5/5 Skull-Duggery...
  by Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein (under the rubble)
If you are a Peter Cushing / Christopher Lee (Horror Express, The Creeping Flesh, Horror Of Dracula, etc.) fanatic, then THE SKULL is a must for your collection! This time, Cushing gets to play the obsessed, murderous character, while Lee is the voice of sanity. Both are tremendous as always, delivering effortless performances. The story (by none other than Robert Bloch) is an eerie gem w/ plenty of supernatural darkness and death. The title SKULL has a sinister personality of its own, as we are given its point of view through skull-o-vision! Classic stuff! Also, watch for Michael Gough (Horror Hospital, Batman, Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow) as an auctioneer, and Patrick Magee (Asylum, Dementia 13, A Clockwork Orange) in a 10-second role as a police investigator at the end. This Amicus production, directed by Freddie Francis, belongs in any horror vault...

4/5 Great fun for classic horror fans!
  by z hayes (plano,texas)
"The Skull" is a 1965 Amicus production that treats fans to the pairing of horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Inspired by a story by Robert Bloch [who also wrote Psycho], "The Skull" stars Cushing as Dr Maitland, an occult collector, who likes to study arcane objects. His 'frenemy' is Sir Matthew Phillips [Christopher Lee], and the pair are portrayed as rivals for the acquisition of rare occult artifacts. One night, Marco, a dealer in such objects, sells Maitland a biography of the Marquis de Sade, which is unique as it is bound in human skin. Later, Marco tempts Maitland with the promise of the skull of the infamous sadist, believed to be cursed, and to possess supernatural powers. When Phillips [Lee] comes to know that Maitland is interested in the marquis' skull, he warns Maitland against acquiring it, telling him the skull is evil and will possess it's owner. The rest of the movie centers on what Maitland does and the consequences.

Though the movie is carried by Cushing, who plays the lead role, Lee's role is not insignificant, though he only appears in a few scenes. The chemistry shared by these two legends is palpable, and I loved the way they interacted, portraying a friendly rivalry that has been seen again and again in other movies. The movie is also highly atmospheric, which is one reason I love horror movies of this period. Though the actual special effects are cheesy by today's standards, the atmosphere, setting, and especially acting elevate these movies to classic status. The DVD features are quite pitiful really, but I'd still say this is a must-have for fans of period horror, and classic horror.






2/5 flaw with the DVD case
  by Bartok Kinski (Prague)
I have just received my DVD of The Skull and had to send it back. The DVD case had something which looked like Chimpanzee hair all over it.

At first I thought they packaged a Skull promo wig in the DVD box, but my DVD had so much hair on it I couldn't play it.

I'd be curious to know if anyone else had this problem.

4/5 The Skull.
  by Puzzle box (Kuwait)
It's good to see that this long lost film from Amicus productions finally gets a decent dvd release. This classic British horror film from the 60's had its moments but was slightly inferior to the other great Amicus horror films that came out later during the years that followed. Whats great about this film though is it's fantastic storyline which was written by Robert Bloch and it's great cast with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee at their best and a memorable role by Patrick Wymark as a sadistic and evil Judge in a dream sequence (watch the scene as he forces Peter Cushing's character to play Russian Roulette). The film was directed by Freddie Frances and he has such a visual flair adding a gothic look to the proceedings. Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing excellent as usual) who is offered a skull and a fleshbound book originally belonging to none other than the Marquis de Sade for a mere £500, at first he is skeptical of its provenance but finally agrees to buy it from Marco a shifty character (brilliantly played by Patrick Wymark) who previously stole the skull and book from Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) who had fallen under it's sinister spell in the past and was glad the skull and book had been stolen. Matthew tries to convince Christopher of its evil power and advises him to get rid of it as soon as possible, but Christopher being abit stubborn keeps the skull and begins to come unstuck, he also starts hallucinating and having bizarre dreams. All the performances were first rate but this is Peter Cushing's film, he is literally in every scene and gives a convincing performance of a man falling pray to evil.

I can't help thinking that this could have been a true classic if it had had a bigger budget, even though the premise of a possessed skull seemed kind of silly it still worked and was very entertaining. The new dvd doesn't have any special features, however it was shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it looks great for its age. Colors are bright and vibrant while there are barely any signs of aging at all and the sound is in stereo while not particularly that good it still gets the job done, most of the dialogue can be heard cleanly with a few slight problems here and there, but nothing to get upset about. A good story presented here by some true horror legends that anyone should enjoy it's the type of film that doesn't need buckets of blood and gore or a psychotic maniac with a hockey mask walking around to make it entertaining or scary, Highly recommended and two thumbs up!.

4/5 A very good 70's British Horror flick
  by Peter Betancourt
Peter Cushing is at his clinically clean best as an ambitious and "do anything" collector of Historical Horror artifacts.
He finally lands on a horror collectors dream... the Skull of the "Marqui De Sade"
The Skull has a life force that kills at will and floats around in the midst a green fog like cloud. Once Cushings character obtains the skull all kinds of nasty horror stuff starts happening. The dream sequence is very well done. Chistopher Lee stars as the previous owner of the "Skull" who advises Peter Cushing to get rid of it at any cost.
An Amicus production. It's a very good 70's Britsh Horror Flick.
Excellent Remastering.