Jess Franco made a lot of films that are liable to make you want to claw your eyes out; but then he also made a lot of films that made you wish he took more care of his overall filmography as the man clearly had talent. Night of the Skull is firmly in the latter category; as while the plot is not particularly original and has been done many times before and since; Franco makes good of it and Night of the Skull is a very successful thriller overall. The basis for the plot takes influence from the often used idea of a will reading causing trouble within a family. The film takes place in England and we focus on the residents of an old castle. The Lord of the manor, Lord Archibald Marian, has been murdered. As the family gather for the will reading, they are shocked to learn of two wills; one to be read in the case that the Lord was murdered, the other in the case that he died of natural causes. The family are shocked further when all of his assets are left to his illegitimate daughter, but there are twists in store before the will can be executed.

The film gives a writing credit to the great Edgar Allen Poe for his story "The Cat and the Canary", although clear influence is taken from crime writer Edgar Wallace and indeed his novel "The Terror" (which was adapted in 1965 as The Sinister Monk) features basically the same story. The film has some similarities with the Giallo genre also and Giallo fans will no doubt enjoy this one too (genre entries such as The Weekend Murders and Deadly Inheritance also use the same base for a plot). The film is set in England and Franco takes care with his setting and the film does actually have an English feel; despite the fact that all the characters speak Spanish. Franco also creates an effectively creepy atmosphere that benefits the film immensely. The film is of a higher quality than a lot of Franco's stuff also - with the acting from the ensemble cast being well above par. The storyline is interesting for the duration despite the fact that it will be familiar to most genre fans; and the ending does deliver something of a surprise. It's an unlikely way for the tale to end, but at least it sort of makes some sense. Overall, Night of the Skull is a very decent thriller and comes recommended.

With a repertoire of almost 190 films, Jess Franco is probably the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time. I've personally been a great fan of the Spanish Exploitation deity for years, and it has to be said that his films differ in quality immensely. While Franco was doubtlessly responsible for a vast amount of stinkers, his filmography also includes several downright brilliant films, such as "Miss Muerte", "The Awful Dr. Orloff", "Venus In Furs" or "The Nights Of Dracula". And what could be a bigger treat for a cult-cinema fan than a Franco flick inspired by none other than the great Edgar Allan Poe? While "La Noche De Los Asesinos" (aka. "Night Of The Skull"/"Night Of The Assassins"/"Suspiri", 1976) is not one of the absolute greatest films in Franco's repertoire, it is definitely one of his better ones, and a must-see for his fans. "Night Of The Skull" is a creepy and competent Gothic chiller that begins delightfully cheesy and turns out to much more convoluted and intelligent than one might think. A family has gathered in a Louisiana Castle to accept the inheritance of the British Lord Archibald Marian, who has been murdered in a horrible manner. While the family members are anxiously waiting for their inheritance, the killer, who has a weakness for bizarre murder methods, is still on the loose...

Franco accomplishes to create a creepy Gothic atmosphere, and he also borrows a lot from the Italian Giallo. This is not the only Franco film that bears many resemblances to 70s Gialli (his ultra-nasty 1981 slasher "Bloody Moon" also has many Giallo aspects), but the inspiration has never been as obvious as in this one. "Night Of The Skull" is also probably Franco's least sleaziest film. Uncommonly for Franco, the film features hardly any nudity (only Evelyne Scott shows some skin) and very little sleaze. Even Franco's future wife, Lina Romay, who is known for being naked for about 90 per cent of her film career, keeps her clothes on in this one. Apart from young Miss Romay, the film features a bunch of other Franco regulars, such as Alberto Dalbés, the creepy-looking Luis Barboo and Antonio Mayans, as well as the great William Berger. There have been greater Poe adaptations than this one, of course. Poe's work has been most brilliantly brought to screen by Roger Corman with his magnificent Poe-films starring Vincent Price, some of which ("Pit And The Pendulum", "The Haunted Palace", "The Masque Of The Red Death") rank among the greatest Horror films ever made. Sergio Martino tied in with the tradition of brilliant Poe-Inspired films with his Giallo masterpiece "Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key" (1974). In case you want to see a true masterpiece inspired by Poe's writing, check out Martino's film or any of Corman's 7 films before this one. Overall, however, "Night Of The Skull" is a more than worthwhile film that features creepiness and delightful cheese in equal measures and provides several compelling twists that cult-cinema fans should enjoy. Highly recommended, especially to Jess Franco fans!

This is a rare example of a period giallo, and an interesting one; not tremendously suspenseful and quite predictable in the long run, but certainly enjoyable along the way (with welcome touches of humor from time to time). It was supposedly adapted from John Willard's "The Cat And The Canary", erroneously attributed to Edgar Allan Poe on the credit titles (though this was probably done strictly for commercial purposes!).

The pace is somewhat lethargic but the atmosphere is well enough caught, accentuated by a slightly unnerving score, frenzied cross-cutting and some weird images (the assassin's 'costume' itself and the first claustrophobic murder). The casting is effective, though I wasn't familiar with too many of the actors: from Lina Romay and Antonio Mayans as the young couple to the various conniving members of the family (including William Berger) and various other interlopers (like the Police Chief who always forgets to pick up his sombrero when he leaves, and Franco himself as a drunken 'lawyer'). This is my first Lina Romay film: frankly she seems so young it's hard to believe she would soon be appearing in films that would border on the hardcore (this film's only perverse erotic charge is delivered by the scene where the sleeping Romay, nude of course, is beaten up by her tipsy and jealous step-mother with a belt)!

The concept of a series of murder methods lifted from a passage in the Apocalypse is an interesting one, though the death-by-fire itself is pretty unconvincingly staged. All things considered, a minor Franco but one I wouldn't mind revisiting in future.