The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is a 1959 American black-and-white horror film written by Orville H. Hampton and directed by Edward L. Cahn. It was one of a series of films they made in the late 1950s for producer Robert E. Kent on contract for distribution by United Artists. The film stars Eduard Franz, Valerie French, Grant Richards, and Henry Daniell. Set in the present day (i.e. 1959), it tells the story of a curse placed on the Drake Family by the witch doctor of the Jivaro, a tribe of indigenous people in Ecuador, following a 19th century massacre led by Capt. Wilfred Drake. Since that time, for three generations, all the Drake men have died at age 60, after which they were decapitated, and their heads shrunken by persons unknown.
The film was made as a package deal with Invisible Invaders. Both were released theatrically as a double bill on May 15, 1959, with Drake being the first shown.
Plot
While contemplating a shrunken head, professor Jonathan Drake has a vision of three floating skulls. Recoiling in fear, he instructs his daughter Alison to dispatch a telegram to his 60-year-old brother Kenneth, saying he will visit Kenneth on Thursday.
But before Jonathan can arrive, Kenneth sees a shrunken head outside his window. A tall man with long hair and lips sewn closed pokes Kenneth with a bamboo stiletto, barely breaking the skin. Kenneth dies. The man, Zutai, attempts to behead Kenneth but is interrupted.
Police Lt. Jeff Rowan is called. He meets Dr. George Bradford - Kenneth's physician - and archaeologist Dr. Emil Zurich, a friend of Kenneth's. Not knowing of the attack on Kenneth, Bradford determines the cause of death of be cardiovascular disease. Apparently, three generations of Drake men have died from cardiac problems at age 60. Jeff asks if there is a connection between the shrunken head and the death. Bradford does not think so. However, Zurich, apparently not saddened by Kenneth's demise, proudly calls the shrunken head a "particularly fine specimen."
At Kenneth's, Jonathan learns of his death and demands that his closed coffin be opened. The body inside has no head. Zutai took it to Zurich, who calls it "payment for the evils of your ancestors" and starts shrinking it. He says once he has Jonathan's head, "the curse will be finished."
At the family crypt, Jonathan tells Alison that all the Drake men are entombed there except Capt. Wilfred Drake, who in 1873 led an expedition to Ecuador. There, the Jivaro tribe killed Wlifred's "Swiss agent" and as revenge, Wilfred massacred the Jivaro. The tribal witch doctor, Zutai, cursed the male Drakes. Wilfred died at 60. So did each Drake in the crypt, where each body is headless. The crypt's locked closet contains two skulls. Neither he nor Alison know how they got there.
Zurich sends Zutai to the crypt to deposit the third skull, Kenneth's. Meanwhile, Jeff is skeptical about the curse. At the crypt, Alison and Jeff discover the third skull. Zutai attacks Jonathan, poking him, but is again interrupted and cannot behead him. Seeing Zutai fleeing, Jeff shoots at him, to no avail. Bradford declares Jonathan dead. But Jeff has a sample of Jonathan's blood analyzed at the crime lab, where Lee Coulter finds curare in it. Jeff tells Bradford to administer an antidote, which revives Jonathan. He has another vision of floating skulls, but instead of seeing three, he sees four.
Lee dusts the three skulls in the crypt for fingerprints. The prints are the same person's - even though Jonathan's grandfather, father and brother died many years apart - and each print contains a tiny picture of a skull. Alison clears up the tiny skull mystery by showing Jeff a book about "The Cult of Headless Men", who achieved immortality and branded their fingertips with images of skulls. As the immortals needed no food or oxygen, they had their lips sewn closed.
Jeff goes to Zurich's to interview him, despite still discounting his suggestion of supernatural involvement. After Jeff leaves, Zurich and Zutai go off to kill Jonathan. But they cannot, as Jonathan has been taken to hospital after again seeing four skulls. Jeff surreptitiously returns to Zurich's house, finds his secret laboratory, and discovers Dr. Bradford's head. Bradford had gone to Zurich's to discuss the unusual occurrences.