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The Skull, a review by addicted2dvd

The Skull (1965/United Kingdom) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Legend Films Director: Freddie Francis Writing: Robert Bloch (Story By), Milton Subotsky (Screenwriter) Length: 83 min. Rating: NR Video: Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles:

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Stars:
Peter Cushing as Christopher Maitland
Patrick Wymark as Marco
Jill Bennett as Jane Maitland
Nigel Green as Inspector Wilson
Patrick Magee as Police Surgeon
Peter Woodthorpe as Travers

Plot:
This two-disc collection is filled with suspense and terror as it features classic, bone-chilling tales from two of the biggest horror powerhouse producers: Hammer Studios and Amicus Productions. The Skull weaves a chilling tale surrounding the real-life terrors of the Marquis de Sade. Featuring outstanding performances by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, this tale introduces Dr. Christopher Maitland (Cushing) who purchases the infamous skull of the Marquis de Sade, a decision that he was warned against by his good friend - and previous skull owner - Matthew Phillips (Lee). The question is whether or not Dr. Maitland will live to regret his decision.

Extras:

• Scene Access

While it did have it's moments... I just couldn't get into this one. Actually found it a little on the weird side. But to be fair when we watched this film I was already tired and dozing in and out of sleep for the first half of the movie so I could have missed something important.



Scorecard:
TV Eps: 23
Movies: 15

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 15th, 2014)

The Man Who Knew Too Much, a review by Dragonfire

The Man Who Knew Too Much - 1934

Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks), is holidaying in Switzerland with his wife Jill (Edna Best) and daughter Betty (Nova Pilbeam). A Frenchman they have befriended is murdered in front of him, whispering about a planned assassination that wil put the British government in jeopardy. Betty is abducted to ensure Bob's silence until after the assassin (Peter Lorre) has carried out his grim task in the planned setting of the Albert Hall. How can Bob do his patriotic duty but at the same time keep his daughter out of danger?

My Thoughts

My copy of this movie is part of the set I have that has like 20 different movies and some television show episodes.  The picture quality isn't too bad considering the age of the movie, but it could have been better.  It's obvious that no restoration had been done for this release. 

I've seen most of the remake with Jimmy Stewart, but that was so long that I've forgotten most of it.  I think the basic plot is the same, though this movie is shorter, so less happens.  It does get off to a slower start showing the family on vacation.  The way the family interacts makes it seem like they aren't that close at times..but that changes once Betty is taken.  Once the friend is killed, the pace starts pick up and things get more interesting.  It wasn't that smart for Bob to sent Betty off to the room alone.  I think there is a decent amount of mystery and suspense in the movie.  I did notice a few techniques that Hitchcock would use in his future movies.  The climax of the movie is very well done and works well.

Overall I enjoyed this movie and think it is worth seeing.

 

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on May 6th, 2009)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The cargo of a wrecked ship is auctioned at Quark's and Jake discovers a mid-20th-century Willie Mays baseball card and tries to bid for it. But he loses against a very weird guy. Jake and Nog try to negotiate for the card and have to acquire some items in exchange for the card. And for that they have to deal with both Kai Winn and Weyoun.

My Opinion: This episode was virtually the calm before the storm and they wrote it as such. And the episode reminded me of former days when Nog and Jake turned a lot of useless Yamok sauce into 5 bars of gold-pressed Latinum back in the first season (Progress). I also liked how Weyoun was portrayed. From now on they will give the character more depth which he will need as a major player in this war.

Synopsis: For weeks the Dominion has send ships and troops through the wormhole to Cardassia. The Federation can't allow this anymore or the war is lost before it even begins. They decide to mine the wormhole and stop all traffic through it. But the Dominion won't allow this and as soon as they learn of the mining process they dispatch a fleet to take DS9.

My Opinion: While the mines are a bit of an "eierlegende Wollmilchsau" (a self-sustaining, self-replicating & cloaked minefield) I liked the decisions of this episode, such as retreating from DS9 to bring another perspective to the show or the deciscion to let Bajor remaining neutral or Jake staying behind. It will make for an interesting start of the sixth season.

The Season - My Opinion: This was a good season with a lot of interesting episodes of all kinds. Along with the fourth and sixth season these are my favourite years of DS9. This show took a long time to get into motion, I'd say way more time that any show would get if it were produced in this decade. But these three years (and parts of the seventh and third season) make totally up for it, especially the episodes that will come now.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on February 20th, 2009)