''The Skull'' is a 1965 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Freddie Francis Frederick William Francis (22 December 1917 – 17 March 2007) was an English cinematographer and film director. He achieved his greatest successes as a cinematographer. He started his career with British films such as Jack Cardiff's ''Sons and L ...

for

Amicus Productions Amicus Productions was a British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. Films Prior to establishi ...

, and starring the frequently paired horror actors

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

and

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

, alongside

Patrick Wymark Patrick Wymark (11 July 192620 October 1970) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Wymark was born Patrick Carl Cheeseman in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. He was brought up in neighbouring Grimsby and frequently revisited th ...

, Jill Bennett,

Nigel Green Nigel McGown Green (15 October 192415 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height () and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s ...

, Patrick Magee and

Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe (25 September 1931 – 13 August 2004) was an English actor who supplied the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and BBC's 1981 radio serial. He also provided the voice of Pigsy in the cult ...

. It was one of a number of British horror films of the sixties to be scored by

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

composer

Elisabeth Lutyens Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE (9 July 190614 April 1983) was an English composer. Early life and education Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London on 9 July 1906. She was one of the five children of Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), a me ...

, including several others for Amicus. The script was written by

Milton Subotsky Milton Subotsky (September 27, 1921 – June 27, 1991) was an American film and television writer and producer. In 1964, he founded Amicus Productions with Max Rosenberg, Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friendship" in Latin. The partnership pro ...

, from a short story by

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...

, "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade".

Plot

In the 19th century, a

phrenologist Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

robs the grave of the recently buried

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

. He takes the Marquis's severed head and sets about boiling it to remove its flesh, leaving the skull. Before the task is done, Pierre meets an unseen and horrific death. In modern-day London, Christopher Maitland (

), a collector and writer on the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

, is offered the skull by Marco, an unscrupulous dealer in antiques and curiosities. Maitland learns that the skull has been stolen from Sir Matthew Phillips (

), a friend and fellow collector. Sir Matthew, however, does not want to recover it, having escaped its evil influence. He warns Maitland of its powers. At his sleazy lodgings, Marco dies in mysterious circumstances. Maitland finds his body and takes possession of the skull. He in turns falls victim as the skull drives him to hallucinations, madness and death.

Cast

as Dr. Christopher Maitland *

as Anthony Marco *

as Sir Matthew Phillips * Jill Bennett as Jane Maitland *

as Inspector Wilson * Patrick Magee as Police Surgeon *

as Bert Travers, Marco's Landlord *

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

as Auctioneer *

George Coulouris George Alexander Coulouris (1 October 1903 – 25 April 1989) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Coulouris was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, the son of Abigail (née Redfern) anNicholas Coulouris a merchant of Greek o ...

as Dr. Londe *

April Olrich April Olrich (17 July 1931 – 15 April 2014), born Edith April Oelrichs, was an English ballerina and actress, born in Zanzibar, now part of Tanzania. Early life Edith April Oelrichs was born in Zanzibar in 1931 (some sources give 1933), where h ...

as French Girl * Maurice Good as Pierre, Phrenologist

Production

The film was an attempt by Amicus to challenge

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

by making a full length colour movie. Once filming started, Freddie Francis rewrote much of Subotsky's script.Ed. Allan Bryce, ''Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood'', Stray Cat Publishing, 2000 p 24-31 Christopher Lee is billed as "guest star" in the film's credits; he plays a supporting role, and, unusually, is not a villain. The film's final twenty-five minutes contain almost no dialogue. In real life the Marquis de Sade's body was exhumed from its grave in the grounds of the lunatic asylum at Charenton, where he died in 1814, and his skull was removed for

phrenological Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

analysis. It was subsequently lost, and its fate remains unknown.Neil Schaeffer, ''The Marquis de Sade: A Life'', published 1999.

Release

When it was released in France, promotional materials had to be changed at the last minute by pasting a new title, ''Le crâne maléfique'' ("The Evil Skull"), over the original French title ''Les Forfaits du Marquis de Sade'' ("Infamies of the Marquis de Sade") on posters and lobby cards, after legal action by the present-day Sade family.

References

External links

''The Skull''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skull, The 1965 films 1965 horror films British horror films Amicus Productions films Films based on short fiction Films about the Marquis de Sade Films directed by Freddie Francis Films scored by Elisabeth Lutyens Films based on works by Robert Bloch Films with screenplays by Robert Bloch Phrenology 1960s English-language films 1960s British films