The Riders of the Whistling Skull

Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A woman's father goes missing looking for a lost Indian city. Soon a survivor from the exploration shows up with bizarre terrors so The Three Mesquiteers (Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune) agree to help the woman search for her father and the lost city.

RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL often gets called the best "Western- horror" film but that's a bit of a stretch. I'm not going to challenge it being called the best of its sub-genre but at the same time, to be honest, there aren't too many horror elements, although the haunting and curse of the lost city is enough to make it of slight interest to horror fans who might not other wise watch a film with The Three Mesquiteers.

With that said, for the most part this is a pretty entertaining Western as Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune are all in fine form and Mary Russell is also good in her role as the daughter. The supporting players contain some very bad performances but nothing to take away from the entertainment. There are several nice action scenes and of course several scenes where our heroes are in peril and have to find a way out.

I thought the stuff dealing with the lost city was handled well. RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL isn't going to be mistaken for the work of John Ford but it's entertaining.

Plot - The 3 hero buddies join a girl (Russell) and others, all determined to find her missing archaeoloist dad in a strange Indian land far from settler civilization.

The flick's a genuine oater oddity. The 3 Mesquiteers and their allies are arrayed against a mysterious rock skull and its hostile Indian cult, with hints of preternatural happenings surrounding the ugly skull. For example, there's the apparently dead Indian woman suddenly and jarringly coming to life. Now, oaters of old may not have been known for their realism, but here there's a strange air of an 'other world' that may be lurking behind the disappearance of the archaeologist.

And dig that spectacular Technicolor cliff-scape, whose jagged rocks the two warring sides climb, clamber, and fall from. It's a landscape from Mars and unlike the usual cowboy wilderness. Oddly, the effect is all from inspired location filming, with no studio backdrops in sight. And catch the many creative camera angles and set-ups that magnify the strange visual atmosphere.

There's also plenty of action that largely replaces the usual talk or character development; instead, it's the rocks and cliffs that get center stage. Then too, shouldn't overlook that big rock-slide near the end that still has me wondering how they did it, and in only an 8-day filming schedule. My only complaint is the apparent use of a trip-wire to bring down two horses head-over-heels and probably to their doom. Good thing the movie practice was soon outlawed.

I suspect the flick's been generally overlooked because of a strangeness that doesn't easily fit into the matinee cowboy genre. Now, I'm not saying the flick's a sleeper classic or hidden gem. Instead it's definitely a weird one-of-a-kind and should not be missed. So catch it if you can.

The Riders Of The Whistling Skull is The Three Mesquiteers best and most famous adventure and the best B-western of the nineteen-thirties, with more action, thrills, and suspense in it's fifty-three minutes than in all twelve chapters of some of Republic Pictures' serials!

The story involves the Three Mesquiteers and their search for the missing father of a pretty archaeologist, kidnapped by a sinister Indian cult after discovering the lost city of Lukachukai and it's treasure, all surrounding the creepy rock formation known as The Whistling skull.

This is first rate all the way with great locations and lots of weird touches like the cult's ritual dance (with a young Iron Eyes Cody in attendance) and the "mummy" who stands up and brandishes a knife!

I recommend this heartily to fans of B-westerns and to people who want to witness the best that the genre has to offer.

Oliver Drake is one of my script-writing heroes, but his work here is just not up to his usual standard. Much of the story doesn't quite hold together, and, besides, it looks like somebody's idea for a serial after somebody (Pappy Yates?) changed his mind.

However, it does star the Three Mesquiteers, and all three get a chance to shine.

In fact, Crash Corrigan even gets to remove his shirt. (What a gorgeous specimen he was, even still when I met him, just a month before he died. He started as a physical fitness expert and continued to take care of himself.)

Probably the best way to enjoy "Riders of the Whistling Skull" is to ignore the story and appreciate the action, of which there is plenty, and the scenery, including the Whistling Skull of the title.

Yakima Canutt is present so you know there will be lots of stunts, and some very good ones.

Another reviewer mentions the "comradery" among the three and it's true there is almost no friction this time, except for a little joshing.

Lullaby, in an interesting change, ends up with a lady, but "ends up" surely means only till the next entry in the series.

It's a rather weak 3M movie, but the series itself was always uneven, with different eras and different roles for the heroes. Still, it's a pleasant enough way to spend about an hour.

One of the most interesting of the Three Mesquiteer films has the guys getting involved in an archaeological expedition to find a hidden treasure guarded by a legendary Indian cult, presumably descendants of the Aztecs because they believe in human sacrifice. At least Robert Livingston almost ends up being barbecued at the stake.

Mary Russell's father and his partner went off in search of the cult and the partner came back, but he's murdered in one of those locked room puzzles. Despite or maybe because of the fact the Three Mesquiteers were in the room they go along to find a treasure and capture a killer.

These modern Aztec type cultists have kept up with modern weaponry because of their leader and when you find out who it is that will be self explanatory.

I'm agreeing that the film does resemble some of those cult Kharis mummy films some of which were not all that good. The end is a rather spectacular climax where the cultists are wiped out. Mother nature has more to do with it than the Mesquiteers.

Mesquiteer fans should enjoy this.