"THE HOUSE ON SKULL MOUNTAIN" WAS MADE IN 1974 -- THE SAME YEAR AS "SUGAR HILL" -- BUT IT'S NOWHERE NEAR AS FUN. Bryan Senn, author of "DRUMS OF TERROR: VOODOO IN THE CINEMA" describes the film as "House on Dull Mountain" and probably predictable but sadly appropriate. The movie's not THAT bad but it's not really good either; and there's precious little entertainment to go around. Director Ron Honthaner filmed "HOUSE" in and around Atlanta, Georgia and the movie is what my late friend Peg used to call a "lunch-time production": meaning that some people had a lunch hour free so they made a movie. Having said that, though, this film is MUCH less painful to watch than, say, MANOS HAND OF FATE! It may not be very good but it doesn't deserve to be savaged either.

The plot goes like this: an old voodoo priestess named Pauline Christophe (Mary J. Todd McKenzie) is dying and calls her scattered family members to her old mansion on Skull Mountain; none of the relatives have met her OR each other before. The family members arrive just in time for the funeral: our heroine Lorena (Janee Michelle), matronly Harriet (Xernona Clayton), ne'er do well Philippe (Mike Evans) and a surprise white relative born on the wrong side of the covers anthropologist Andrew Cunningham (Victor French). Faithful family retainer Thomas (Jean Durand) and housekeeper Louette (Ella Woods) greet the relatives at the old mansion with the family lawyer (Senator Leroy Johnson). A statement from Pauline is read informing all that there is a family "legacy of power" deriving from family ancestor Henry Christophe (revolutionary founder and first king of Haiti) who was given a string of beads by the voodoo loa Damballah as a foundation of his power. Whew! That's a lot of plot exposition. We soon discover that Thomas is performing voodoo rituals in the basement which result in several family members meeting their demise. After a great deal of sitting around and talking (as well as a ridiculous trip to town browsing in a player piano store {!}) Louette gets knifed, Lorena comes under the voodoo control of Thomas and Andrew comes to the rescue.

Except for a few of the main leads, most of the cast is made up of amateurs. Janee Michelle is perhaps best known around these parts for appearing in the similarly voodoo-themed SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM along with William Marshall and Pam Grier. Mike Evans, of course, is famous for playing Lionel Jefferson in ALL IN THE FAMILY and THE JEFFERSONS; here he plays the jive-talking Philippe in broad stereotypical strokes. And the incongruous presence of Victor French as Andrew Cunningham "the white sheep of the family" (as described by Bryan Senn) is simply bewildering. French, of course, is known for his roles in CARTER COUNTRY and HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN with Michael Landon. It's distressing that even in 1974 the producers thought they needed to have the hero played by a white guy in order to save the day; even if Whitey is only half-Whitey in the script. Most of the film is taken up with talking head scenes which in and of itself isn't a crime; the fact that the talk scenes are poorly acted and boring as hell IS a crime. The mansion set itself is so ridiculously overlit that there is no sense of creepiness or menace; in fact when the electricity goes out you can't really tell since the lighting doesn't really change at all. They just light candles. It is a really nice-looking set, though. The "scare" scenes, both of them, aren't the least bit scary and are rather ineptly handled by the director. The big voodoo ceremony set piece is boring and way too drawn out -- and in the end doesn't really amount to anything. And the inevitable return of Pauline Christophe as a zombie is tepid as well; it's not as bad as Bryan Senn says -- he describes it as "grandma having a bad hair day" but it's not much better either. It's all rather a huge waste of time as horror movies go. The wordy script lets the film down terribly and it really needs a much better director to inject some life -- or even remote interest -- in the goings-on. All in all a great big missed opportunity. If the movie was even HALF as eventful as the movie poster. . .