The Skull

“When the Skull strikes you'll scream!”

Dr. Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing) collects esoterica, and when his usual dealer offers him an odd, yellowed skull, he buys it. It turns out to be what remains of the Marquis de Sade, and Maitland's friend Sir Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee) warns him against keeping it. Freddie Francis puts the skull in Maitland's study and lets it sit there, while a careful scholar finds he cannot make himself put it away.