Return of the Evil Dead (1973) - Episode 89 - Decades of Horror 1970s

"Scream…So They Can Find You!" … because they’re dead … and they’re blind, don’t ‘cha know? Gruesome Magazine Patreon members have spoken in the latest poll to choose the film for this episode of Decades of Horror 1970s! Join your faithful Grue Crew - Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they take their second trip to Amando de Ossorio’s land of the Blind Dead in the curiously titled second film in the series, Return of the Evil Dead (1973).

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 89 – Return of the Evil Dead (1973)

Synopsis: 500 years after they were blinded and executed for committing human sacrifices, a band of Templar knights returns from the grave to terrorize a rural Portuguese village during its centennial celebration. Taking refuge in a deserted cathedral, a small group of people must find a way to escape from the creatures.

• Writer/Director: Amando de Ossorio
• Featured Cast:
  • Tony Kendall as Jack Marlowe
  • Fernando Sancho as Mayor Duncan
  • Esperanza Roy as Vivian
  • Frank Braña as Howard
  • José Canalejas as Murdo
  • Loreta Tovar as Monica
  • Ramón Lillo as Bert

The Decades of Horror 1970s Grue Crew covered Tombs of the Blind Dead, the first film of Ossorio’s 4-film Blind Dead series, back in February 2016 on Episode 30. It beat out Texas Chainsaw Massacre (just to name one) in our first Patreon Poll! It took three years and another Patreon Poll for us to get around to the second movie in the series, Return of the Evil Dead, aka Return of the Blind Dead, and El ataque de los muertos sin ojos (original title). We promise it probably won’t take that long to get to the next one!

Chad and Jeff had never seen Return of the Evil Dead before and were delighted with what they saw. Chad thought the Mayor might be one of the most despicable characters he’d seen in a horror film. The humor in this movie caught Jeff’s attention as he noticed there is quite a bit more than is found in Tombs of the Blind Dead. Doc was tickled with the set up to a one-against-four embroglio between the protagonist and the Mayor’s gang of thugs. Once again, Bill’s encyclopedic knowledge of 1970s horror films comes in handy as the Grue Crew’s discussion branches into other films and he laments Ossorio’s never having a budget large enough to realize his full vision. Return of the Evil Dead receives the Grue Crew’s unanimous recommendation to lovers of 70s horror films. It is currently streaming on SHUDDER so if you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?

Rounding out the episode, Doc reads some listener feedback from Andy and saltyessentials on Episode 85 - Infra-Man, Episode 86 - Lake of Dracula, and Episode 87 - The Night Strangler.

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