The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake
“Written, Produced, And Directed To Scare The Daylights Out Of You!”
Certified Crap. CrapScore 53, rated by 1 admin.
Higher CrapScores mean more entertainingly bad. How we score movies.
A family curse makes a missing head at a funeral only the beginning of the problem. This compact horror mystery treats its grisly inheritance with perfect seriousness. The head props are excellent; the exoticised curse mythology is unmistakably a product of its time.
Nominated by @flabbergasted_jones
The club’s verdict
- Acting
- 4.5/10
- Plot
- 7/10
- Effects
- 2.5/10
- Dialogue
- 5/10
- Rewatchability
- 7.5/10
“A difficult family legacy, with several parts unaccounted for.”
@flabbergasted_jones, scored it 53
Synopsis and movie facts
Jonathan Drake, while attending his brother's funeral, is shocked to find the head of the deceased is missing. When his brother's skull shows up later in a locked cabinet, Drake realizes an ancient curse placed upon his grandfather by a tribe of South American Jivaro Indians is still in effect and that he himself is the probable next victim.
- Released
- 1959
- Directed by
- Edward L. Cahn
- Running time
- 70 min
Starring
- Henry Daniell as Dr. Emil Zurich
- Valerie French as Alison Drake
- Grant Richards as Lt. Jeff Rowan
- Paul Wexler as Zutai
- Eduard Franz as Jonathan Drake
- Frank Gerstle as Det. Lee Coulter
- Lumsden Hare as Rogers, the butler
- Howard Wendell as Dr. George Bradford
Research behind this pick
Researched . Explore the film references and reviews below.
- Film reference · themoviedb.org
TMDB identity and credits retrieved on 2026-11-10: The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), directed by Edward L. Cahn. The importer rechecks identity, poster, synopsis, release date, runtime, genres and cast against live metadata.
- Review · millionmonkeytheater.com
The review calls the film spooky and entertaining and specifically praises Charles Gemorra's head props, while discussing its fictionalised use of head-shrinking traditions. Full review text consulted on 2026-11-10.
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