Tombs of the Blind Dead is the first in a series of four and excels in atmosphere — featuring blind knights galloping in slow motion on horseback — along with several particularly gruesome sequences set to a soundtrack of ominous Gregorian chants. Through the legend of the 13th-century Knights Templar, who, after the Crusades, corrupt their faith through a heretical quest for eternal life, Ossorio subtly smuggles in an overt critique of the close alliance between the fascist regime (under General Franco) and the Catholic Church in Spain, which legitimized the dictatorship’s abuses for many years.

From a very different category — the so-called “S” category from the transitional period following Franco’s death — comes the film Mil gritos tiene la noche, literally translated as “The Night Has a Thousand Screams.” This poetic title doesn’t quite do it justice, as this Spanish-American co-production is one of the most notorious slashers ever committed to celluloid. Relentlessly grim, utterly bizarre, and never dull. Despite delightfully inept dialogue and toe-curling English post-synchronization, the film is entertaining because it dares to be exactly what it is: unrestrained, brainless splatter with buckets of slaughterhouse blood and real chainsaws. Better known under the title Pieces, one of the movie’s taglines sums it up perfectly: “It's exactly what you think it is!” Chances are you won’t leave the theater in one piece…