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The Skull

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6.0/10 • 104

1965-08-251h 23m

HorrorThriller

When the Skull strikes you'll scream!

An occult investigator buys the 150-year-old skull of the Marquis de Sade, which turns out to be possessed by evil spirits.

Directors
Freddie Francis
Writters
Robert Bloch
Editors
Oswald Hafenrichter

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Peter Cushing

    Peter Cushing

    Dr. Christopher Maitland

  2. Christopher Lee

    Christopher Lee

    Sir Matthew Phillips

  3. Patrick Wymark

    Patrick Wymark

    Anthony Marco

  4. Jill Bennett

    Jill Bennett

    Jane Maitland

  5. Peter Woodthorpe

    Peter Woodthorpe

    Bert Travers, Marco's Landlord

  6. Nigel Green

    Nigel Green

    Inspector Wilson

  7. April Olrich

    April Olrich

    French Girl

  8. George Coulouris

    George Coulouris

    Dr. Londe

  9. Maurice Good

    Maurice Good

    Pierre, Phrenologist

Reviews2

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Mar 28, 2020

4/10

Features Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee, but way too much filler A researcher of the occult and esoterica (Peter Cushing) apprehends the skull of the nefarious Marquis de Sade and learns that something evil is attached to it, which negatively influences its owners. Patrick Wymark plays his source for artifacts while Christopher Lee plays a rival collector. Patrick Magee is on hand as an inspector. “The Skull” (1965) is worth checking out for fans of British horror featuring Cushing and/or Lee, but it places with the least of their works. There’s just way too much filler. The runtime could’ve been cut in half and it would’ve been a compelling mini-movie. As it is, it’s just too drawn out for the material to maintain interest. However, the theme is interesting: Can articles have evil spirits attached to them? During the days of the early Church, articles that Paul touched, like handkerchiefs and aprons, “were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them” (Acts 19:11-12). It was the same thing with Peter’s shadow. These things had the anointing of God on them and thus physically or mentally ill people exposed to them were healed and demons fled! A good example from the Old Testament would be Elisha’s bones noted in 2 Kings 13. These various items were blessed as conduits of God’s power. Could the inverse also be true? Could certain items be cursed with a demonic non-anointing? If the former is true with the kingdom of light, isn’t it possible that the reverse is also true with the kingdom of darkness in some cases, particular items like idols? The movie runs 1 hour, 23 minutes and was shot at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England; as well as Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone, London (Maitland's home). GRADE: C-

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
london, englandauctionpossessionevil spiritmurderstatuettegrave robberbased on short storydemonic possessionskulloccult detective