Night of the Seagulls (original title: La Noche de las gaviotas) is a 1975 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio. It stars Maria Kosti, Victor Petit, Sandra Mozarosky, Julie James and Julia Saly.
The film is the fourth and final in Ossorio’s Blind Dead series and has also been released as Don’t Go Out at Night; Night of the Blood Cult; Night of the Death Cult; Terror Beach and The Blind Dead 4.
This film inspired a song by the New York City Oi band The Templars, and a song by UK doom metal band Cathedral.
Plot teaser:
The film starts in medieval times, when a young couple is attacked by templar knights. The man is instantly killed, the woman is carried away to the templar’s castle where she is ritually sacrificed.
In the 20th century, a doctor and his wife move to a very primitive coast town, where they are met with distrust and hatred from the locals. It does not take long before the couple discover the town harbours an ancient evil: Every seven years undead templars will ride from the sea for seven consecutive nights to demand the sacrifice of a young maiden. The doctor and his wife then try to save one of the maidens, Lucy from her horrible fate, aided by the local village idiot…
Reviews:
“Familiar stock footage from the first film is once again introduced and once more there is copious amounts of creepy smoke and haze. There is a bit more blood in this one than in The Ghost Galleon, but much less than Return of the Evil Dead and for the first and only time coming from the Templars themselves. The movie does pick up at the end and gives the viewer a good climax and some great imagery, but the trek there is a slightly tedious one.” Brett H., Oh, the Horror!
“The film’s strong point is its assortment of arresting visuals: the sight of the white-robed knights stealthily emerging from the darkness in the opening flashback, the various shots of the women’s bodies as they lay in a deserted cove surrounded by crabs and the creepy image of the deformed prowler’s face at the window as Joan unpacks her luggage are a few select highlights. The dark processions of black-robed villagers along the beach are staggeringly ominous, and of course, the sight of the skeletal and hooded knights riding in slow motion along the eerily deserted beach proves unflinchingly commanding. A weird dreamlike atmosphere presides over everything and Ossorio yet again reuses footage of the skeletal knights emerging from their tombs to ominous effect.” James Gracey, Behind the Couch
“Though slow at times with less than convincing dubbing and a very old fashioned feel, Night of the Seagulls manages to be interesting. The mysterious sleepy village has an authentic feel of sorrow and pain, and its isolation has resulted in something unnatural and horrible to take place that has remained unnoticed by the rest of the world. This almost feels a bit like something out of a Lovecraft tale, in fact Night of the Seagulls is considered to be the Lovecraftian of the Blind Dead tetralogy, which makes sense if one considers the ghoulish sea god statue as well as the presence of flying seagulls at night being the damned spirits of the sacrificed girls…” At the Mansion of Madness
