THE SKULL, which began shooting Jan 18 1965, was only the second Amicus horror film, retaining from DR. TERRORS HOUSE OF HORRORS director Freddie Francis, and stars Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Michael Gough, supported by such dependable players as Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Peter Woodthorpe, and George Coulouris. Producer Milton Subotsky adapted his screenplay from Robert Blochs short story The Skull of the Marquis De Sade, which took liberties with the facts (much like in Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper) by depicting De Sade not as a madman but a victim of demonic possession, which even after death continues to inhabit his skull. It was a veritable tour-de-force for top billed Cushing, playing Christopher Maitland, wealthy collector and author of all things occult, despite the misgivings of his loving wife Jane (Jill Bennett), whose warnings about the dangers of the unknown prove to be prophetic. Christopher Lee guest stars, again cast against type, as a knowing and fearful fellow collector, Sir Matthew Phillips, who expresses relief that the Marquis skull has been stolen from him, but concerned that shady dealer Anthony Marco (Patrick Wymark) will no doubt be peddling it to Maitland. Everyone who had been in contact with the skull came to a violent end, and, true to form, there is virtually no escape from evil. Francis used a skulls eye view pictured here, hokey but effective, which would come in handy again with a similar take on the nature of evil, 1972s THE CREEPING FLESH, again featuring the same two stars. Francis and Cushing had to flesh out the details in Subotskys outline, which must have made a great impression on Robert Bloch, who went on to write several scripts himself for Amicus, with his very first, THE DEADLY BEES, even intended for Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. Cushing finished 1965 with DR, WHO AND THE DALEKS and ISLAND OF TERROR.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 05:21:37 +0000