During the fight between Zutai and Jeff, the "blade" of Zutai's weapon is rubber, and keeps wobbling around, and bends when it brushes against anything.
When the family and the detective are gathered around the coffin, smoke is seen drifting into the shot behind the right shoulder of the family doctor.
Nobody was smoking in the scene.
Zurich is visibly breathing when Drake prepares to cut off his head.
When Kenneth Drake is walking to the window to investigate the shrunken head hanging outside, there is a poorly placed splice (film "jumps") with the background (curtains suddenly appear) and lighting drastically changing.
I have to say that while I found The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake to be mediocre most of the way, the twist they gave at the end which is the secret of Henry Daniell's villainy lifted it to be a decently competent horror film.Henry Daniell and villainy is a redundancy, that man with that cold sneer and haughty manner was born to play villains.
Edward L. Cahn directed this obscure film that stars Edward Franz as Jonathan Drake, who is attending his brother's funeral when he finds to his horror that the head is missing, though it turns up later in a cabinet.
Now this is a premise: a tribal curse, shrunken heads, and a zombie enforcer. It seems that the Drake family has incurred the wrath of native Ecuadorans--for messing with the in some way, I suspect.
Kenneth Drake is murdered by a mystery man who looks like one of the shrunken heads that his family collects. He is presumed to have died naturally like all men in the family around the same age.
This one was a fun watch. Lots of horror eye candy from floating skulls, decapitation, voodoo, shrunken heads, head in a pot, a madman and all with a unique story to tell.
One of the scariest classic horror movies you've never even heard of is this low-budget independent from United Artists where several classic screen actors get to do their thing, and the plot isn't anywhere near where you think it seems to be going. Henry Danielle, a veteran of some classic horrors (including the cult favorite "The Body Snatcher") gets to be downright evil here as a man bent on revenge on the descendants of a long-dead man he believes guilty of crimes against his own ancestors.
As other reviewers have noted, this one gave them nightmares as kids. After watching it curled up in a warm blanket alone at night after the kids were put to bed, I wouldn't let them watch it (not that they would sit through it anyways) but I know it would've creeped me out for awhile too had I seen it at their age.
The Quick Pitch: Over 100 years ago, a South American witch-doctor placed a curse on the male members of the Drake family. Each will die at the age of 60 and each will have his head mysteriously removed prior to burial.
From United Artists, a very interesting black & white horror flick. Somewhat predictable, but atmospheric and haunting...
