During the blaxploitation boom of the early '70s, there was brief revival of the voodoo fad that originated in the '30s and continued into the'40s (titles including White Zombie, Revolt of the Zombies, King of the Zombies, I Walked With a Zombie, and Voodoo Man). 70s voodoo themed flicks included Scream Blacula Scream, Sugar Hill, Live and Let Die and The House on Skull Mountain, the latter using the hoary old plot device of a family gathered for the reading of a will to deliver plenty of voodoo hokum. Damballah, gris-gris, macumba, wanga, Erzulie and bongo drums: it's all there, along with flares, sideburns, afros and jive talk. Unfortunately, the result isn't that much fun, the predictable script and unimaginative direction making much of the film as lifeless as a zombi.
Victor French plays Dr. Andrew Cunningham adopted son of Pauline Christophe (Mary J. Todd McKenzie), who summons her relatives to her home on Skull Mountain (so-called because of a rock formation that looks like a skull). Arriving shortly after Pauline croaks, the last decendants of the Christophe family wait for the reading of the will but begin to die one by one in mysterious ways. Finding strange amulets by each body, Dr. Cunningham, an expert in anthropology, suspects that voodoo is involved and investigates, ultimately doing battle with voodoo priest Thomas Pettione (Jean Durand), who summons Pauline from the dead to do his bidding.
With an unconvincing miniature model of the titular house and mountain (used in a really bad matte shot), two boring death scenes with no gore, a pointless montage (Andrew and Lorena on a day out in Atlanta), a voodoo ritual with lots of bongo drumming and gyrating of bodies that goes on for way too long, a duel with machetes (sounds good but isn't), and a finale that features the least formidable zombi imaginable -- a reanimated frail old woman -- The House On Skull Mountain is unremarkable horror mumbo-jumbo cashing in on a short-lived craze that will no doubt hold some appeal for fans of bad horror B-movies, but which most sane people would be advised to avoid.
Victor French plays Dr. Andrew Cunningham adopted son of Pauline Christophe (Mary J. Todd McKenzie), who summons her relatives to her home on Skull Mountain (so-called because of a rock formation that looks like a skull). Arriving shortly after Pauline croaks, the last decendants of the Christophe family wait for the reading of the will but begin to die one by one in mysterious ways. Finding strange amulets by each body, Dr. Cunningham, an expert in anthropology, suspects that voodoo is involved and investigates, ultimately doing battle with voodoo priest Thomas Pettione (Jean Durand), who summons Pauline from the dead to do his bidding.
With an unconvincing miniature model of the titular house and mountain (used in a really bad matte shot), two boring death scenes with no gore, a pointless montage (Andrew and Lorena on a day out in Atlanta), a voodoo ritual with lots of bongo drumming and gyrating of bodies that goes on for way too long, a duel with machetes (sounds good but isn't), and a finale that features the least formidable zombi imaginable -- a reanimated frail old woman -- The House On Skull Mountain is unremarkable horror mumbo-jumbo cashing in on a short-lived craze that will no doubt hold some appeal for fans of bad horror B-movies, but which most sane people would be advised to avoid.