Premiering this week exclusively on Full Moon Features and will premiere on Amazon Prime December 27th!

SCREAM OF THE BLIND DEAD (2021)

Directed and written by Chris Alexander.
Starring Stephanie Delorme, Ali Chappell, Thea Munster, Lone Fleming

A young woman named Virginia (Stephanie Delorme) attempts to escape her checkered past by hopping a train and then hopping off a train in the middle of nowhere. It is there that she stumbles upon the ruins of a castle and encounters an undead knight who pursues her relentlessly.

I’m a fan of the original quadrilogy of Blind Dead films (at least, I think I’ve seen them all) as 70’s filmmaker Amando de Ossorios was able to highlight the horror the titular undead and unsighted templar knights unleashed rather well. But even those films were low on story and high on flair and arthouse sights and sounds. Ossorios’ films were littered with scenes of the blind dead pursuing maidens with torn clothing, blasting out wonderful synth scores, and relying on the simple visage of the monsters to cause gasps. So much of those films were made from simple shots of women running through fields, extreme closeups, and slo mo shots of the blind dead walking or on horseback. These were schlocky films that relied on atmosphere more than story depth.

I wasn’t a fan of the recent CURSE OF THE BLIND DEAD remake, as I felt it lacked any kind of flair and creativity compared to the originals. But writer/director/musician Chris Alexander, who has been responsible for meditative arthouse horror such as BLOOD FOR IRINA, QUEEN OF BLOOD, BLOOD DYNASTY, SPACE VAMPIRE and more recently IT KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE and just last week, I reviewed GIRL WITH A STRAIGHT RAZOR, seems to have what it takes to deliver a film that honors the original BLIND DEAD series and at least get the tone and atmosphere near pitch perfect.

Like those original films, SCREAM OF THE BLIND DEAD is light on story. For the most part, it’s just a gal running around in the field away from a shrouded knight with a long sword. But combine the lush landscape with the wonderfully moody music and add some T&A and a little blood and you’ve got yourself an honest to gosh Blind Dead flick. Now, coming in at just under 40 minutes, I think the film could have maybe added a character or two and elaborated a bit more on Virginia’s backstory, but as a simple film focusing on the cat and mouse between a desiccated knight and a sweaty gal in skimpy clothing, it comes out pretty entertaining.

Alexander at least captures the arthouse soul of the original series. Don’t expect a lot of story with SCREAM OF THE BLIND DEAD. Just use this film as a surprisingly calming meditative nightmare that gets those shambling skeletons in armor right. I’d love to see a full feature expanding on some of Amando de Ossorios’ themes, since Alexander has the look and feel down pat.

Check out the trailer here!!