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If you sit down to watch old British horror films, and neither Peter Cushing nor Christopher Lee is in it, then you are probably in for a letdown. If they are both in it, then twenty-one times out of twenty-two, you are probably in for a treat. You may ask yourself why that is so oddly specific. Your answer would be that they made twenty-two films together, and for the most part, they were all enjoyable. There are one or two that are just paydays, though. The Skull is very much an enjoyable one, though.
British horror films have long been fascinated with grave robbers, probably because the world’s most famous grave robbers came from there. Burke and Hare were notorious, and their actions in the 1820s caused Scotland to institute the Anatomy Act of 1832. I’ll let you research that on your own, as there are a half dozen well-done films on the subject—the band Exhumed even wrote an entire concept record about the topic.
Anyway, the reason for all that is that our film starts with a grave desecration. We don’t know who the grave belongs to yet or why, but be patient. It’ll be explained soon. Fast-forward a few years, and we are at an auction—a star-studded one. Peter Cushing plays Maitland, a demonologist and collector of occult items. His rival and sometimes partner is Sir Phillips, who is guest-starred by Christopher Lee. Our auctioneer is played by Michael Gough.
Later in the night, a man named Marco, played by Patrick Wymark, arrives at Maitland’s house and brings him a book written by Marquis De Sade bound in human skin. Marco promises the next night he will bring him something even more enticing. As the next night comes, Marco brings Maitland a skull—a skull belonging to the Marquis De Sade. Maitland convenes with Phillips and tells him about the skull. As it turns out, Phillips was the previous owner, and it was stolen from him. The odd thing is, though, he doesn’t want it back. He tries to convince Maitland that it is pure evil and to avoid it. Maitland, being the scholar he is, just can’t let it go, much to the skull’s pleasure.
Once in possession of the skull, it seems to have a strong psychic power over him and causes hallucinations. Cushing finds himself mesmerized and in front of an inquisition wanting him to play Russian Roulette. Bodies start to pile up without explanation, and the police start sniffing around Maitland’s flat. Nigel Green plays our lead inspector, who is no slouch in famous British roles. Another well-known British actor, Patrick Magee, takes the local surgeon’s role.
For what may seem like just another Gothic British Horror, the cast is stellar, and the atmosphere is incredibly creepy. Amicus didn’t make many films outside of anthologies, but when they did, they were just as solid as what Hammer was doing. Everything about this shows that Amicus had a decent budget—the cast, the set pieces, a competent director, and the time for inventive camera work.
That is where this movie shines. To give the ominous presence that the skull still bears life, there are odd camera angles that give it its power. Whenever a conversation occurs in the skull’s presence, the camera’s angle comes from behind its eyes—giving you the idea that it is still living and has the power of mind control. There is a bluish hue that adds to its gothic feel. Freddie Francis was an excellent director during his time, and he helmed many famous Hammer and Amicus horror films.
It is a genuinely creepy and atmospheric film that, even after repeat viewings, still has that sense of dread and terror behind it. Christopher Lee’s screen time is limited, but he is very convincing as the man who was once in ownership of the skull and doesn’t seem to want it back.
This is a great film for going down the rabbit hole of research from Burke and Hare to the Marquis De Sade. There is a wealth of information out there for some deeper reading on subjects of the occult, and you have to think that in 1965, most people would have had no way of finding out this information, so I feel like this film holds up exceptionally well for being 60 years old.
Kino Lorber released The Skull on Blu-Ray in 2017, and it has since been discontinued. It is relatively harder to find outside of DVD multi-film box sets. You can find it cheap on Amazon in a set with The Man Who Could Cheat Death and The Deadly Bees.
