The Skull (1965)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1965
Running Times: 90 min
Format: Technicolor     35mm     Techniscope
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Amicus Productions
Producers: Milton Subotsky, Max J. Rosenberg
Production Manager: Ted Lloyd

SCRIPT
Script: Milton Subotsky
Story: The Skull of the Marquis de Sade by Robert Bloch

DIRECTION
Director: Freddie Francis
Assistant Director: Anthony Waye

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: John Wilcox
Camera Operator: David Harcourt
Camera Grip: Ray Jones

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Oswald Hafenrichter

MUSIC
Music: Elisabeth Lutyens
Conductor: Philip Martell

SOUND
Sound Supervisor: John Cox
Sound Recordist: Buster Ambler
Sound Editor: Tom Priestley

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Jill Carpenter
Hair: Henry Montsash
Wardrobe Supervisor: Jackie Cummins

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Ted Samuels

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Bill Constable
Set Decorator: Scott Slimon
Construction Manager: Bill Waldron

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Pamela Davies

CAST
Peter Cushing (Dr Christopher Maitland)
Patrick Wymark (Marco)
Christopher Lee (Sir Matthew Phillips)
Jill Bennett (Jane Maitland)
Nigel Green (Inspector Wilson)
Michael Gough (auctioneer)
George Coulouris (Dr Londe)
Patrick Magee (Police Surgeon)
Peter Woodthorpe (Travers)
April Olrich (French girl)
Maurice Good (man in cloak)
Frank Forsyth (judge)
Anna Palk (maid)
Paul Stockman (1st guard)
Geoffrey Cheshire (2nd guard)
George Hilsdon (policeman - uncredited)
Jack Silk (driver - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Professor Maitland is an obsessive collector of occult relics and feels compelled to buy the skull of the nefarious Marquis de Sade, despite being warned of its evil powers by fellow occult expert Sir Matthew Phillips. The skull has a macabre history of death and violence associated with it and it's not long before Maitland is under its spell, hallucinating wildly and wielding a knife...

One of Francis' best and certainly Amicus' finest achievement. The period flashbacks quite effectively evoke the style and atmosphere of contemporary Hammer while the modern day footage are claustrophobic and sinister. It does tend to shoot itself in the foot by mistakenly believing the Marquis de Sade to be some sort of Satanist, exerting great psychic powers over lesser mortals many years after his death, but the ludicrous premise is acted with gusto by a top-notch cast and gives rise to some remarkable hallucination sequences. The best has Maitland arrested by a pair of sinister cops and taken before a judge who compels him to take part in a game of Russian Roulette. This tremendous scene, which culminates in Maitland imagining himself being simultaneously gassed and crushed to death under the evil gaze of the flying skull, shows us Francis - and Amicus - at their most effective. (Full Review)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Video Distributors: Paramount/Gateway

Finland
Rating: K-16

France
Rating: -12

Sweden
Rating: 15

1965
August
25: USA - theatrical release

1966
July
4: Sweden - theatrical release

August
26: West Germany - theatrical release

When the Skull strikes you'll Scream!

A Caveira - Portugese title
Dödskallen - Swedish title
La maldición de la calavera - Spanish title
Der Schädel des Marquis de Sade - German title
Il teschio maledetto - Italian title

SEE ALSO
Top Secret! (1984)

MAGAZINES

Scarlet Street no.17 pp.27-28, 30-31, 109 (USA)
illustrated article

Video Watchdog no.14 pp.12-13 (USA)
illustrated review

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

ghosts, levitation, marquis de sade, nightmares, the occult, russian roulette, skulls

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008