The Skulls III

This film went straight to video, here is why:

The film has the misfortune of following one of the worst sequels of all time. "The Skulls" is a well known film starring Paul Walker, and "The Skulls 2" was the worst explanatory sequel since "Highlander 2." Everybody thought this movie would disappoint because it's a sequel to a bad sequel.

Secondly, "Skulls 3" is a feminist film anachronism. The audience is ready for women in serious roles. "G.I. Jane" was a huge hit. No longer is a film which begs the question 'why can't girls play too?' provocative. The films feminist themes are dated and cliched.

Finally, the obvious nature of the script rivals daytime drama. The roommate actually says, "waddaya know? A sorority girl with a brain!" (when describing herself).

Do not see this movie.

I admit the first two installments were good and kept your attention. Part three started showing signs of trouble. A female in a all male society club was a bit too much to believe. The story itself was a bit weak and the thought of a female surrounded by males could have gone a bit deeper. One knows off the bat that rape would be expected though not the case here. All those good looking guys not making any moves on her where they'd be protected seemed a bit pointless. This time the movie falls flat and just can't get the momentum going again. The cast is forgettable, the plot is overused and the ideas are all exhausted. By far the weakest in the trilogy and most uninteresting. I wasn't in to this one because they just didn't try to salvage this movie in any way. At least the first two used pride and honor here they just wrote and didn't really do anything with it.

I really liked the original Skulls. There were good actors, writing/script/plot etc. And I haven't seen Skulls II yet (I didn't know there were any sequels until I saw Skulls III was on TV).

Skulls III is poor. The actors are fine, but the plot is so easy to predict. There's no suspense. No surprises. And I'd almost call Skulls III slow most of the time.

Skulls III certainly gives you nothing worth watching for 2 hours. You'd be better off renting/watching the original Skulls again, than to watch this version.

If they plan to make a Skulls IV, bring back the writers and director types which made Skulls (I) a success.

The third and almost certainly final movie in the Skulls franchise goes out on about the same level as the other movies, namely watchable but forgettable.

This time the lead is Clare Kramer who fans of Buffy the Vampire slayer will remember as season 5's antagonist Glorificus (Glory). She's a passable actress, but as a leading lady makes this feel more like a Lifetime original than a Hollywood film.

It tells yet another Skulls story but this one is both original and really really stupid at the same time.

So our lead character is frustrated that the Skulls secret society only recruits men and decides to form an official appeal to get herself in. Yes.............she files an official appeal with a secret society! So much facepalm!

Anyway alike Joshua Jackson and Robin Dunne before her she learns that the Skulls have their secrets and yadayadayada.

This is about on par with the second film in quality, it's watchable stuff but not as clever as it likes to think it is. In fact it's kind of a blend between a Skulls movie and a Columbo episode.

For fans and folks who are really bored.

The Good:

Solid soundtrack

Barry Bostwick

The Bad:

Bafflingly dumb protagonost

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

A girl running through woods in fear as an opening scene is rapidly becoming the most tired movie trope

Three movies in, and given the choice I'd happily still be part of The Skulls

***SPOILERS*** Back for a third time "The Skulls III" has more or less the usual kind of story-line that the previous two Skull movies had with a bunch of young collage students running around the town at midnight, in one case with only their underwear on, doing all kinds of wild and crazy things to qualify as future Skulls. The only difference in Skulls III is that this time a young women Taylor Brooks, Clare Kramer,is allowed to become a Skull, if she can cut the mustard, and it's that slight variation that makes Skulls III watchable, especially when Taylor takes her clothes off.

Getting a bit ahead of itself the movie starts with Taylor being interrogated at the local police station about a murder that was committed the night before. Spilling her guts out Taylor tells Detectives Staynor & Valdez, Dean McDermott & Maia del Mar,about living with the thought of her brother's Sam, Toby Proctor, suicide and how she has nightmares about it. It was Taylor who discovered Sam's body.

As Taylor tells her story to the police we start to get an idea of how she ended up where we see her now, a suspect in a murder case. Taylor bucked the system by wanting to be a Skull and even worse she had her father Congressman Martin Brooks ,Ken Pruner, go against the the very motto of that secret organization that The Skulls stand and pledge their careers reputations and lives for:"A Skull Above Any Other".

As in the last two Skull movies The Skulls in Skulls III are anything but the powerful and omnipresent Boggie Men that their made out to be but a bunch of clumsy and incompetent boobs who can't get anything done right.

The core of the movie has really nothing at all to do with Taylor or her getting tapped to become a Skull, the first woman in that exclusive club. The film has to do with the goings on behind the scenes of big time businessman, Nathen Llyod ,Barry Bostwick, who needs Congressman Brooks' vote to get his company, Llyods Communications, to have all the telecommunications contracts for the US military. Congressman Brooks, a man of conscience, knows that "Llyods Communications" is incompatible with the US Army Navy and Air Force's telecommunication systems and would result in countless deaths of American soldiers if a war ever breaks out.

It turns out that Taylor's induction into The Skulls was a plan cooked up by Llyod to get her into a compromising position and use it to blackmail both her and her father to do what Llyod want's from him; vote for his company to get the military contract that would result in billions of dollars going into his pocket.

Getting Taylor drunk and on drugs at a Skull party at Llyod's mansion Llyod also used Taylor's computer to E-mail her boyfriend Ethan ,Shaun Sipos,to show up there in order to meet her about becoming a Skull. He then plans have him murdered with all the evidence rigged in order to implicate Taylor.

Predictable ending with Llyod using all his influence as a Skull to get Taylor's new boyfriend Brian ,Steve Braun, to entrap her by acting as if he's trying to help Taylor in finding Ethen's murderer. Llyod's entire plan falls apart when his son Roger, Bryce Johnson, finds out the truth that it was his father who not only murdered Ethan but tried at first to frame both Brian, in order to get him to set up Taylor, for the killing and then had him betray the totally innocent Taylor.

Being the jerk that he is Llyod spills the beans on himself in his involvement in Ethan's murder to both Brian and Taylor not knowing that Taylor secretly dialed her cell-phone to 9/11 and had the police listen in hearing what turned out to be Llyod's confession!

The movie "The Skulls III" looks like the final nail in the coffin of the Skull saga. With The Skulls looking so ridicules and brainless that no one with even half a brain would ever wan't to join that lame-brain organization again. The Skulls thankfully went out of business due to lack of interest in the fact that anyone in the entire country who has any amount of brains in his Skull would not be idiotic enough to join a blockhead club like that.