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UK SciFi / Horror and Fantasy |  |
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The Skull [1965] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
ReviewsA gem of a horror film. Review date: 2008-09-22 Rating: 10 out of 10 This long overdue DVD release of 'The Skull' may be short on extras, but if you enjoy classic 60's horror films this is a must! More please Legend Films, maybe a DVD release of 'The Psychopath' or, 'Dr Terror's House Of Horrors'? RECOMMENDED! Get Ahead Review date: 2008-09-11 Rating: 8 out of 10 For the life of me, I can never work out why 'the Skull' isn't better thought of across the horror world . It's moody, it's got inclusively great performances and a kickin' soundtrack. Cast-wise, it's nigh on untouchable; Peter Cushing plays Maitland, a fool-hardy collector of occult 'curio's' who comes to own the possessed skull of the Marquis de Sade, Patrick Wymark is brilliantly squalid as the shady antiques dealer, Marco, Christopher Lee and Peter Woodthorpe make telling cameo-appearances, and the deeply sexy (and good actress(!)) Jill Bennett plays Cushing's terrified wife, pushed to her limit by his obsession. It's got Hammer-esque cemetery scenes, bulging-eyed insanity murders, a brilliantly trippy dream sequence where Cushing is forced to play Russian Roulette in a mad courthouse, and a devilish, grinning titular villain that floats around his front parlour very stylishly, even with a vicious letter-opener rammed in it's eye. There may be typically cryptic 60's drug metaphor s abounding here,(I can sense them, but I'm damned if I can coherently uncover one for you.) but that's not why 'the Skull' is so watch-able and entertaining. It's a combination job, and with all it's component parts firing so finely, it can't do much else but work beautifully. It's an elegant film, totally out of sync with many of it's rivals and peers of the brash, boundary-pushing 1960's. Hopefully, this long overdue dvd release will redress the balance in 'the Skull's favour, and bring it to a modern audience, it's unavailability being the only reason I can see why it's not being hailed. Le Crâne Maléfique. Review date: 2008-08-09 Rating: 10 out of 10 Yes "The Skull" is on dvd, after a long, long expectation. All the bad guys, selling here and there, a dreadful and also nasty copy full screen, 4/3, Pan & Scan, with only a third ? (more or less) image still visible, made from a vhs out of ages, can throw the object through the window pane. The Legend Films dvd is enhanced for the 16/9, it' s not even written on the back cover, and it' s effectively for the first time, a splendid 2.35 image, in the full respect of the original Techniscope. Doesn' t matter really if the movie is this, or that, or short, or long, and the wire when the skull moves, (I never saw the wire as far as I' m concerned), we do not care. The Skull is and always will be a terrifying nightmare,a story about the desire, and why it kills you one way or another. This movie is "untouchable". It' s true the cover of the dvd is stupid, and rather repulsive. The original french poster (1m20 x 1m60) the larger blue one whith the gun against Cushing face, was a "classic" with a doesn' t date style. A rare Amicus film finally on dvd Review date: 2008-07-05 Rating: 8 out of 10 The Skull was made by Amicus who are probably best known for their series of anthology films such as Tales From The Crypt and The House That Dripped Blood and is at last available on dvd. Firstly, do not let the awful cover design put you off this dvd. Why the manufacturers didn't use the original poster art or a decent still from the film is beyond me. However this is only a minor gripe. The plot is very simple - Christopher Maitland a collector of rare accult items played by Peter Cushing comes into possession of the skull of the Marquis de Sade (the infamous sadist). Fellow collector Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) warns him that the skull can cause horrible things to happen. Needless to say Maitland fails to take his advise and is plunged into a series of nightmarish events. Can he escape from the power of the skull ? The film moves at a nice pace with good performances from Lee and especially Cushing who carries the last third of the film very well. The special effects are rather dated - you can see the wire holding the floating skull, still it does make a nice change to all the cgi effects we are subjected to nowdays. The print is sharp with good sound and is presented in the original 2.35 ratio. The extras are rather dissapointing. All you get is a trailer for the film. This is an American dvd and is region 1 coded so please make sure you dvd is compatable with region 1 dvds. All in all an excellent dvd and well worth picking up if you (like Me) enjoy classic British horror films. Product Details/SpecificationsActor(s): Jill Bennett Nigel Green Patrick Magee Patrick Wymark Peter Cushing Creators: Peter Cushing (Primary Contributor) Patrick Wymark (Primary Contributor) John Wilcox (Cinematographer) Oswald Hafenrichter (Editor) Max Rosenberg (Producer) Milton Subotsky (Producer) Milton Subotsky (Writer) Robert Bloch (Writer) Director(s): Recording label: Legend Films Manufacturer: Legend Films EAN: 0844503000187 Binding: DVD Number of items: 1 Format: Colour, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC, Release date: 2008-06-03 Universal product code (UPC): 844503000187 Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Region code: 1 Running time: 90 minutes Theatrical release date: 1965 Language: English (Original Language)
Tech info, cast and quotes/trivia when available. Exclusions may apply with free delivery. Price and availabiltity subject to change |
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