The Skulls (2000)

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer (WGA):

John Pogue (written by)

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A secret society so powerful, it can give you everything you desire... at a price.

Plot:

Luke McNamara, a college senior from a working class background joins a secret elitist college fraternity organization called "The Skulls"...

Plot Keywords:

College | Secret Society | Fraternity | Murder | Tear Gas

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Joshua Jackson	...	Lucas "Luke" McNamara
Paul Walker	...	Caleb Mandrake
Hill Harper	...	Will Beckford
Leslie Bibb	...	Chloe Whitfield
Christopher McDonald	...	Martin Lombard
Steve Harris	...	Detective Sparrow
William Petersen	...	Ames Levritt
Craig T. Nelson	...	Litten Mandrake
David Asman	...	Jason Pitcairn
Scott Gibson	...	Travis Wheeler
Nigel Bennett	...	Dr. Rupert Whitney
Andrew Kraulis	...	McBride
Derek Aasland	...	Sullivan
Jennifer Melino	...	J.J.
Noah Danby	...	Hugh Mauberson

Also Known As:

Le clan des Skulls (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37120) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Belfountain, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

At the university (actually the University of Toronto), you can see the lights for the Sutton Hotel in the background (red lettering) in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the car chase through the park, the Jeep's lights go out as the driver goes around corners, because he is using the emergency brake, which turns off the daytime running lights.

Quotes:

[Caleb is sitting in front of her while they're watching the boat race]
Coed in Caleb's Car: Caleb, I can't see the race!
Caleb Mandrake: Imagine it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Spotlight on Location: The Skulls (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Taste

Good potential smothered in bad script...

THE SKULLS deals with an interesting subject but never overcomes a murky script that seems to go nowhere until the final sequences.

Two young freshmen are at the centerpiece of the story about a mysterious organization called "The Skulls" that seems to offer rich rewards for joining a secret society. JOSHUA JACKSON and PAUL WALKER are the two young men and CRAIG T. NELSON is Walker's father who wants his wealthy son to make it into the society.

The acting is decent enough, especially by Jackson, and Craig T. Nelson is earnest as the overbearing father but the murky plot is a stumbling block all the way through. The sets are handsomely designed and the technical credits are fine but none of the characters are particularly interesting and the viewer becomes uninvolved in a story that lacks sufficient tension to pull the whole thing together.

Good try, but having a relatively unknown cast filling all of the roles doesn't help much. As a suspense thriller, could have been so much tighter, so much better.