150 Movies You Should See Before You Die (10 page)

PRODUCERS
Joe R. Hartsfield (executive producer), Tom Boutross and Ray Storey (producers)

WRITER
Mildred Pares

DIRECTOR
Ron Honthaner

STARS
Victor French (
Dr. Andrew Cunningham
), Janee Michelle (
Lorena
Christophe
), Jean Duran (
Thomas Pettione
), Mike Evans (
Phillipe
Wilette
), Ella Woods (
Louette
), and Xernona Clayton (
Harriet Johnson
)

Four distant relatives of a recently deceased voodoo queen (Clayton, Evans, French, and Michelle) are summoned to her house. They then start dying under mysterious circumstances.

Why It Sucks

The House on Skull Mountain
is such a failure at an African American — oriented horror film that Blacula wouldn't be caught dead in it. It may star African Americans, but it doesn't have any horror, a decent story, or a reason to watch it. The filmmakers tried to mix the seventies tradition of Blaxploitation films with the classic “dark old house” thrillers of the 1930s, but they created a disaster.

Thumbs Down Rating:

The Crappies

The Worst Actor Award goes to …
Mike Evans for his portrayal of an obnoxious, drunken, horny black man. The character is so repulsive that theater audiences probably cheered at his death scene.
And the Worst Script Award goes to …
Mildred Pares for a script that doesn't even make an attempt at explaining why the butler did it. (Yes, in this movie the butler really
did
do it!)

They Really Said It!

Phillippe
: See, you done got yourself all upset cuz you went to the funeral.

Lorena
: Ah, what a shame. You missed it.
Phillippe
: Yeah, yeah, cuz don't go to these funerals, you understand. I can't stand to see a woman cry, especially when she's fine. And you is fine.

Betcha Didn't Know

Victor French was a successful television actor and director, who worked on dozens of episodes of
Gunsmoke, Little House
on the Prairie
and a number of other long-running series, both behind and in front of the camera.

Mike Evans is most famous for his role in the television series
Good Times
. He retired from show business after finishing this movie and went into real estate.

Trivia Quiz

Which of these is
not
a title of a Blaxploitation horror movie from the 1970s?

A:
Blacula

B:
Blackenstein

C:
Brother Jekyll and Massah Hyde

D:
Black Werewolf

Answer:
C. Brother Jekyll and Massah Hyde. Blacula, Blackenstein, and Black Werewolf
were released in 1972, 1973, and 1974 respectively.
Black Werewolf
is better known under the title of The
Beast Must Die.

PRODUCERS
Umberto Borsato, Hurbert Case, Gioele Centanni, Harry Cushing, Egidio Gelso, Jules Kenton, and Mel Welles

WRITERS
Umberto Borsato, Edward Di Lorenzo, Egidio Gelso, Aureliano Luppi, and Dick Randall (script), Mel Welles (story). Based on the characters from Mary Shelley's novel.

DIRECTORS
Mel Welles and Aureliano Luppi

STARS
Sara Bay (
Tania Frankenstein
), Joseph Cotten (
Baron
Frankenstein
), Paul Muller (
Dr. Charles Marshall
), Mickey Hargitay (
Capt.

Harris
), and Paul Whiteman (
the Creature
)

Tania Frankenstein (Bay) proves psychopathy is an inherited trait when she continues and perfects her dead father's work in reanimation and monster making … by creating her perfect mate, using the body of a hunky (but retarded) handyman, and the brain of her father's former assistant (Muller).

Why It Sucks

This is one of the sleaziest twists on the Frankenstein story ever presented. It also features one of the most disturbing sex scenes on film, when Tania Frankenstein has an orgasm as her lover is being murdered beneath her.

Tania Frankenstein not only creates a monster that looks like the retarded country cousin of Troma Entertainment's Toxic Avenger, but she is one of the most twisted members of that already disturbed family to ever grace the silver screen.

Thumbs Down Rating:

The Crappies

The Worst Script Award goes to …
Umberto Borsato for writing the character of Captain Harris like a bad version of Columbo who does nothing but waste time and space in the movie.

And the Monster-on-the-Cheap Award goes to …
Costume Designer Maurice Nichols for bringing us a creature that looks like the backwoodsmen from
Deliverance
had a baby with the mutant cannibals from
The Hills Have Eyes.

They Really Said It!

Tania
: You don't need to kill him! He thinks he killed you! Now he can be controlled!

Betcha Didn't Know

Sara Bay's true name is Rosalba Neri, an Italian actress who started her film career at the age of fifteen.

Mickey Hargitay was a bodybuilder and fitness expert before he turned to acting. He is the father of Mariska Hargitay, star of the long-running TV series
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
.

Trivia Quiz

Which of these actors has not played D r. Frankenstein?

A: Raul Julia

B: Donald Pleasence

C: Udo Kier

D: Christopher Lee