The Riders of the Whistling Skull

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.

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.

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.

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.

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Betty Marsh" (Mary Russell) coming out West in search of her father who has gone missing while searching for an ancient city rumored to have vast sums of gold. As luck would have it, while riding in that area, the Three Mesquiteers come upon an elderly man who was with Betty's father and just happens to have a book which contains directions to the lost city. Unfortunately, not long after regaining consciousness, the man is murdered and, as a result, the Three Mesquiteers, along with Betty and her companions, set off to find the lost city and rescue Betty's father. To get there, however, they not only have to travel through an extremely hostile territory, but they also have to contend with a murderer within their group who is willing to do whatever is necessary to have the gold all for himself. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, not counting three other films from other various studios, this was the 4th film in the Three Mesquiteers series produced by Republic Pictures. In that regard, like all of its predecessors, this movie has a rather short running time (approximately 58 minutes) as well. Admittedly, the acting is rather basic but, even so, the supernatural element adds a bit of suspense not normally found in any of the others (except possibly, "Ghost Town Gold") and, for that reason, I have rated the film accordingly. Average.