Hooptober 8.0 | 33/34 | Bonus 2/3
19th-Century France
In a graveyard at Charenton, a phrenologist named Pierre and his assistants dig up the grave of the recently buried Marquis de Sade. Pierre intends to take the skull for examination. He severs the head, bags it, and quietly disappears into the night.
When he returns home, a French woman lies bathing in his tub — real classy, Amicus. He kicks her out so that he can dissolve the remaining flesh attached to the skull. She waits outside the bathroom when she notices a thick fog roll underneath the bathroom door. She opens the door to find Pierre in some horrific state — too graphic for British sensibilities.
20th-Century London
Chris Maitland (Peter Cushing) and Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) attend an auction at Marco’s antiquities shop. Chris is a writer of the occult, intent on disproving their spurious claims.
— The unknown is always intriguing. — And sometimes dangerous.
Marco visits the Maitland residence to offer Chris the skull of Marquis de Sade. He tells the history of the skull and its power to drive people to commit terrible acts. Chris does not believe Marco and suspects that Marco stole it.
Chris later visits Matthew and learns that not only did Marco steal it from Matthew, but Matthew is glad to be rid of it. Because of his curiosity, Chris experiences the power of the skull.
Based on “The Skull of the Marquis de Sade,” by Robert Bloch, this movie is Amicus’ first full-length movie, one of a handful they attempted to compete with Hammer. Milton Subotsky, one of the Amicus co-founders, wrote the script. Freddie Francis insisted on rewriting it himself.
This movie was pretty dull, even by Amicus’s standards. The plot is repetitive, and I didn’t care why things happened. They didn’t have a premise that worked for a full-length movie, so they pad it with Cushing scenery chewing — not inherently awful — just not a fix for this movie’s problems.
The filmmaking is solid, and the performances are competent. I don’t think this one will stick out in my mind.
Stray Thoughts / Spoilers
- A cat mewing in a graveyard. I’m already on board.
- Wikipedia believes a phrenologist dug up de Sade and took his skull IRL.
- If you hear the name Maitland, there’s a good chance Freddie Francis touched the script.
- I’m always happy to get a Michael Gough appearance. 8 Why do we flashback to a scene we saw 15 minutes ago?
- The shots from inside the skull are neat.
- Once Chris hallucinates, the movie gets fun, at least for a bit.
- So, he killed… the skull?