The People Who Own the Dark is a 1976 Spanish horror film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Paul Naschy. It was released as Último Deseo (“Last Wish”) in Spain in a significantly longer cut.
Plot:
A group of rich businessmen and military officers who are partying in an old castle are spared when a nuclear war ravages the earth. When they venture out into the nearest town to search for food and supplies, they find most of the residents blinded, and soon they discover the existence of a sinister group called The People Who Own The Dark…
Review:
The familiar match-up of Klimovsky and Naschy veer away from werewolf territory and deliver a suspenseful post-apocalyptic thriller with tips of the hat to several films, in particular Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Triffids.
The film is unfortunately rather hurried and has a stumbling script and slightly muddy narrative yet succeeds with its dark, stylish vision and beautiful cinematography.
Daz Lawrence, moviesandmania
Other reviews:
“The problem in this regard for The People Who Own the Dark is a relative lack of clarity about what the film’s message is. With the Blind Dead it was easy to see, in that here were these ancient undead figures who killed those amongst the younger generations who failed to keep silent, or had the temerity to raise an oppositional voice.” Giallo Fever
“Alberto de Mendoza (who here resembles a slightly younger Bernie Madoff) and Nadiuska (a ravishing German-born Sophia Loren look-alike) are the leads, but the rest of the cast (starting with the always breathtaking Perschy, who dubbed her own voice for this English presentation) are far more interesting. The King of Spanish Horror, Paul Naschy, plays one of the house guests, and he makes the most of a limited, ambiguous character who grows more selfish, trigger happy and villainous as the film progresses.” DVD Drive-in
Unavailable for many years, the film was finally given the release it deserves by Code Red, though this is currently out of print.
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