Michael_Elliott The People Who Own the Dark (1976)** (out of 4)A group of people gather at a home where they enter an underground bunker to do a De Sade worship. After hearing a loud explosion they return to the surface and notice that something strange has happened. They don't realize how strange until they go to town for supplies and notice the title monsters, a group of people who have turned blind due to a nuclear holocaust. THE PEOPLE WHO OWNS THE DARK has a pretty good reputation among Spanish horror fans but I'll be the outsider and say that I was pretty disappointed in the film. People have compared it to a cross between NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, which is certainly true but I'd also add THE OMEGA MAN in there as another influence. I watched the American cut of the movie, which features twelve fewer minutes than the Spanish cut but apparently only some more detailed character development is missing. With that said, I thought there were some major issues with the screenplay including the fact that none of the characters are all that interesting. When you think about it, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD features a lot of dialogue scenes and more often than not the zombies aren't on the screen. That's the same here but the only problem with this film is that nothing being said is all that interesting and unlike the Romero film you really don't care about any of the characters here either. None of the characters really stood out from one another and outside of the familiar faces (Alberto DeMendoza and Paul Naschy) there's really no one to root for or care about. For the most part the performances seemed fine, although this is always a hard thing to judge when you're watching something with an English dubbing. I will say that the look of the film was quite nice but director Leon Klimovsky just doesn't add any flare to the subject and even at 82-minutes the film drags in spots. Again, I know I'm in the minority on this one but the film just didn't work nearly as well as it should have.

bfan83 The People Who Own the Dark is about a group of wealthy gentleman who visit a secluded for some kinky sex games with the prostitutes. During the party, they are startled by a huge earthquake from a nuclear disaster which has taken place. They soon discover that survivors from a nearby town are now transformed into wandering blind creatures. They kill a few of the blind survivors due to being scared and unsure. Soon the rest of the blind survivors make their way to the villa to seek revenge. Despite the fact it's an obvious rip-off of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, it still manages to evoke a sense of doom and helplessness throughout the film as each one is killed off by the wandering blind townspeople. Paul Naschy is in prime form as a jerk who's out to save his own skin. It's refreshing to see him play a different role aside from Waldemar Daninsky for once. Maria Perschy (Beyond the Door, Night of the Howling Beast) is also very good as one of the prostitutes. Her acting is what makes this film shine the most. The only thing this film suffers from is a downbeat ending. Fans of Spanish horror or Paul Naschy should enjoy THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK. It's different from other film's in his catalog (namely, the Waldemar Daninisky series.) It is incredibly rare, but I'm sure you can still manage to locate a copy of it on ebay or amazon. It's more than worth the price, despite its downbeat ending.

The_Void The People Who Own the Dark is effectively a reworking of the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead; also taking influence from British horror flick The Day of the Triffids. The film has a really great premise and I was looking forward to it for that reason; in spite of all the critical reviews I've read, but unfortunately the film really doesn't make the best of what it has to offer. It's partly down to the fact that it features a very low budget; but the uneven script, which means the film is good in places and very boring in others, doesn't exactly help either. The plot focuses on a party in an old castle. All the partygoers are rich businessmen, and their fun is spoiled by a nuclear war which, aside from shaking the building, also leaves most of the population blind. The inhabitants of the castle venture outside eventually but get into trouble upon meeting with the newly blinded citizens as they appear to have become mad from the trauma and set out to maim and kill those who still have their sight.The film is directed by León Klimovsky and stars his long time collaborator Paul Naschy. The pair worked together on a couple of Naschy's rubbishy "Homo-Lobo" films as well as the decent Giallo A Dragonfly for Every Corpse. Naschy is one of the major stars of seventies horror; but his role here is very limited and really he's little more than a co-star, which is a shame because the best thing about Paul Naschy films tends to be Paul Naschy. The film does feature a fairly good atmosphere and the director helps the film by putting forward a truly hopeless feeling. The first half of the film really is very boring; the director merely shows us the central characters, none of which are very interesting, and the build up to the party is boring also. Things do get a bit better in the second half as the action starts to take centre stage; and while it's not as good as the films it takes influence from, it is at least fairly entertaining. It all boils down to a dark and depressing ending which is often hated; although I kind of liked it. Overall, The People Who Own the Dark is a disappointing horror movie and not worth going out of your way for.

Joe 25 Well, don't get me wrong, this has a nice plot, the acting is better than most films of its type and the direction is nice. But that can't disguise the fact while the movie was good, the ending was just atrocious. I definetely would have given this movie three and a half stars, but due to the lame ending, gave this one only two.