "private secretery" rather than his fiancée, and for those who missed the first film, we are reminded that the Blind Dead locate their victims by sound), but it does hurt that Tony Kendall's character is no longer referenced as having been a captain. Although the subtitles in the Spanish-language version never tell us "captain of what," we assume he's been in the military, so it makes sense that he takes charge and starts giving orders after the Templars attack.

The brighter image of the English-language print makes it easier to make out some details in the film, which is good if you want to get a better look at the Templars and/or at their dead horse (when it's briefly unveiled). But it also lessens the atmosphere (especially during the day-for-night exteriors) and makes the film look a little bit like a made-for-television movie.

The English-language trailer is even brighter, so that when the Templars attack the train-ticket booth, they are clearly walking in broad daylight. (Curiously, the dubbing for this scene is different from the film: the attendant yells, "Help me!" In the actual film, he yells, "No, don't!") This trailer is a bit annoying, thanks to a weak narrator who continually repeats the title as if fearing we might not remember it. There is also an odd moment at the end, when the camera holds on the mask of a Templar face, allowing us time to count the whiskers on his shriveled beard.

The Spanish-language trailer is much longer, showing off a bit more of the gore footage, but also giving away too much of the story (including a shot of the ending that all but makes it clear the Templars are defeated). Perhaps the most entertaining element is a piece of narration that implies the Templars' attack on the town was filmed documentary-style: "An invasion of ghosts shocked the little town of Buazano in Portugal while the cameras filmed these terrifying scenes!"

The image gallery is filled with lots of interesting posters, lobby cards, and stills, highlighting different artwork and titles from the film's release in several countries. There are a few oddities: we can appreciate the one behind-the-scenes shot of an unidentified woman sitting behind a desk that holds a couple of Templar masks, even if we're frustrated by the absence of a caption, but how to explain the apparently irrelevant shot of what looks like an opera diva in a long, Flamenco-style white dress?

Even more intriguing, the black-and-white stills provide abundant nudity that is not seen in the film itself (not even in the allegedly uncensored Spanish version): Murdo is seen completely disrobing his sacrificial victim (in the film, he only tears open her blouse); Vivian is clearly topless during her interrupted tryst with Jack in the Templar cemetery; and Monica (Loli Tovar) is seen both naked in bed with her boyfriend and topless atop the Templar horse she steals to escape.