Powerful

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Brilliant and touching

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

An early attempt by Amicus at a Hammer style horror movie, The Skull opens in wonderful Gothic mode with a night-time grave robbing scene, complete with unkempt, windblown cemetery, creaky metal gate, random owl hoots and a howling dog (the foley artist really went to town on this one). The desecrated grave in question turns out to be that of the infamous Marquis De Sade, the reason for the illicit exhumation being the retrieval of his skull, which is apparently host to an ancient demon called Baalberith, who drives men to commit blasphemy and murder.Unfortunately, the enjoyably excessive Gothic atmosphere of the film's opening scene is virtually abandoned when, many years later, said skull falls into the hands of obsessive antiques collector Dr. Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing), who becomes possessed by the demon and proceeds to do its evil bidding. Apart from director Freddie Francis's (over)use of unusual POV shots and a couple of cool floating skull shots, the film exhibits very little flair or innovation, lacks genuine thrills, features almost no graphic gruesomeness, and quickly becomes tiresome. The film's most interesting aspect—the involvement of a secret satanic society—goes absolutely nowhere (and seems to exist purely to pad out the weak story to feature length).It says a lot when my favourite scene in the whole film is Maitland playing snooker against fellow antiquities collector Sir Matthew Phillips (played by Christopher Lee): despite owning his own snooker room, Phillips seems to possess zero skill at the game, randomly hitting balls to no avail (although he does rack up some points on the score-board, the cheat!). Maitland is equally as inept. At least the film gave me a few giggles, I suppose.

The entire point of this review is that Peter Cushing in a movie can do no wrong. He can take the stupidest script and make it sound believable. From skulls to finger bones to Van Helsing he was always on the mark. The world of film and the world at large is poorer for his passing in 1994. I have tried to collect his films but there are so many that it is hard to find new quality DVD transfers of all of them.I have heard many people talk about him, from Christopher Lee to unknown co-stars. Not one had anything to say except what a loving and giving person he was. Not a soul I have heard has a bad memory of him. There is a worthwhile documentary called "Fanex Films - Hammer Films" where many people who worked with him are interviewed and speak at length.

Based on a Robert Bloch story of the same name. I remember watching this as a kid and was blown away by it. It was so nasty and evil with nightmare vision. So when I noticed some topics on another board I thought this is the perfect time to watch this on DVD. How wrong I was as this Amicus classic is not available on DVD. Fortunately I knew this chap who loaned me a copy. This is an amicus production and stars the two horror great, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The basic story is about a skull that i offered for sale as an antique curio. Lee warns Cushing not to take it as the skull belongs to that of the Marque de Sade. Lee says it made him do strange things and when it was stolen he was happy that it was away from him. Cushing decides that he needs it. Then the fun begins... This movie was made about 1965 and it is a classic.

1814: A scientist called Pierre (Maurice Good) opens the grave of the Marquis De Sade and steals his skull for his research. When he takes it home the skull exerts its occult powers and kills him by tearing his throat out. The story moves forward to contemporary England where old friends Professor Maitland (Peter Cushing), a writer about demonology and Sir Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) are attending an auction sale of macabre exhibits. Maitland is surprised when Sir Matthew bids an excessively high sum for four statuettes of the divinities of hell. That night Maitland is visited by the shady Marco (Patrick Wymark) who provides him with material for his research. He sells him a book on the life of De Sade bound in human skin. But on the following night he returns with a human skull, which he claims is that of the Marquis himself. However, he is unable to convince Maitland of its authenticity. Maitland pays Sir Matthew a visit who assures him that it is the real thing as it was stolen from him and that he is glad of it. He warns Maitland about its occult properties, it is possessed by an evil spirit and Sir Matthew bought the statuettes under its influence. Ignoring Sir Matthew's warnings, Maitland becomes obsessed with owning the skull and goes to Marco's room where he finds him dead, his throat torn out. He steals the skull and its evil power immediately manifests itself. First it wills Maitland to steal the statue of Lucifer from Sir Matthew whom he kills in the process and then to stab his wife, Jane (Jill Bennett), to death. However, the crucifix around her neck prevents him from doing so and the skull turns on Maitland instead. The following morning Jane finds her husband dead with his throat torn out.Oscar-winning Cinematographer turned director Freddie Francis became firmly associated with the British horror boom of the sixties somewhat reluctantly. Indeed he was all too often handed inferior material to work on and the lacklustre direction he gave to those films clearly showed his disinterest. But his better genre work revealed him to be as talented a director as he was a cameraman. Those handful of pictures strongly suggested a film maker who would have achieved the same degree of acclaim as a director that he did as a Cinematograopher had he been able to diversify away from horror into other subjects.The Skull, which was made for Amicus for whom Francis directed their noted portmanteau horror films, Dr Terror's House Of Horrors (1965) and Torture Garden (1967) certainly ranks among these and Francis' much praised visual style is evident throughout the movie. The thing that most people remember about The Skull is the point-of-view shots used to heighten the presence of the skull's malevolent spirit. These were achieved by a skull mask being fixed on to the lens of a hand held camera, which was operated by Francis wearing roller skates and being pushed along the set by the prop men to give the impression of Cushing being attacked by the skull. The final scene also has the camera shooting through the skull's eye sockets as the police (Nigel Green and Patrick Magee) discuss the possible cause of Cushing's bloody demise. "Some sort of witchcraft" suggests Magee. "No not nowadays" replies Green and it is clear that the evil spirit is watching them as if saying "That's what you think fools!" Other splendid visual touches include flashing blobs of light on the walls of Cushing's study and an hourglass, which turns of its own accord with the sand begin to fill the bottom glass as an indication of a victim's imminent doom at the hand of the skull. Amazingly although the film is now forty-six years old, the special effects work still looks reasonable since the wires are cleverly disguised (most of the time although you can briefly glimpse them in a close up of the floating skull at the climax) in the shots where the skull is floating through the air, which must have posed a tremendous challenge for the filmmakers at the time. Bill Constable's set design is impressive especially Cushing's study decked out with Gothic figurines. John Wilcox's colour Cinemascope camera-work and Elizabeth Luyens' eerie score all combine to give the proceedings a genuinely creepy atmosphere. What The Skull lacks in graphic violence is more than made up for by mood and atmosphere. Other moments to enjoy include an effective nightmare sequence in which Cushing held at gunpoint in a phony courtroom is forced to put three pistols in turn to his temple and pull the trigger. Great suspense here that will have you on the edge of your seat! There are excellent performances throughout with Cushing on fine form as Maitland whose curiosity and fascination with the occult ultimately bring about his own destruction. Christopher Lee also offers an excellent turn as Sir Matthew Phillips even though is role is little more than a supporting part. He is especially good in the auction room sequence where he manages to look genuinely possessed as he bids for the statuettes of the divinities of hell under the skull's influence. In addition, Patrick Wymark is also noteworthy as the shady and somewhat sinister Marco.All in all, The Skull emerges as a minor but effective little horror film that relies on mood and atmosphere for its thrills rather than explicit violence and is all the better for it. It surely deserves a DVD release which is long overdue.