note: this review is of the US release version, titled HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES and released by Independent-International. While this is part of the famous Spanish "Blind Dead" series, it has little to do with the others and has a completely different feel. The ancient zombies do appear, but this time they are at sea in a plot that reminded me initially of THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE. There's not much gore and except for one ugly sexual attack (committed by one of the human cast, not by a zombie), there's little here you couldn't show to a 12 year old. In fact, this is really an old-fashioned zombie film--an abandoned old Spanish galleon that seems to exist in another dimension is stumbled across by two young models on a publicity stunt in the sea, and it turns out to be populated by the Blind Dead. The whole film plays like an amusement park haunted house--the kind where you cruise through it in a boat and are exposed to shocking sights, zombies flying out at you, etc. I found the film wonderfully entertaining on that level. I don't really care for gore films, so I found the tame nature of the film to be refreshing. The two "stars" in the film (in other words, NOT the models or the professor who is enlisted to help in the mission) are old favorites of international b-movies, Jack Taylor (legendary for his Mexican horror films and Spanish films of all types) and the lovely Maria Perschy, and like most established actors who find themselves in these type of films, they manage to keep a straight face yet communicate that they are having as much fun as the audience. Some viewers have complained about the many cheap-looking miniatures used for the ship, but they are well-done in an old Republic Picture serial kind of way, and those who cannot go beyond today's computer generated effects need to get a little "willing suspension of disbelief" and have some fun. Overall, this is a wonderful, old-fashioned zombie film that is quite unlike the rest of the Blind Dead series in tone and in amount of gore. You can still find the VHS of the US release titled HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES for next to nothing used (mine cost 99 cents), and except for not being letter-boxed, it's supposedly the same cut as that now being sold on a new Blue Underground DVD.
Review of The Ghost Galleon
