The House on Skull Mountain

Perhaps the only, at least to my knowledge, haunted-house movie that also qualifies as a pure-blooded Blaxploitation effort, "The House on Skull Mountain" is an overall worthwhile film but unfortunately not the undiscovered gem I hoped it would be. I was mainly attracted by the luscious title and the accompanied DVD-cover illustration; but luckily enough the film is also reasonably well-scripted – albeit derivative of "The House on Haunted Hill" obviously - and entertaining. It's a tale of voodoo, greed and things that go bump in the night. On her deathbed at the house on Skull Mountain (there actually is a skull-shaped rock in the mountain, which is totally awesome!) an elderly black lady, who looks like a guy and talks like a child, orders to send out four letters to four distant relatives. They all travel up to the house, expecting to inherit a fortune, but in fact get a whole lot more than they bargained for. They each become subjected to eerie voodoo rites and spells inflicted by the bald servant of the dead lady. "The House on Skull Mountain" is stylish and professionally made. It's slow-paced and the low number of death sequences are not very bloody or spectacular, but director Ron Honthaner provides a fair share of frissons and unsettling atmosphere. The filming locations are sublime and the titular house is fantastic. The house and the astonishing lead actress Janee Michelle are definitely the main trumps of the film. The climax sequences are rather dull and clichéd, with a voodoo ceremony that seems to go on forever. Youthful gorehounds beware, but fans of 70's horror and peculiar Blaxploitation will definitely enjoy "The House on Skull Mountain"

This movie seems to be in a time warp. At times, the plot seems to copy the gathering-of-the-relatives/read-the-will plot which was old even by the 1930s. At other times, it tries to blend in voodoo and blaxploitation themes and even hints at an inter-racial romance. None of these elements really works out and the film comes off as being a hodgepodge. Mike Evans (Lionel on the Jeffersons) only has a small part and a not very good one at that. The film also has a made-for-TV look about it due to the fact that there are really only about 10 or so people in the cast and not much in the way of special effects. The title itself is inappropriate. It sounds like a Hardy Boys Mystery. The servant dabbling in voodoo was kind of creepy though.

I recently viewed The House on Skull Mountain (1974) on a random streaming service. The plot revolves around a southern voodoo lady's death, prompting her family to gather for the will, only to realize their lives may be in jeopardy.

Directed by Ron Honthaner in his sole directorial venture, the film features Victor French (Highway to Heaven), Mike Evans (The Jeffersons), Lloyd Nelson (The Dead Pool), and Denis LeHane (The Town that Dreaded Sundown).

While the film explores unique family dynamics and presents some suspenseful and unpredictable situations, it falls short overall. The made-for-television vibe is pervasive, and despite entertaining voodoo scenes, the absence of compelling kill scenes, gore, or blood splatter is noticeable. The background music is reminiscent of classic '70s horror and complements the atmospheric elements with storms, thunder, and rain. The surprising conclusion adds some value.

In summary, The House on Skull Mountain is an uneven and below-average entry to the horror genre. I would rate this a 4/10 and suggest skipping it.

The House on Skull Mountain? Sounds like some 60's Hardy-Boy adventure to me. I have to say I caught glimpses of this film a couple weeks ago and it was very strange. Your typical 70's horror flick. I mean it wasn't that bad and Victor French does a good job, but it seemed like it was lacking a few things. Maybe I will have to watch it again some time. All I know is films like the infamous "ALIEN" ('79) changed the view of horror movies for ever and that may or may not be a good thing. Too many imitations these days. Take a look at this movie some time.

In my reassessment process of my first movies watched at my tender age, the large majority had an upgrade of the ratings, in other hand just a few have a downgrading, The House of Skull Mountain is one of them, officially it never come out in Brazil, thus just leaves me call on the last expectancy the Youtube's files, I've found a fine print in English language without subtitles and I went ahead anyway.

The story is about an elderly black woman Pauline Christoph (Mary J. Todd Mackenzie) about to die from Haiti when her descendent was the first King Henry Christoph of Haiti after spelled the French there, a sort of hero who defeated the slavery on French colony, due it Pauline demands to the Priest (Don Devendorf) four letters to their Americans Christoph's bloodline, they appeared too late when Pauline already died, actually no one of them never heard about their progeny coming from Haitian Pauline Christoph, the first one the young gorgeous Lorena Christoph (Janee Michelle), the comes a young male Phillip Willete (Mike Evans) a sort of philandering playboy often spoken in black jargon.

The third mature women Harriet Johnson (Xernoma Clayton) a humble housekeeper and the last one is an Anthropology Professor Dr. Andrew Cunnigham (Victor French) oddly enough a white man even having Christoph's ancestry, gathered all them in a gloomy mansion at high mountain looks like a skull each one has been killed without any reason by Voodoo's cult on the mansion's underground, Phillip fallen down at elevator pit and Harriet is bitten by a poisoned snake at Pauline's room, just remains Lorena and Dr. Andrew alive, in house has a couple of old servants which lie all suspicious about those unusual murders, the bleak Thomas (Jean Durant) and his jealous wife Louette (Ella Woods) although Thomas intents keep with the eye-candy Lorena for yourself.

A kind of Blaxploitation blending with Horror strongly based on Voodoo's cult from African roots, where numerous Haitians used to do at there, bringing to America's south-east and south as well during the slavery time, the movie takes place at nearby Atlanta, Giorgia.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 1981 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 5.