The Skull

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee working together again here, though for Amicus this time, not Hammer. Despite the good cast, "The Skull" looks like a low budget studio production, quickly shot - and with the "monster" being a skull flying on visible wires, this easily could have gone awry. But the movie works surprisingly well, first of all due to an excellent script based on a story by Robert Bloch ("Psycho"): Maitland (Cushing) shares an interest in the occult with Phillips (Lee) who warns him to get rid of a skull possessed by a demonic spirit. Of course Maitland doesn't listen and gets into trouble. Because the skull hasn't got any claws to catch victims, the terror has to be mostly psychological, and this is done brilliantly for example in the surreal dream sequence when Maitland believes a judge asks him for a Russian roulette. The extremely colorful photography of John Wilcox ("Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires") makes "The Skull" look really good - knowing that, they let the caretaker fall through coloured glass, not simply on the floor. In opposite to other horror films of the 1960s, "The Skull" still seems quite original, not a story you saw a dozen times before. Well worth watching.

On paper, the 1965 Amicus production "The Skull" would seem to be a surefire winner. Based on a story by Robert "Psycho" Bloch, directed by horror veteran Freddie Francis, starring British horror icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and featuring such sterling character actors as Michael Gough, Nigel Green, Patrick Wymark and Jill Bennett, it would seem like a can't-miss proposition. While the film is undeniably fun, however, it somehow falls short of greatness. In it, Cushing plays an occult investigator who comes into possession of the 150-year-old, particularly nasty-looking skull of the notorious libertine the Marquis de Sade, and comes under the influence of its baleful and hypnotic powers. (Indeed, it's more like the skull has come into possession of him!) The film features strikingly handsome sets, a justly celebrated and Kafkaesque dream sequence, stylish direction from Francis (dig those skull's head POV shots!), and, near the picture's end, a very interesting and suspenseful 20-minute segment largely devoid of dialogue. While some viewers have complained of visible strings attached to the levitating skull, that really didn't bother me (a single wire is barely visible for perhaps two seconds); what did vex me is that we never learn of the skull's evil doings between the time of its disinterment and its modern-day shenanigans. It MUST have been up to something during those 150 years, right? The film also seems a bit tentative in that it never lets Cushing become truly possessed and crazed; how much better the picture would have been if ol' Pete really went on a tear! Still, watching Cushing and Lee together has long been one of the supreme pleasures of horror cinema, and this little movie does have its winning ways. It's no "Creeping Flesh" or "Horror Express," but still most enjoyable.

"The Skull" definitely isn't on par with the other contemporary Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee pairings, from Hammer or Amicus or whatever other production studios, but it nevertheless remains an interesting and worthwhile slice of 60's Brit-horror. Freddie Francis was always one of the most gifted horror directors in Britain and provides the film with a continuously gloomy and sinister atmosphere. Moreover, he was an even more gifted cinematographer and assures a large number of inventive shots (like, for example, a point of view from inside the skull), while the always reliable Peter Cushing gives away a marvelous lead performance. However, the film specifically struggles with two major shortcomings, namely a) the fact that the script is based on a short story (by Robert Bloch) and it's not exactly fit for a long-feature film and b) the absence of an actual evil villain/monster of flesh and blood. Cushing depicts an avid collector of occult objects who obtains – illegally – the skull of the one and only Marquis de Sade. Fellow collector and former owner of the skull Christopher Lee attempts to warn his colleague about the mysterious and psychedelic forces homing inside the Marquis' skull, but naturally he doesn't listen. During the first two nights of the next new moon, however, he dramatically learns that the skull turns its owner into a helpless murder-committing marionette. I haven't read Bloch's short story, but I presume something went wrong during the processing into a movie screenplay, as there a few too many dull moments and a lack of clarity regarding the skull's incredible powers. The intro, a certain dream sequence and a few flashbacks are extraordinary (what is it with the English and foggy cemeteries). The climax is rather silly instead of frightening, with the skull floating around with the help of clearly noticeable strings as well as grotesque camera gestures and color patterns. Cushing and Lee obviously steal the show, but keep also an eye open for two genuine British cult heroes in minuscule roles: Michael Gough ("Horror Hospital") and Patrick Magee ("A Clockwork Orange").

This was among the first vintage horror films I recall watching, but it took me this long to re-acquaint myself with it (after I had foolishly abandoned the prospect of a second viewing as part of a late-night Italian TV program hosted by two amiable ghouls – the same thing would also happen with Hammer's FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL [1974], which I then had to wait some 13 years to catch up with!).

Anyay, though the film's premise, in itself, is rather daft – that of a host of antiquarians being 'possessed' by the skull of the Marquis De Sade – the result is very stylish and altogether one of Hammer rival Amicus' most satisfying outings. Apart from director Francis, the men behind Amicus – Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky (the latter also scripted, from a story by Robert Bloch of PSYCHO [1960] fame) – again recruited Hammer's two most popular stars, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, for this production. As ever, they play extremely well off each other – even if Lee, ostensibly, is only a "Guest Star" – delivering typically committed performances: Cushing has fun acting crazy – under the influence of the skull – towards the end (and also during a surreal nightmare sequence in which he's forcefully taken before a judge who promptly hands him a gun to play at Russian Roulette!), whereas Lee gives surprising poignancy to his role. Supporting them is a splendid cast indeed – led by Patrick Wymark, who actually matches the stars with his seedy supplier of generally weird artifacts, and the brief (albeit equally welcome) presence of the likes of George Coulouris, Michael Gough, Nigel Green and Patrick Magee!

While Francis creates wonderful atmosphere via the cinematography (particularly when shooting through the skull's eyehole) and the set design (the film starts off as a period piece but then reverts to a modern-day setting for the central plot line), I do feel that the possibilities presented by the nonetheless intriguing theme are regrettably constrained by censorship and budgetary restrictions – so that the Marquis De Sade's legacy seems somehow to have been mixed up with that of Jack The Ripper! In any case, THE SKULL is generally considered nowadays as Francis' best directorial effort – though I personally feel NIGHTMARE (1964), THE PSYCHOPATH (1966) and THE CREEPING FLESH (1973) to be superior to it

Simple story of a complex man wishing to possess a skull once the lifelong possession of the long dead Marquis De Sade which is now possessed by evil forces and which possesses him to possess it and other evil artifacts whatever the cost. Whatever possessed Robert Bloch to ever write such a charming short story I'll never know – it was more in the mind with his stories, the film of course had to be more supernatural and a darker shade more dramatic.

It was a fine Amicus production with great roles for both Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee (and also a memorable part from Patrick Wymark) with many atmospheric scenes and images – as a pair of collectors of objects d'art the production values had the opportunity to be and were sumptuous. Are there really weird people around who like to be surrounded at all times by evil and perverse ornaments and objects, apart from politicians I mean? It's the type of cerebral film to watch at night with the doors and windows closed and locked against the elements and elemental forces, looking over your shoulder to make sure you're still alone. I was entranced by it at age 12, but now it's not so spooky occasionally looking through the eye holes of a skull at various people through the eye holes of middle age; also the floating skull scenes were always borderline risible, but they just about got away with it. The rather flat end might leave you scratching your head too, as the moral is? But maybe I'm just too thick-skulled to get it. Seriously though, this is a wonderful waste of time and engrossing nonsense from start to finish especially if you can get your head round it all.