The Skull DVD Cover, which originally released in 1965
© Paramount /Legend Films

Mania Grade: B-
DVD: The Skull
Rated: Not Rated
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Patrick Wymark, Jill Bennett, Nigel Green
Written By: Robert Bloch and Milton Subotsky
Directed By: Freddie Francis
Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment/Legend Films
Original Year of Release: 2008(DVD)
Extras: Original trailer
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DVD Review of THE SKULL

From the film’s opening it has all the trade marks of a classic Hammer Film; low budget sets, the gothic atmosphere, a black cat, the scantily clad woman with large breasts and, of course, the stars of the film: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. However, The Skull is not a Hammer Film. In actuality it is the fourth film produced by Amicus Productions. Founded in 1962, they produced low budget horror and science fiction films. Their most notable tiles are: Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), also starring Cushing, and The House That Dripped Blood (1971), starring both Lee and Cushing.

Cushing plays Dr. Christopher Maitland, a collector of strange and rare antiquities with tastes that run more exotic and bizarre. His chief competitor in London’s market is Matthew Phillips (Lee). Phillips had one object stolen from his collection that was illegally sold to Maitland, an item he was actually glad to see go. The item in question is the skull of the Marquis de Sade, which bares a horrible curse.

There are two moments, outside of the finale, that are outright creepy. The skull’s back story and how it became separated from its body is classic horror from the era. The other creepy moment comes when Dr. Maitland is abducted by a secret society that has connections to the skull; however this strange and nightmarish sequence has little pay off or meaning to the overall story. 

The first half of the film plays out Maitland’s life as a collector and his gentlemen rivalry with Matthew Phillips. Interestingly enough Lee is billed as a guest star in the film. One would assume he would show up for a mere scene and be done, the equivalent of a cameo. Lee, who is billed second on the DVD, has three long brilliant scenes in the film all with Cushing. Fans of their films will enjoy seeing the two of them has regular men chatting up the macabre. The rest of the film however, is Cushing acquiring the skull with sub par actors.

The better parts of the film are Cushing, the skull and nothing else. The internal struggle for Maitland comes to the surface and at times one wishes The Skull was a stage play and not a movie. The skull and Maitland have a battle of wills amongst the cheap special effects. Without Cushing’s gravitas these scenes would be considered cheap.

Based on a story by Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho (novel), The Skull is very much in the vein of Edgar Allen Poe. What’s at stake is a struggle for one man’s soul and, like Poe, Bloch tells a tale that wraps a decent man in evil’s embrace forcing him to choose between what he has and what he wants. 

For fans of Hammer Films, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing The Skull will make a fine addition to the dark strange films of the era. If big gothic sets, bloodless horror and two old veterans of the silver screen talking it up do nothing for you then stay away.