Skull, The

The Skull (1965)

Dr. Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing) is a collector of artifacts. More specifically he collects artifacts that have some connection to the occult and uses them in his research. After a shady dealer comes to offer him a mysterious book with the offer of more to come Maitland can’t help to be intrigued. After the dealer returns with a skull of dubious origins Maitland consults his colleague Sir Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) who warns him to stay away from it. It seems the skull was stolen from Phillips and he is in no hurry to get it back. And when Maitland acquires the skull in spite of the warning all he can do is offer a cross as some form of protection. Murder and mayhem follow the skull and it is up to Maitland to stop the evil before it gets too much of a hold on him.

This is a very straightforward and simple attempt at a horror movie. With the exception of the ending of the film it follows a predictable pattern that I found fun. The movie feels like a throwback to an earlier time where horror films relied more on atmosphere and feeling of dread to build up fear in an audience. As a fan of those movies this one worked well on me and I enjoyed it a great deal. The cast is pretty good, with of course the two big genre names Cushing and Lee getting top billing. Unfortunately like many of the movies Lee did in the 60s and early 70s he barely makes an appearance here, in spite of his billing. Cushing is called upon to carry the movie, and of course as you would expect does so nicely. Though by the time this movie was made it was becoming more obvious that he was being paired with leading ladies that were way too young for him. Still much of the movie works solely because of the superior talents of the veteran actor.

Lets talk special effects. It is the mid 60s and the movie is about a skull that floats around doing evil. The movie does a fine job of hiding it, but there really isn’t any way other than wires to do it! Sure there are a couple of scenes where the wires are visible, but I’m able to put the movie into the context of when it was made and ignore deficiencies like this. If you as a viewer you can’t do this than all I can recommend is that you avoid anything made before the 80s. Some of the other effects like glass that breaks on cue and paintings that sway as something invisible passes by are all very effective and fun to watch.

This is one of the few Amicus movies that I don’t own and I’m happy to now have it in my collection. If you are a fan of the older stuff like I am then you will appreciate what this movie has to offer. It is well worth checking out and I recommend it.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer