The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake

Jonathan Drake (Eduard Franz) and his brother Kenneth (Paul Cavanagh) are the latest in the line of Drake men and as such must suffer the curse placed upon the men of their family for ages. This curse dates back for centuries and involves heads being severed and shrunken.

This is an effective touch in the screenplay by Orville H. Hampton, which is fairly strong and violent stuff for 1959. Capable B movie director Edward L. Cahn, whose credits include the sci-fi thriller "It! The Terror from Beyond Space", is at the helm of this decent programmer. It's nothing special, but not bad, either. As one can see, it's not without its creepy elements, although it's awfully talky for much of its running time. It's clearly not too concerned about functioning as a mystery, as our villain is revealed much sooner than we expect, and it becomes a matter of waiting for our protagonists to get caught up to speed.

It benefits from a pretty strong cast. Franz, usually a supporting actor or bit player in features (such as the classic "The Thing from Another World") is wholly believable in a lead role. Grant Richards co-stars as the intrepid police detective Jeff Rowan, who goes through the biggest character arc in the story, as a hard-headed man who believes in rational and sane explanations who's forced to acknowledge some truly unreal things. Valerie French is Franz's worried daughter, Paul Wexler the most memorable character in the film as the Jivaro Indian henchman who's had his lips sewn shut, and Henry Daniell is lots of fun as the intense archaeologist Dr. Emil Zurich.

A short running time (71 minutes) ensures that the story go on no longer than it needs to, while a thunderous score by Paul Dunlap plays in the background. Those shrunken heads, designed by Charles Gemora, are really quite convincing; in general, the special effects, what little there are, are well done. In the end, this little film does have some potency going for it as well as some entertaining climactic action and revelations. Fans of the B movies of the era should find this a reasonable diversion.

Six out of 10.

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is, by some miracle, a notch above the typical Robert E. Kent produced dross. Not just another Cahn catastrophe, it features what must have been some shocking scenes in 1959 involving decapitation, head shrinking, and, er, lip sewing, for want of a more technical phrase. Decent atmosphere and enough chills to give the little ones a fright.

My VHS copy of this film-taken from a television broadcast 25 years ago is never long on the shelf. I show this film alot. This is one of those rare films that stands alone. It defies being pigeonholed. The plot is one of a kind. Although the budget appears to be slight the film actually benefits from this. The acting is high caliber. I remember as a kid originally seeing it late one Saturday night on Chiller Theatre (out of Pittsburgh Pa.) The headhunter with his lips sown shut haunted my dreams for weeks! Fans of B-movies should make an effort to see this film. It would be an excellent candidate for restoration and digital release.

I remember seeing this film on the old "Chiller Theatre" TV show

back in the early 60's (NYC), and it scared the ---- out of me!

Actor Franz is EXCELLENT in this film, and Paul Cavenaugh (who plays Drake's brother) is best remembered for his appearances in Sherlock Holmes films (most notably, "Scarlet Claw").

Plus, if you think about it, it's the only film i can recall that has to do with shrunken heads!

Definitely a MUST-SEE! Norm

I just recently viewed this film for the first time and was surprised at some of the more gory elements of this film. It was made in 1959, and it dealt with decapitation and shrunken heads. Although it didn't actually show the decapitation, it did show the skin being removed from a decapitated skull. By today's horror standards it was pretty mild (this picture was filmed in glorious black and white so you don't get the blood red effect of today's films) but nonetheless, it was pretty gory for it's day.

The story revolves around Jonathan Drake (portayed by Eduard Franz), the remaining male survivor of his family. His family has been cursed since his grandfather's time by a tribe of Amazon indians that were slaughtered by his grandfather and several other men.

Henry Daniell is just great as the creepy Dr. Zurich. There are several other strong supporting performances by Grant Richards as the stalwart Detective Jeff Rowan and Paul Cavanaugh as Kenneth Drake, Jonathan Drake's brother, who unfortunately loses his head to fulfill the "Drake Curse".

I did laugh a few times during the movie...Paul Wexler portrays Xutai, one of the Amazon indians, and he has to be seen to be believed. Even with his mouth sewn shut he looked more funny to me than menacing. Also you can tell that this movie was filmed on a very low budget. The sets are pretty substandard.

Despite these minor flaws I found this movie to be highly entertaining.