The People Who Own the Dark

The People Who Own the Dark is effectively a reworking of the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead; also taking influence from British horror flick The Day of the Triffids. The film has a really great premise and I was looking forward to it for that reason; in spite of all the critical reviews I've read, but unfortunately the film really doesn't make the best of what it has to offer. It's partly down to the fact that it features a very low budget; but the uneven script, which means the film is good in places and very boring in others, doesn't exactly help either. The plot focuses on a party in an old castle. All the partygoers are rich businessmen, and their fun is spoiled by a nuclear war which, aside from shaking the building, also leaves most of the population blind. The inhabitants of the castle venture outside eventually but get into trouble upon meeting with the newly blinded citizens as they appear to have become mad from the trauma and set out to maim and kill those who still have their sight.

The film is directed by León Klimovsky and stars his long time collaborator Paul Naschy. The pair worked together on a couple of Naschy's rubbishy "Homo-Lobo" films as well as the decent Giallo A Dragonfly for Every Corpse. Naschy is one of the major stars of seventies horror; but his role here is very limited and really he's little more than a co-star, which is a shame because the best thing about Paul Naschy films tends to be Paul Naschy. The film does feature a fairly good atmosphere and the director helps the film by putting forward a truly hopeless feeling. The first half of the film really is very boring; the director merely shows us the central characters, none of which are very interesting, and the build up to the party is boring also. Things do get a bit better in the second half as the action starts to take centre stage; and while it's not as good as the films it takes influence from, it is at least fairly entertaining. It all boils down to a dark and depressing ending which is often hated; although I kind of liked it. Overall, The People Who Own the Dark is a disappointing horror movie and not worth going out of your way for.

The People Who Own the Dark (1976)

** (out of 4)

A group of people gather at a home where they enter an underground bunker to do a De Sade worship. After hearing a loud explosion they return to the surface and notice that something strange has happened. They don't realize how strange until they go to town for supplies and notice the title monsters, a group of people who have turned blind due to a nuclear holocaust. THE PEOPLE WHO OWNS THE DARK has a pretty good reputation among Spanish horror fans but I'll be the outsider and say that I was pretty disappointed in the film. People have compared it to a cross between NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, which is certainly true but I'd also add THE OMEGA MAN in there as another influence. I watched the American cut of the movie, which features twelve fewer minutes than the Spanish cut but apparently only some more detailed character development is missing. With that said, I thought there were some major issues with the screenplay including the fact that none of the characters are all that interesting. When you think about it, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD features a lot of dialogue scenes and more often than not the zombies aren't on the screen. That's the same here but the only problem with this film is that nothing being said is all that interesting and unlike the Romero film you really don't care about any of the characters here either. None of the characters really stood out from one another and outside of the familiar faces (Alberto DeMendoza and Paul Naschy) there's really no one to root for or care about. For the most part the performances seemed fine, although this is always a hard thing to judge when you're watching something with an English dubbing. I will say that the look of the film was quite nice but director Leon Klimovsky just doesn't add any flare to the subject and even at 82-minutes the film drags in spots. Again, I know I'm in the minority on this one but the film just didn't work nearly as well as it should have.

Great title for a film, but just not this one. Over ambitious project inevitably leading to it becoming pretentious, silly and unforgivably, dull. It starts promisingly enough with a disparate group of dignitaries all masked at sat about a banqueting table as pretty girls in diaphanous gowns prepare to submit to their every whim in the name of the Marquis de Sade. Some of us will wish the film continued in this vein instead of lurching into post apocalyptic Twilight Zone territory, with blindness, zombieness and the threat of radiation and the end of the world. Paul Naschy is fine but looks a little more awkward than usual. I find he is usually better when working for himself.

Forget the reference books (including the IMDb) - PLANETA CIEGO was directed by Argentinian filmmaker Leon Klimovsky, also responsible for WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN, VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES (both with Paul Naschy, who co-stars here, too) and THE VAMPIRE'S NIGHT ORGY. A group of prominent business and military men enjoying a weekend debauch in the cellar of a rural bordello are spared when a nuclear attack devastates Europe. Finding the locals blinded, and drawing hatred upon themselves for looting the village stores, the survivors board up the villa and prepare for an attack by night. PLANETA CIEGO, which is also known as THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (a shortened version that played in America) and ULTIMO DESEO is an exciting and disturbing (if non-graphic) reworking of themes found in George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. The cast includes Alberto deMendoza (HORROR EXPRESS) and Maria Perschy (also in Klimovsky's VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES). This film has for too long been attributed to Amando de Ossorio, probably because he directed the well-known "Blind Dead" films. Well worth seeking out.

ULTIMO DESEO is the longer, Spanish language version of what Americans saw as THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK. An inspired reworking of George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Klimovsky's film posits a nuclear war in Europe that blinds the populace (a la THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS), but spares a handful of libidinous businessmen and military types who were copulating in a rural bordello. When the villagers learn of the sighted survivors, they storm the villa in a manner very much like (and superior to) the undead in Romero's classic chiller. Alberto deMendoza (HORROR EXPRESS), Teresa Gimpera, Maria Perschy and Paul Naschy all star (and were given anglicized monikers - Albert Mennen, Terry Kemper, Mary Pershing and Paul Mackey - to fool us boorish Yanks. Although rare, this film does exist on video, albeit in out of print and bootleg copies of less than pristine quality. Still, the film packs a punch and should be seen.