The Skull

Dr. Christopher Maitland is a collector of antiques with an interest in the occult. Through Anthony Marco, a dealer of questionable reputation, he acquires the skull of the Marquis de Sade. Maitland dismisses warnings that the skull is possessed and that it once belonged to his friend Sir Matthew Phillips, but he soon begins suffering nightmares, and people around him start dying.

The film was directed by Freddie Francis, released in 1965 between Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave among the ten features listed in his directing career. Milton Subotsky and Robert Bloch wrote the screenplay, and Max Rosenberg and Subotsky produced for Amicus Productions. Peter Cushing plays Maitland, Christopher Lee plays Phillips, and Patrick Wymark plays Marco, with Jill Bennett, Peter Woodthorpe and Nigel Green among the credited cast of twenty-six. It runs 83 minutes.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.2 from about 4,200 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6 from 116 votes, indicating a modest but enduring following for this British horror title.