The People Who Own the Dark

Director - Leon Klimovsky (The Marihuana Story, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse)

Starring - Nadiuska (Conan the Barbarian, Black Commando), Alberto de Mendoza (Horror Express, The Case of the Scorpion's Tale), and Teresa Gimpera (The Spirit of the Beehive, Creation of the Damned)

Release Date - 1976

Genre - Horror/Sci-FI

Tagline - "Now... there is nothing between you and... "

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

 Rating (out of 5):

     The People Who Own the Dark is the only movie in this set that I had previously heard of prior to receiving this collection for review.  The film was released on blu a few years back by Code Red as part of their Post-Apocalyptic Collection.  What caught my eye about this release was that it featured Paul Naschy and was produced by Sean S. Cunningham.  I was surprised at the time that this was the first time I had heard of this one starring Naschy and produced by the creator of the Friday the 13th franchise.  I didn't snag this release at the time due to the controversy involving owner Banana Man and how he was being taking advantage of by the owner of Dark Force Entertainment.  Thankfully, this one was included in the Exorcismo set from Severin.  I hate that it took me so long to check it out but I'm grateful that my first time viewing it was on a Severin release.  

      The film begins with a group of wealthy sadists who meet occasionally to act out their most perverse fantasies.  Sadly, their De Sade like cult meeting did not go as planned when their power is knocked out before it got to the good part.  When they leave the cellar to look into the issue they discover that it was a nuclear attack.  With only a few days worth of food left on the property, they venture into the local village where they learn that everyone that was outside during the initial attack is now blind and seeking refuge in the local church.  Instead of helping them, they kill a couple and start stealing all their food.  They return to their mansion on the hill to possibly get back into their sadistic fantasies when the blind rise up and take matters into their own hands.  

     The People Who Own the Dark is surprisingly the second post-apocalyptic film in this set and was surprisingly well done.  While I do prefer Creation of the Damned more, this one was a lot of fun especially for what it was.  With that being said, there was a few things I didn't care for with this one but what film is perfect?  The acting in this one is very uneven but not bad.  I expected to see more from Paul Naschy and was pretty disappointed in what little screen time he was given.  He does a decent job in his role but I would have loved for his character to have a bigger part in the story.  The rest of the cast is decent as a whole but some of the performances are very intense while others are fairly flat.  The story for this one is not what I was expecting.  It has a lot of layers but not all of them are fun as others. I loved the idea of the wealthy in a Marquise de Sade cult.  I also liked the idea of the nuclear war wiping the sight from all of those that were in the open when the bomb went off.  That is about the extent of the story that I care for.  The blind attacking like a lumbering page from The Last Man on Earth leaves a lot to be desired.  While I did enjoy the film, it almost lost me on this last leg.  Finally, the film has several deaths.  They are not that impressive or all that memorable.  The practical effects we do get is very minimal and not that noticeable.  Overall, The People Who Own the Night was a solid post-apocalyptic flick from the late 70s.  It's not that graphic and the story was lacking in a way but I still enjoyed it for what it was.  It's another one worth checking out from the Exorcismo set!  Check it out.