Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Scott LeBrun The title of this minor horror-blaxploitation item seems to indicate you're in for something resembling a Scooby-Doo mystery. Still, director Ron Honthaner, working from a script by Mildred Pares, is able to generate sufficient atmosphere and overall strangeness. Even at 86 minutes, though, you can feel the padding on this thing. The final third contains way too much dancing and drumming. The cast does alright; part of the mixture of ingredients here is the potential for an interracial romance and the presence of a white face in a prominent black family, offering some sort of outsiders' perspective.That outsider is anthropology professor Andrew Cunningham (Victor French of 'Little House on the Prairie' and 'Highway to Heaven'), a member of the Christophe clan who arrive at the title location after the death of the family matriarch (Mary J. Todd McKenzie) for the reading of the will and other such matters. However, they will soon start to fall victim to so-called "accidents" engineered by an enigmatic individual on the premises.Mike Evans of 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons' supplies the obnoxious comedy relief as a character whom we presume that we won't miss all that much. Xernona Clayton is endearing as Harriet, who has visions of death plaguing her, the stunning Janee Michelle ("Scream Blacula Scream", "The Mephisto Waltz") adds a lot of sex appeal as our leading lady Lorena, Ella Woods (who also sings one tune) is good as house staff member Louette, and Jean Durand is amusing if never that intimidating as the mysterious butler Thomas. The special effects aren't too special, the music by Jerrold Immel is adequate, the basic set-up does hearken back to horror films of the 30s, and the finale does involve the appearance of a zombie.This one might be worth a passing glance if one is flipping channels late at night, but it's nothing that people should go out of their way to see.Five out of 10.

MartinHafer Back in the 1970s, Mike Evans played the recurring character Lionel Jefferson on "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons". Eventually, he was replaced on "The Jeffersons" by a guy who looked nothing like him...and I always wondered why this happened. Well, after reading a bit, it seems that he quit acting temporarily in 1975 because he was the co-creator and writer for "Good Times". However, just before quitting acting, he accepted a leading role in "The House on Skull Mountain". Perhaps Evans should have considered giving up acting a year sooner-- since his role in the film was rather one dimensional and silly. Of course, the film itself is one dimensional and silly!!The film begins with an old black lady dying. Various relatives who don't know each other have all been invited to her estate for a reading of the old woman's will. However, before this occurs, there is a death--and things start to get really scary. Lots of snakes appear and disappear, the Grim Reaper keeps popping by to visit and there's an underground voodoo cult that meets there for their little dance parties. Who will survive the stay at Skull Mountain? If I had some distant relative die and I was invited to their estate at Skull Mountain, I might just think twice. After all, 'Skull Mountain' doesn't exactly sound like a friendly place! And, when various folks in the home start seeing weird hallucinations of death, you'd think they'd skedaddle--I sure know I would! But, being a cheesy exploitation film they don't and the results are rather predictable and silly. I also wonder if most Black-Americans who might watch this today might just feel a bit embarrassed by all this silliness and these stereotypes. And, it really is silly--just the sort of guilty pleasure bad movie fans might enjoy. Others, however, should watch at their own risk--Shakespeare this isn't!

Lee Eisenberg Although I thought that "The House on Skull Mountain" was overall a fairly neat movie, I wish that it had featured more action. And people need to realize that voodoo is more than just people sticking pins in dolls; voodoo is a religion. Of course, there can never be too many movies about haunted houses.The plot is that an elderly African-American woman dies and a couple of people are invited to her house near Atlanta. Sure enough, there are bad things going on in this house. I thought that Phillippe was sort of a cliché (alcoholic wise guy), but he was the neatest character in the movie! Anyway, there's nothing special about this movie.

Scarecrow-88 Relatives are sent a letter, an invite to come to the Southern mansion, on the outskirts of Atlanta, of a voodoo priestess, who has died, expecting them to ward off an evil they do not know. Each person, the foxy attractive Lorena(Janee Michelle), smart-mouth, obnoxious Phillippe(Mike EVans of "The Jeffersons"), polite, mannered Christian Harriet(Xernona Clayton)and the unlikely "honky" of the group, an anthropology professor, who has studied voodoo, Dr. Andrew Cunningham(Victor French of "Highway to Heaven" and "Little House on the Prairie"), haven't even met their ancestor. While it appears this group is gathering for a will reading, they are instead in for a battle against the creepy butler, Tomas(Jean Durand), secretly practicing voodoo rituals in a hidden room below the mansion using his abilities to endanger their lives. It'll be up to the unlikely heroics of Cunningham, who definitely sticks out like a sore thumb in this mostly African-American cast, and his knowledge of voodoo, to stop Tomas who wishes to strengthen his powers by marrying Lorena, a mostly pure Christophe.Voodoo horror outing even has a musical ritual performed by practitioners in that cavernous den below the mansion. There are skulls aplenty, which I admired, such as the face on the mountain where the mansion resides and on the door that greets visitors. Even Death pops up every once in a while to point towards potential victims. The climax even has Pauline Christophe(Mary J Todd McKenzie)rising from the grave, by order of Tomas which adds some fun to the proceedings. I think this kind of horror film, which gives over to the supernatural elements of the practiced religion, might make many viewers chuckle instead of fold into their seats. The cast is okay, nothing mind-blowing, but just the audacity to have a white hero is something to create interest for this kind of unusual horror effort. Not a bit violent, this was suppose to spook, not disgust. The setting, I loved a great deal.. the mansion is quite a stunning set. I thought the ending where Tomas and Cunningham square off in a sword fight was a bit hokey, though. I'm not sure whatever happened to the participants of the voodoo dance once Tomas accidentally slices a skull, ritualistically placed on a stick which holds Lorena hypnotically imprisoned. You have to gloss over flaws like that when a film allows liberties regarding the power of voodoo on innocents.