EDITOR’S NOTE: The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake was first on Chiller Theater on Saturday, November 30, 1963 at 3:00 p.m. It also aired on August 2, 1964 and August 7, 1965.

Directed by Edward L. Cahn and written by Orville H. Hampton, this is the tale of the Drake family. Because of a massacre in Ecuador led by Capt. Wilfred Drake, the men of their family have all been cursed to die at the age of sixty, beheaded and their severed heads shrank down. A killer named Zutai (Paul Wexler) kills one of the Drake men, Kenneth, before Jonathan (Eduard Franz) can warn him.

Of course, the family physician seems to think that the real curse of the Drake men is heart disease. That may be true, but then where are their heads? After all, we’ve seen the Zutai and his bamboo weapon stabbing people and he nearly poisons Jonathan, who keeps having visions of floating skulls.

There’s also The Cult of Headless Men who have had their lips sewn shut and fingertips branded with small skulls to achieve endless life. Perhaps the real culprit behind all of this could be Dr. Emil Zurich (Henry Daniell). After all, he has a white person’s head on a black person’s body, which is pretty wild for 1959. Either way, the curse demands four skulls and right now, it only has three.

This was kind of movie that was “Written, Produced and Directed To Scare The Daylights Out Of You!” Whether or not it did may depend on just how creeped out you are by voodoo and skulls.

As part of United Artists’ Science Fiction-Horror-Monster Features, which was sold to TV stations in 1963, this aired all over the U.S. well into the 70s. It also played theaters with another movie by the same director, Invisible Invaders. These movies have two different production companies listed — Premium Pictures for Invaders and Vogue Pictures for Four Skulls — but they are the exact same company.