20 Exploitation Films You Must See Before You Die

In the abandoned medieval town of Berzano, the Templar Knights, who were excommunicated for worshipping the Devil (and taking an unwholesome interest in busty young women), have returned from the grave as hooded skeletal zombies who roam the town on horseback, seeking anyone foolish enough to be out after dark.

This being sleazy 70s Eurohorror, the victims are mostly beautiful women who have a problem remaining clothed and think the best defence is to back themselves screaming into a corner. When one such damsel spends the night in Berzano’s cathedral, she’s attacked and left for dead but rises from her slab and attacks the creepy morgue assistant, who in turn attacks the rest of the cast, and so on.

The first part of director Amando De Ossorio’s Blind Dead quartet, Tombs Of The Blind Dead has more in common with Jean Rollin’s erotic artistry than George Romero’s apocalyptic vision, and marked a career high for De Ossorio, who followed up the picture with the equally berserk Return Of The Evil Dead.