Le poignard de bambou

The movie concerned the death of Jonathan's brother and the brother's missing head. Of course the fact that his head is missing isn't discovered until the funeral. Then the realization hits that the brother's death and decapitation is because of a curse put on their grandfather by a South American tribe he had cheated. At this point Jonathan considers there is a strong possibility that he is next. That thought occurs when he awakens in the middle of the night to discover a rather gruesome looking native, with his mouth sewn shut, standing over him with a long, sharp knife. Now he, family and friends must find a way to save his life. It's too bad most of you will never see this in the theater. (Eduard Franz and Henry Daniell were great actors!)

Seeing it again a few years ago (over 50), I could see all the fallacies and the real lack of anything to be afraid of, it was pretty phony in loads of places. And, compared to what the producers and directors put out today, it, also, was pretty tame. But one more thing I will say scary though it might have been then, now I consider it fun.

Wow! For a relatively obscure late fifties programmer, this minor little film has gotten a lot of rave reviews in this forum. Thankfully, this film was not (apparently) ripped on an episode of MST3K. If that were the case, I'm sure this site would be filled with negative and mostly silly, smart-alecky comments by persons who would rather come across as sounding clever than providing informed opinions and interesting comments. I'll beat them to it; how about "The Four Numb Skulls of Jonathan Drake"?

Having seen this film for the first time since the early seventies, I can only say that most of the raves about this film are influenced by nostalgia. I should know, there are many unremarkable films that bring back fond memories to me as well. Its not an unsung classic, but it has it moments. The Jivaro witchdoctor with his mouth sewn shut because he doesn't have to breath or eat (apparently, he doesn't have to talk either) was rather creepy. Although a bit slow at times, the film is not cluttered with any extraneous material. Every scene in the film has to do with the supernatural goings on. There is a hint of romance between the police detective and Drakes daughter, but it is kept to a minimum. The writers seemed to have done their homework on shrunken heads, the process described in the film is correct, although it takes a lot longer than shown here.

The films direction is rather poor. Edward L. Cahn seemed only interested in getting the film done quickly. The cast looks as if they were on their own. Now, this doesn't matter to much for seasoned professionals like Henry Daniel or Ed Franz, but rest of the cast looks lost. The film is shot on only a handful of sets. Everyone wanders in and out of the house through out the film. Overall, THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE is a not bad programmer horror film, despite Cahn's direction. This film was paired with the Cahn helmed INVISIBLE INVADERS when it first came out. I would say FSKOJD was clearly the superior of the pair.

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.

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 was nine years old when i saw this film and it scared the crap out of me and i have never forgot how bad. I was so scared i had my face covered though half of the movie. My mother took me to the movies for the first time to see this movie and the admission price was 15 cents . There is some things in your life you just don't forget. Would love to see it again.

Bob