Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)** 1/2 (out of 4)A woman's father goes missing looking for a lost Indian city. Soon a survivor from the exploration shows up with bizarre terrors so The Three Mesquiteers (Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune) agree to help the woman search for her father and the lost city.RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL often gets called the best "Western- horror" film but that's a bit of a stretch. I'm not going to challenge it being called the best of its sub-genre but at the same time, to be honest, there aren't too many horror elements, although the haunting and curse of the lost city is enough to make it of slight interest to horror fans who might not other wise watch a film with The Three Mesquiteers.With that said, for the most part this is a pretty entertaining Western as Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune are all in fine form and Mary Russell is also good in her role as the daughter. The supporting players contain some very bad performances but nothing to take away from the entertainment. There are several nice action scenes and of course several scenes where our heroes are in peril and have to find a way out.I thought the stuff dealing with the lost city was handled well. RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL isn't going to be mistaken for the work of John Ford but it's entertaining.

The Riders Of The Whistling Skull is The Three Mesquiteers best and most famous adventure and the best B-western of the nineteen-thirties, with more action, thrills, and suspense in it's fifty-three minutes than in all twelve chapters of some of Republic Pictures' serials!The story involves the Three Mesquiteers and their search for the missing father of a pretty archaeologist, kidnapped by a sinister Indian cult after discovering the lost city of Lukachukai and it's treasure, all surrounding the creepy rock formation known as The Whistling skull.This is first rate all the way with great locations and lots of weird touches like the cult's ritual dance (with a young Iron Eyes Cody in attendance) and the "mummy" who stands up and brandishes a knife!I recommend this heartily to fans of B-westerns and to people who want to witness the best that the genre has to offer.

This short mystery, possibly drastically overvalued by the very few people who know it, constitutes nonetheless a nice surprise to be offered by a phase in the evolution of the genre rather given to cliché.When movie culture lacks, the praises and superlatives generously granted by the half-wits serve only to expose the ignorance involved. Kids, first learn some western; watch lots of such flicks, even read widely, and then pronounce solemn superlatives.For those who lavish superlatives on this flick as if it were Hawks suddenly turned into Buñuel, it might be well to watch some WILD WILD WEST episodes or some European westerns from decades ago—for some genuinely creepy westerns.The script drags the Mesquiteers into an adventure which is not specifically their own brand.

The Three Mesquiteers (Stony, Tucson, & Lullaby) ride with a band of explorers searching for Professor Marsh an archeologist, the father of the female lead, who has discovered a lost city with hidden treasure, but who has been held by a prisoner by an Indian tribe, who has killed Marsh's partner, through a traitor amid the archeology party. Its up to the Mesquiteers to discover the villain among them and save the party from thirst and the murderous rampage of the tribe. Very enjoyable 3M film with nice emphasis of the comradery between the three friends, and also gives a nice glimpse of the style Republic used in their westerns and serials set out west. Wright's direction is quicker than what else I've seen of him, but he rushes through the end which is the drawback of the film. Nice location shooting in Nevada, and a good supporting cast make this one a winner. Rating, based on B westerns, 9.