A Mansão da Caveira

In my reassessment process of my first movies watched at my tender age, the large majority had an upgrade of the ratings, in other hand just a few have a downgrading, The House of Skull Mountain is one of them, officially it never come out in Brazil, thus just leaves me call on the last expectancy the Youtube's files, I've found a fine print in English language without subtitles and I went ahead anyway.

The story is about an elderly black woman Pauline Christoph (Mary J. Todd Mackenzie) about to die from Haiti when her descendent was the first King Henry Christoph of Haiti after spelled the French there, a sort of hero who defeated the slavery on French colony, due it Pauline demands to the Priest (Don Devendorf) four letters to their Americans Christoph's bloodline, they appeared too late when Pauline already died, actually no one of them never heard about their progeny coming from Haitian Pauline Christoph, the first one the young gorgeous Lorena Christoph (Janee Michelle), the comes a young male Phillip Willete (Mike Evans) a sort of philandering playboy often spoken in black jargon.

The third mature women Harriet Johnson (Xernoma Clayton) a humble housekeeper and the last one is an Anthropology Professor Dr. Andrew Cunnigham (Victor French) oddly enough a white man even having Christoph's ancestry, gathered all them in a gloomy mansion at high mountain looks like a skull each one has been killed without any reason by Voodoo's cult on the mansion's underground, Phillip fallen down at elevator pit and Harriet is bitten by a poisoned snake at Pauline's room, just remains Lorena and Dr. Andrew alive, in house has a couple of old servants which lie all suspicious about those unusual murders, the bleak Thomas (Jean Durant) and his jealous wife Louette (Ella Woods) although Thomas intents keep with the eye-candy Lorena for yourself.

A kind of Blaxploitation blending with Horror strongly based on Voodoo's cult from African roots, where numerous Haitians used to do at there, bringing to America's south-east and south as well during the slavery time, the movie takes place at nearby Atlanta, Giorgia.

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First watch: 1981 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.

This movie seems to be in a time warp. At times, the plot seems to copy the gathering-of-the-relatives/read-the-will plot which was old even by the 1930s. At other times, it tries to blend in voodoo and blaxploitation themes and even hints at an inter-racial romance. None of these elements really works out and the film comes off as being a hodgepodge. Mike Evans (Lionel on the Jeffersons) only has a small part and a not very good one at that. The film also has a made-for-TV look about it due to the fact that there are really only about 10 or so people in the cast and not much in the way of special effects. The title itself is inappropriate. It sounds like a Hardy Boys Mystery. The servant dabbling in voodoo was kind of creepy though.

I enjoyed this maybe BECAUSE it is so lame. Victor French as Dr. Andrew Cunnigham and Janee Michelle as Lorena Christophe were actually pretty good in their roles. They seem like they are good at their craft, in spite of the silliness of the movie and it's implausible premise. The other folks in the movie had a lot to overcome with the trite lines they were given. At the beginning of the film there is a scene where two of the "heirs" are on a winding mountain road in separate cars on their way to the house (you know---the one on SKULL HILL!). The info about the movie says the house is located in mountains on the outskirts of Atlanta, GA. Right. It was obviously filmed on the Pacific Coast, which is even more "un-voodoo-like" than Atlanta. The terrain, trees and vegetation made the Atlanta location totally unbelievable. And the music! Over-dramatic and hysterical. It's a good movie to watch on a night when your boyfriend is out of town. You can watch it alone and still turn out the lights without being creeped out. I get tired of all the gore in movies today, so this movie at least seems kind of like less of an assault to the senses and kind of harmless. But it still leaves me wondering... How can a movie be so BAD and yet still kind of charming in its own way?

This is a movie that I had never heard of until Duncan selected this for Movie Club Challenge over on the Podcast Under the Stairs. All I knew coming in was that it had a pretty interesting title, was blaxploitation and had to do with voodoo. The synopsis here is murders occur at the southern estate of a voodoo priestess when four relatives gather to hear her will.

We start this movie off Pauline Christophe (Mary J. Todd McKenzie). The priest (Don Devendorf) is giving her last rites. She asks Thomas Pettione (Jean Durand) to bring her letter box and wants the priest to mail off the letters inside. We also see that she is into voodoo once he leaves.

This brings together a group of cousins to this house that is located on a mountain with a skull face on the side. Lorena Christophe (Janee Michelle) has to deal with her jerk of a cousin, Phillippe Wilette (Mike Evans) as he almost runs her off the road. It is high up on a cliff and he is spooked by a skull that he sees that causes him to pull off. They both arrive as the funeral for Pauline is coming to an end. We get an odd scene where a raven drops what we will learn later is a voodoo item on the casket. It starts a fire causing Louette (Ella Woods) to panic and want the casket covered by dirt immediately.

Thomas greets the two cousins, where we get an odd scene where Phillippe is hitting on Lorena. They're shown to their rooms and informed they have to wait for the others before the will can be read.

The next is Harriet Johnson (Xernona Clayton). She's on a plane and gets a fright when she sees a hooded figure a few rows up look at her. She screams and draws the attention of everyone. She comes to the house on the mountain. We learn throughout these introductions that despite being cousins, they've never met. Through Thomas they learn that Pauline was a descendant of King Henry of Haiti. He led the revolution against the French. He was also involved with voodoo, much like Pauline.

This trio briefly meets Mr. Ledoux (Leroy Johnson), the attorney that will read the will. He tells them that he cannot until Dr. Andrew Cunningham arrives. This annoys Phillippe who is a jerk, where the other two want to get back to their lives, but understand. Andrew does show up that night, but to their shock, he is white. Andrew (Victor French) greets his cousins and gives a bit of his back-story. He's a doctor of anthropology and teaches in college. Phillippe doesn't trust him for the color of his skin.

Things take a turn though when we see that someone is doing voodoo rituals. There are skulls throughout the house. There was a warning from the letter read to them that they do have enemies who are now aware of them. The first victim is Phillippe, but none of them are safe. Who is behind this and can they stop it before it is too late?

This movie explores some interesting things for me. The first is that it is combining the older 'Old Dark House' film with voodoo. That works for me since this is a blaxploitation take. Voodoo is culturally a Caribbean thing so if you're going to make this sub-genre into something that is your own, then combing these two is a way to do it. It is something that worked for me.

What I also enjoy here is that this is another more serious take from blaxploitation. I don't recall what Lorena's job was, but she seems pretty successful. Phillippe is in the same vein, but I'll delve more into him shortly. Pauline is descended from royalty and is the most powerful voodoo priestess in the area. She has a butler and maid with Thomas and Louette. The more we learn about Thomas he falls into this. Then finally we have Mr. Ledoux who is an attorney. There is also a black doctor as well.

Something that shocked me was to have the fourth cousin here be Andrew. He is a doctor and the movie is saying that he is a descendant. It feels like they went with the actor French as he had a career already so it could be a name draw. It would make more sense to me to have a black actor who was a bit more lighter skinned for this role in my opinion. I still like French in this movie, but it is a bit of a misstep for me.

Regardless though, I do like the voodoo aspects to this movie. The house is a great setting and even more that there are secret rooms. I think this helps to build the tension. It also works that Andrew is a doctor of anthropology. He was drawn to learning about voodoo for some reason, which we learn is heritage and probably in his DNA. It is even more fitting who the reveal is to be behind things and the reason they are being done.

Since I've already went into this a bit, I'll go into the acting. I've already said my piece with French. I don't necessarily think he fit for what they needed, but his performance was good. I liked Michelle as the damsel in distress that is one of our leads. Durand was good. Evans is interesting as he's a jerk. I like that he embodies that 'jive' type of person, but he's not a good person. I don't necessarily think he deserves what he got. Clayton, Woods, McKenzie and the rest of the cast were fine for what was needed.

Taking this next to the effects of the movie, which we don't get a lot and what we get are cheesy. I'll take it though. It is the 1970s so there is a bit of charm there. The house is either a miniature or it is a matte painting. My problem is that they don't do a great job of showing it where it is dark and gloomy, but the characters are seeing it is bathed in sunlight. This is also taking place in Georgia so it is sunnier and warmer. This doesn't ruin anything, but I noticed. Aside from that, I like what they do with the voodoo. We keep seeing this creepy hooded figure; there are snakes and other things that are associated with voodoo. The house is a great setting on top of this as well.

The last thing I'll delve into was the soundtrack. For the most part it didn't really stand out, but I like the drums for the voodoo rituals. At first I was confused about this and where they were coming from. By the end the movie does explain this so I'm on board there. I do think that the voodoo bit we get at the climax runs a bit long and starts to feel like filler, but not enough to ruin it.

So now with that said, this movie explores some interesting things while also being a bit cheesy. I really like combining the 'Old Dark House' sub-genre, but making it blaxploitation with voodoo. I thought that the acting is good across the board. The effects we get are solid, but I do have some slight issues with things here and there. It is mostly seeing the house on the mountain from afar. There is also an issue with the casting for me, but not enough to ruin this. Aside from that, this is adding a bit of the whimsical of this sub-genre, while still giving us a movie that is solid. I would rate this as above average overall and worth a viewing if what I said ticks any of your boxes.

Called away to a remote house, a woman and her ancestors gathered together for a will reading find that a powerful voodoo spell has been enacted which begins to kill them off and forces the remaining family members to put a stop to its ancestor's plans.

This here was quite the enjoyable Blaxploitation offering. One of the more enjoyable elements featured here is the fact that the Blaxploitation angle makes for an incredibly fun and enjoyable introduction to the voodoo at play. That's a big part of this one, coming off almost immediately with the opening shots of the tribal ceremony featuring all the dancers in the middle of their ritual while they prepare all the different trinkets and artifacts that start this one off on a great note. The later scenes throughout the house where we get the flashes of the ghostly ancestor raised and warding off the remaining parts of the family offer up some really thrilling moments here as the frequency and unexpectedness of them work and given the inserts showing the the practitioner engaging the ceremonial practices in his room where he has the paraphernalia laid out as he sets about his rituals which offer some fun, cheesy thrills here. It manages to really explore the idea of voodooism quite nicely in really letting the supernatural take-over here, from the need for keeping the objects of power and control around to the matter of the controlled bodies engaging in dangerous activities through the voodoo spell and it really gives this one the kind of building blocks to get a lot of great atmosphere during here which carries over nicely into the finale which features some fantastic voodoo-based action here. Going from the discovery of the ceremonial chamber beneath the house where the dancers are in the middle of their rituals with the entire room lit up using black candles before the fine brawl and leading up into the atmospheric confrontation in the finale, it's got so much to like here. There wasn't much of anything wrong with this one. The main issue here is the fact that the main backstory is given a really large portion of the film which is a little weird to have. The fact that it consists of a long portion of the film is what really hurts it, since it would've been far easier had this done the simple thing and just clumped them all together in one segment without having to jump around with having so many parts in different places as it wasn't that hard to figure out anyway and didn't need the trickery into thinking it was harder to figure out than it really was. The last part here is the scene near the end where they go out on the town. Since it's so close to the end, everything has been figured out and the horror should begin to grow in intensity, as it's after the voodoo ceremony scene, yet this one doesn't do that and it's really hard to understand why it's even there in the first place, serving no purpose for the story and coming across as filler. Beyond these two problems, it's not that bad.

Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and Language.