The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake (1959)

Genre: Supernatural

Source: My Own Collection

Grade: C


     I always have a hard time reviewing particular movies such as The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake because it isn't a necessarily terrible movie were I can just go on and on about all the bad things in it but at the same time its not that special so I can`t go on praising it. Nope its right there in the middle, an overall OK but kind of forgettable little horror movie.

     The movie is just another one of those "family curse" movies, only in this movie the curse involves ever time one of the Drake family members turns 60 they die "mysteriously" and have they're head stolen and eventually returned shrunken. The reason for this curse has something to do with a member of the Drake family way back when killed a tribe of natives in the Amazon. Though at the end they pull this "twist" to the whole story that is neither interesting nor necessary at all.
      Though one thing I did really like was the creepy looking guy who killed the Drake family members he had his mouth shown shut and stuff. Without a doubt his character was the highlight of the entire movie. Anyways his character is like  the henchmen to the main bad guy Dr.Zurkue whose played by one of my favorite actors of all time Henry Daniel ( you might know him from such movies as Robert Wises The Body Snatcher and Charlie Chaplins The Great Dictator). Unfortunately though due to probably his older age or lack of interest his performance in this movie just didn't have the life or effort that his performances in prior movies had; though this was one of his last movies.
       As for the rest of the cast I really have nothing to say. The rest of the cast wasn't bad or anything they just didn't do anything special and just don`t have anything to add to them.

     Finally I cant say that this movie is for everyone. I can imagine a lot of people would find it terribly dull and slow, but if you love Black and White horror movies like I do and are at all curious about then by all means please give it shot. Its only 70 mins long so it won`t be like you wasted a ton of time if you watch it and find out you absolutely hate it. Unfortunately though for me this movie was just OK and i`m probably going to forget about most of it since the movie really didnt leave much of an impact on me personally. (Though I have to admit I really like the Poster)