Promoting itself as being based on The Cat and the Canary by Edgar Allan Poe it should here be mentioned that The Cat and the Canary was actually a play written by John Willard in 1922. The play is about relatives of a recently deceased millionaire who arrive at a creepy old mansion where murder is on the menu, and Night of the Skull does adhere roughly to this template. The first film version of this work came out in 1927 and was directed by Paul Leni, a German expatriate whose talents were honed on the expressionism on the classic silent cinema from his native country. (A year later Leni would follow it up with The Man Who Laughs, which is recommended viewing and has been previously reviewed here.) Anyway, getting back to Edgar Allan Poe, it is probably safe to assume that Franco was thinking of The Premature Burial, which was first published in 1844 and whose influence can clearly be seen over a century later in films such as The Crime of Dr. Crespi (1935) starring Erich von Stroheim, The Premature Burial (1962) directed by Roger Corman, and many others. Night of the Skull makes sure to include premature burials to its list of how people are murdered and adds a mysterious skulled predator to the mix. Poe should rest easier in his grave knowing that his contributions toward this effort probably had less influence on Franco's vision than Edgar Wallace (1875 – 1932), a writer whose output could be said to be as prolific as that of Franco.
In Franco's film, the relatives who show up for the reading of the will of the deceased rich person (Sir Archibald Percival Marian) are subjected to murders that are given a slight flourish based on a Spanish poem that calls on "earth to bury us, wind to scourge us, water to drown us (and) fire to burn us." The poem rolls off the tongue with much more eloquence in its native Spanish, but the subtitles do their best. The dialogue, in general, is pedestrian at best with only a few fun digressions ("We're in zombie country, don't you forget it"). But at least the motley group of irritating and/or greedy relatives get some kind of comeuppance at the hands of the intruder who lurks about the dark mansion with a skull mask and handcuffs.
Night of the Skull is not without some kitsch appeal for those who enjoy their dark and stormy nights and damsels in distress, but fans of Franco's usual transgressions will likely find the brief flashes of nudity and sadistic whippings oddly truncated (the no-frills dvd lists a running time of 82 minutes while printed sources suggest a longer running time of 88 minutes). It's nice to have the film available in its 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, even if the source materials are a bit worn out, but the wear-and-tear is not necessarily a bad thing for those who might enjoy the film based on nostalgic reasons. More discerning viewers looking for stronger thrills within a similar vein are pointed toward Mario Bava’s Twitch of the Death Nerve (Reazione a catena, 1971) for a far superior work.
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by Pablo Kjolseth
