The People Who Own the Dark – Severin Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1976
Director: León Klimovsky
Writers: Gabriel Moreno Burgos, Vicente Aranda
Cast: Nadiuska, Alberto de Mendoza, Teresa Gimpera, Emiliano Redondo, Julia Saly, Tomás Picó, Diana Polakov, Antonio Mayans, Maria Perschy, Paul Naschy

Release Date: February 3rd, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 99 Minutes 57 Seconds (Spanish Cut), 83 Minutes 2 Seconds (U.S. Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Spanish Cut), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (U.S. Cut)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish (Spanish Cut), DTS-HD Mono English (U.S. Cut)
Subtitles: English (Spanish Cut), English SDH (U.S. Cut)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $219.95 (Exorcismo: Defying A Dictator & Raising Hell In Post-Franco Spain)

Video: 5/5 (Spanish Cut), 19.5 GB (U.S. Cut)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "4K scan from original camera negative provided by Vivavision. 4K scan from the 35mm print of the U.S. cut scanned by Severin Films."

The People Who Own the Dark comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.4 GB

Feature: 23.7 GB (Spanish Cut), 19.5 GB (U.S. Cut)

The Spanish cut’s source looks excellent, free of any distracting imperfections. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Although this new transfer is a substantial improvement over Code Red’s Blu-ray, some source damage remains. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, compression is solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

The Spanish cut comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds excellent; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

The U.S. cut comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio is a noticeable improvement over Code Red’s Blu-ray release; dialogue always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced.

Extras:

Extras for The People Who Own the Dark include a U.S. theatrical trailer (1 minute 5 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview titled A Unique Iconography In Spanish Terror with Ángel Sala, head of programming at the Sitges Film Festival (18 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Antonio Mayans titled Joking on Set (9 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn, film historians/co-hosts of NaschyCast for the Spanish cut.

The People Who Own the Dark is currently only available as part of a collection of films titled Exorcismo: Defying A Dictator & Raising Hell In Post-Franco Spain. That release comes with 17 additional films, a documentary about Spanish cinema titled Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada "S," and a 168-page book.

Summary:

León Klimovsky directed The People Who Own the Dark. He frequently worked with Paul Naschy. His notable films are Werewolf Shadow, Vengeance of the Zombies, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse, and The Vampires’ Night Orgy.

The narrative revolves around a group of wealthy aristocrats and politicians getting together for a night of debauchery with some ladies in the dungeon of a castle. What should have been a decadent night of pleasure quickly turned into a walking nightmare. The partygoers discover that they are the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust.

The primary reason The People Who Own the Dark is effective lies in its intriguing premise and rich atmosphere. That said, there are many moments in which the narrative tends to drag, and yet the end result is a very eerie post-apocalyptic thriller that comes damn close to pulling off all its ambitions.

The People Who Own the Dark’s greatest strength is its scenes involving the blind (zombie-like characters) who shambled around town and eventually followed the survivors of the nuclear holocaust back to their home. The People Who Own the Dark features a notable amount of nudity and sexual content, along with sufficiently gory kills.

The cast performs well in their roles, and while no single performance stands out, many viewers who are interested in The People Who Own the Dark are particularly drawn to Paul Naschy (Horror Rises from the Tomb) in the role of Borne. That said, the cast is filled with many recognizable faces like Nadiuska (Beatriz), Alberto de Mendoza (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), Antonio Mayans (Cries of Pleasure), and Maria Perschy (Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll). Ultimately, The People Who Own the Dark is a Spanish post-apocalyptic film that is equal parts Night of the Living Dead and The Omega Man.

A note about the two versions: while the Spanish version is longer, these extra moments are further fleshing out of characters, and they do not feature any additional sleaze or gore. That said, the English language version omits about 16 minutes of footage, and it has different opening credits.

Severin Films gives The People Who Own the Dark a definitive release. Highly recommended.

                                                    Spanish Cut Screenshots.

                                                             U.S. Cut Screenshots.

Written by Michael Den Boer