Creaky mansions. Dark and stormy nights. People investigating by candle light. Someone jumping out of the shadows wearing a skull mask. Basic pleasures from the Spanish horror movie, Night Of The Skull (1974), just one of the hundred movies directed by Jess Franco, a gothic murder mystery with light giallo vibes.
A family of aristocrats contest a will for a murdered patriarch, and what do you know, the killing continues! Look, this plot was pretty confusing as more family members turn up for a reading of another secret will. And there’s a comic relief detective who keeps leaving his hat behind as a running joke, and a mysterious Scotland Yard detective also on the case. A passage from the Book of Revelations indicates how each of the murders will happen – earth, wind, fire, etc.
For director Jesus Franco, there’s a bit of restraint in the violence and especially the nudity, particularly with his muse Lina Romay in the cast. But there’s enough searching zooms and occasional bursts of psychedelic editing (jump cuts to a skull), to make it an old-fashioned fun time. Also, I love that movie can’t even wait for the last scene to end to roll credits, no doubt Jess Franco already impatient to make another movie!
Available on Tubi. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 