This past weekend I attended Wonderfest in Louisville, KY. I do this each year not because I'm a huge fan of model building or model sculpting (which is the main focus of the convention) but because its one of the few times all year I get to hang out with a number of friends. I know far too many good folks that live hundreds of miles away in Ohio, California, Texas and other such exotic locales and we use this geek gathering as an excuse to see each other, eat sushi and buy expensive stuff we'll have to lie to our loved ones about later. ("I won this statue- I swear!") I was excited this year to get the chance to meet a few new people I knew by reputation or simply as a fan. Those are stories for another time, though.
The funniest thing for me happened on Saturday when my chosen T-shirt for the day resulted in four separate conversations about Spanish director Amando de Ossorio's fantastic BLIND DEAD quartet of films. No less than three very different but impassioned film writers opined that these were some of (if not THE) scariest monster movies of the 1970s with one august fellow proclaiming them the quintessential monsters of that decade. I have to agree. The first film alone is a classic of the horror genre that stands up brilliantly today making the current crop of sad-ass remakes and weak 'thrillers' look like the dreck they are. Scene after scene is not just creepy or scary or titillating but also beautifully shot. There are so many amazing images from TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1971) that its hard to just show a few and not turn this post into a still gallery. Here's a couple showing a sequence that seems very influenced by Bava's BLOOD & BLACK LACE. 
It really is an amazing film and I encourage everyone with an interest in Horror movies to seek out not just the first but all four. Some fans even claim the second film is better than the original but I don't agree. You don't have to be a Euro-Cult or Euro Trash fan to enjoy these movies either- just enjoying being creeped out and shocked is all that's required to have one Hell of a time.
Oh! If you're interested in getting a shirt like mine you can buy it from Fright Rags. They are responsible for the equally great Zombie vs. Shark T-shirt I own as well. I recommend their work highly.
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