So, here we are, friends and fiends. The last day and final post of this year’s Halloween Horrors series. Normally, I’d be a lot sadder as I write this final intro, melancholy that the month of October has passed by so quickly. However, as I’ve stated more than a few times in these intros and on the Horror And Sons Facebook page, I’ve had more fun hosting the series and reading all of these entries from this year’s 22 contributors than I’ve had in a few years. Besides, the day of Halloween has yet to arrive, which means there is still time to indulge in at least some of what the holiday has to offer.

Once again, I must thank all of this year’s wonderful contributors for helping make this series… well, exist. And, of course, thanks go to all of you reading this right now!

We close this year’s series in what I consider to be the most appropriate fashion; by giving the spotlight to the person that inspired this year’s theme. Sorta. While I may not have used their exact suggestion of “films celebrating anniversaries”, it still gave me an idea of what to do with this year’s series… because, let’s be honest, I really didn’t have one of my own. That said, the theme for next year’s Halloween Horrors series has already been decided upon! I hope you ghouls like architecture.

Well, that’s enough from me. Instead, we now give the stage to Harriett Branch, another longtime friend and contributor to our annual Halloween series. To help us close out our series this year, Harriett presents us with a cautionary tale of what can happen when some of the creepiest bastards in cult horror history decide to take up sailing. Cue that mysterious mist, because it’s 1974’s The Ghost Galleon. Seriously, do these guys just carry around their own fog machines or, like, are they made out of dry ice? 

From all of us at Horror And Sons… and by “us”, I mostly mean “me”… have a very Happy Halloween! Stay spooky!

-Dustin J Fallon

Halloween Horrors Series
“THE GHOST GALLEON”
1974 Rated R 1h 29m

“The Ghost Galleon.”                                                                                               

“Ghost Ship of the Blind Dead.”

“Horror of the Zombies.”

“Beach Blanket Bingo with the Blind Dead?!?!”

Okay, that last one is a joke, but it may well have been just another title given to this third entry into “The Blind Dead” legacy of films.  Hell, I even found multiple release dates for this thing, but iMDB has it listed as being released in 1974, so it fits this year’s theme for the series.  I believe “The Ghost Galleon” was the first film I saw as a kid that featured The Blind Dead, so it remains a personal favorite.  Looking up the list of its many different titles resulted in a list of 35(!) related films starting in 1972 and even as recent as 2021, so I feel like I have some viewing to do.  Granted some of these may be short films or a fan-made documentary, but I still enjoy a good cheesy story with those zany dead blind guys.  

With all that being said, let’s get to the review.

Two young female models, Kathy and Loreena, are set adrift in a boat in the middle of the ocean for a marketing gimmick by their manager, Lillian.  Boredom ensues and they spy a ghost galleon, or ship, appear in the ocean near them.  They motor over to it and Loreena boards the ship. After searching around the ship and finding no one on board, Loreena disappears.   The next morning, Kathy radios Lillian, and boards the ship herself, looking for her friend.  Her activities awaken the Blind Dead, a group of skeletal beings that are former Knights Templar. Their skeletal hands reach out for Kathy and the slow chase across the boat is silent and actually pretty terrifying.  Kathy eventually meets her doom.

With Kathy and Loreena no longer in communication, Lillain and Kathy’s roommate, Noemi, hook up with a professor, Howard, the girls’ publicist, and Sergio, their tech guy, to try to find them.   They locate the galleon in the ocean and board it looking for the girls.  Noemi goes looking for Kathy on her own, and instead finds the skeletal ghouls.  Her death shows us just what the bloodthirsty Blind Dead do with their victims, and it ain’t pretty.

After Noemi’s disappearance, the professor attempts to explain what the ghostly galleon is doing in the middle of the ocean.  The history is muddled, something about another dimension, and mentions a possible treasure, but he’s aware of the potential for ghosts and danger.  The group split up and continue looking for the girls on the ship.  They eventually do find a treasure room, and in their attempt to escape and steal it, reawaken the Blind Dead from their creaky crypts once more, and the slow chase is on!  The Professor knows some mumbo-jumbo, lights a crudely made cross, and pushes the damned skeletal Templars back to their final resting places. The group work together and manage to send the Templars’ multiple sarcophagi over the ship’s rail and into the ocean.  Lillian, Sergio, and Howard jump overboard to try to swim to safety, leaving the poor professor who can’t swim, to die in the final fiery inferno on the ship.

With minimal blood, and the cheesy bathtub model special effects, this sequel in the Blind Dead films is not considered one of its better ones.  Still, the direction and writing by Amando de Ossorio is solid, and creates an effective scary atmosphere that holds the viewer’s attention.  The creaky boat set is chock full of spooky shadows and levels for the cast to explore, and the final shot of the Blind Dead washing up on shore, water pouring out of their empty skeleton eye sockets, is iconic and memorable.   Definitely one for the books!