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.
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.