This has always been one of my favorite Brit horror movies ever since seeing it back in the early 80s past midnight on a local channel 13. They always showed monster and horror pictures throughout the day and especially at night.
I can understand why some may be put off by the film as certain participants do an awful lot of walking about (Peter Cushing) for extended periods of the films running time. But the whole occult phenomenon surrounding the skull and the backstory of the Marquis as well as the other demonic forces at work kept me enthralled. Cushing is my favorite actor over all genres and it was awesome to see him carry the film. One thing that made it interesting for me was his daring even after being told the result of holding on to the skull, he welcomed the temptation of the Devil's company for research purposes but in turn becomes the Marquis's disciple of death. Also the opening gave me the willies when I was a kid. Chris Lee was great, too. Loved the auction scene which had all the great brit horror stars together in one scene. Oh, and the nightmare sequence was tops as well! And I also liked how a good portion of the film has no dialog utilizing sound effects and music only. I used to have the old Paramount EP tape and I plan to pick this up when it gets in the stores or maybe I'll buy it from Legend themselves, a company that does some stellar colorization on old B/W films. Something about this movie....I don't know, maybe I'm possessed by The Skull for liking it so much!
