morrison-dylan-fan Reading the letters page in an issue of UK film magazine The Dark Side,I found out that whilst most of the titles in Netflix UK's Horror section are recent flicks,that they have actually put a rarely mentioned Amicus movie on the site.Becoming a fan of Amicus Horror during the 2015 October Horror Challenge on IMDb's Horror board,I decided that it was time to unmask the skull.The plot-The 1800's:Robbing the head from the grave of the Marquis de Sade, Pierre gets set to find out if Sade's head contains the power to make people go insane. Whilst boiling the flesh off the skull (charming!) the "power" of the skull grips Pierre and kills him.The present:Losing out in a bidding war over ancient statures, Christopher Maitland goes to talk to friend and winning bidder Sir Matthew Phillips.Asking why he spent so much on the items,Maitland is taken aback,when Phillips tells him that he has no idea why he purchased them. Seeing Maitland's disappointment,sly antiques dealer Marco breaks into Phillips house and steals an item to sell to Maitland. Meeting up with Maitland,Marco reveals that he has tracked down an item just for him:the skull of the Marquis de Sade.View on the film:Lining up (most of) the biggest stars in British Horror, Patrick Wymark/ Patrick Magee/ Michael Gough/Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee each give great performances,with Wymark making the skin crawl as slime ball Marco,whilst Gough and Magee give the film a touch of class in their small roles. Meeting up at auction, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both give splendid performances as Phillips and Maitland,with Cushing sending Maitland into a cold sweat over getting his hands on the skull,and Lee casts a shadow of unease over the tightly coiled Phillips.Made from an "outline" by Amicus studio's co-owner Milton Subotsky's take on a Robert Bloch short story,un-credited writer Freddie Francis cracks open a head filled with eerie Occult Horror,as Francis wisely decides to avoid focusing on the origins of De Sade's power,to instead look at the horrific reactions,turning Maitland from a mild mannered gentlemen into a wide-eyed mad man.Although the visible wires making the skull "float" do pull some of the chills down,director Freddie Francis & cinematographer John Wilcox paint De Sade's skull in dazzling psychedelic Art-Deco,glowing in red,black and green patterns breaking Maitland's madness in extreme close-ups,as the skull sets its sights on a new victim.

Coventry "The Skull" definitely isn't on par with the other contemporary Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee pairings, from Hammer or Amicus or whatever other production studios, but it nevertheless remains an interesting and worthwhile slice of 60's Brit-horror. Freddie Francis was always one of the most gifted horror directors in Britain and provides the film with a continuously gloomy and sinister atmosphere. Moreover, he was an even more gifted cinematographer and assures a large number of inventive shots (like, for example, a point of view from inside the skull), while the always reliable Peter Cushing gives away a marvelous lead performance. However, the film specifically struggles with two major shortcomings, namely a) the fact that the script is based on a short story (by Robert Bloch) and it's not exactly fit for a long-feature film and b) the absence of an actual evil villain/monster of flesh and blood. Cushing depicts an avid collector of occult objects who obtains – illegally – the skull of the one and only Marquis de Sade. Fellow collector and former owner of the skull Christopher Lee attempts to warn his colleague about the mysterious and psychedelic forces homing inside the Marquis' skull, but naturally he doesn't listen. During the first two nights of the next new moon, however, he dramatically learns that the skull turns its owner into a helpless murder-committing marionette. I haven't read Bloch's short story, but I presume something went wrong during the processing into a movie screenplay, as there a few too many dull moments and a lack of clarity regarding the skull's incredible powers. The intro, a certain dream sequence and a few flashbacks are extraordinary (what is it with the English and foggy cemeteries). The climax is rather silly instead of frightening, with the skull floating around with the help of clearly noticeable strings as well as grotesque camera gestures and color patterns. Cushing and Lee obviously steal the show, but keep also an eye open for two genuine British cult heroes in minuscule roles: Michael Gough ("Horror Hospital") and Patrick Magee ("A Clockwork Orange").

Spikeopath The Skull is directed by Freddie Francis and adapted to screenplay by Milton Subotsky from the short story The Skull of the Marquis de Sade written by Robert Bloch. A Technicolor/Techniscope production, it stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Jill Bennett and Patrick Wymark. Music is scored by Elisabeth Lutyens and cinematography by John Wilcox.When collector of occult artifacts Christopher Maitland (Cushing) acquires the Skull of the Marquis de Sade, he gets more than he bargained for.......Out of Amicus Productions, The Skull represents one of the more successful ventures for the studio away from the portmanteau formula they would become regarded for. That's not to say it's without problems, because it is far from flawless, but with Francis casting an ethereal sheen over the production, the film does hold tight as a 60s Gothic chiller of some worth. Actually it's one of the rare films that is reviewed quite accurately by the majority of writers who have written about it. Most agree that the material isn't quite up to being stretched to a feature length film, the long passages of silence in the story proving to be a necessity rather than a creepy tactic by the makers. The string work effects are cheesy, Lee is underused and the rest of the cast away from Cushing are thinly drawn. But it does overcome its flaws.There are a number of great things within the picture. The use of Skull-Cam that gives us POV from inside the skull itself, works really well, as does the colour tones that Francis uses whenever the skull is holding court. A set piece involving a character falling through stained glass is very well constructed (good stunt work too), and Lutyens musical score is top draw-nerve jarring stuff. Then there is Cushing himself, forced to react for the most part to nothing more than a prop, he gives much by way of visual acting, totally mesmerising for the near silent last third of the piece. It's a very under valued turn from Cushing as it features a different string to his acting bow.With shady characters, suspenseful silences (the opening pillaging of de Sade's grave is excellently macabre) and visual treats aplenty, The Skull is well worth checking out. 7/10

tl12 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.