Night of the Seagulls  | 1975 | Spain | Amando de Ossorio

Somewhat based on the H.P. Lovecraft tale The Shadow Over Innsmouth, this film is actually the fourth film in director Amando de Ossorio’s Blind Dead franchise, a variation on the popular zombie film with its titular ‘Blind Dead’, skeletal Knights Templar who return to hunt for human victims by sound as their eyes have long since rotted. A doctor and his wife move to a remote fishing village to replace a retired physician, only to encounter extremely offish residents and an overwhelming gut feeling of impending doom. Sure enough, it soon transpires that the village has made an age-old pact with Templar revenants who demand virginal sacrifices every seven years… and the night has come upon them! Possibly due to the zombie theme, a gratuitous heart removal or just the graphic cover artwork, the Archer VHS was listed as a video nasty by Greater Manchester police forces, leading to the title being netted with the other suspects.