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
Mac Fyfe	...	Laurence Thorne (as Mak Fyfe)
David Christo	...	Shawn Packford
Shaw Madson	...	Chad MacIntosh
Jesse Nilsson	...	Kent Hodgins
Shawn Mathieson	...	Jonathan Payne
Steven McCarthy	...	Sweeney
Matthew G. Taylor	...	Medoc (as Matt Taylor)
Henry Alessandroni	...	Strain
James Finnerty	...	Preppy Freshman
Cyprian Lerch	...	Student in Lunch Line
Dominic Kahn	...	Regatta Judge
Ken Campbell	...	Starting Judge
Pedro Salvín	...	Lodge Butler (as Pedro Salvin)
Derek Boyes	...	Assistant District Attorney
Katherine Trowell	...	Sanctuary Administrator
Connie Buell	...	Waitress
Stephen Richard	...	Furniture Mover (as Steve Richard)
Kevin Allen	...	Sturtevant Security Guard
Paul Walker III	...	Boxing Coach
Jason Knight	...	Police Techie
Amanda Goundry	...	Coed in Caleb's Car
Malin Akerman	...	Coed in Caleb's Apartment
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Larry Beatie	...	Rower (uncredited)
Rob Cohen	...	College Lecturer (uncredited)
Jonathan Khan	...	George (uncredited)
Gillian Parker	...	Coxie (uncredited)

Directed by
Rob Cohen

Writing credits (WGA)
John Pogue		(written by)

Produced by
Christopher Ball	....	executive producer (as Chris J. Ball)
Creighton Bellinger	....	associate producer
Fred C. Caruso	....	co-producer (as Fred Caruso)
Nancy Kirhoffer	....	associate producer
Bruce Mellon	....	executive producer
Neal H. Moritz	....	producer
John Pogue	....	producer
William Tyrer	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Randy Edelman
Emmanuel Kiriakou

Cinematography by
Shane Hurlbut

Film Editing by
Peter Amundson

Casting by
Anne McCarthy
Mary Vernieu

Production Design by
Bob Ziembicki

Art Direction by
Peter Grundy

Set Decoration by
Steve Shewchuk
Clive Thomasson

Costume Design by
Marie-Sylvie Deveau

Makeup Department
Kelly M. Beatty	....	prosthetic supply
Kelly M. Beatty	....	special makeup effects artist
Carol Marinoff	....	key hair stylist
Leslie Ann Sebert	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Lyn Lucibello	....	production manager
Robert Rothbard	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harley Cohen	....	assistant director
Charles Crossin	....	second assistant director
Adam Druxman	....	first assistant director
Yolanda Graci	....	assistant director
Grant Lucibello	....	second assistant director
Tony Lucibello	....	first assistant director
David C. Malcolm	....	third assistant director
Michal Page	....	third assistant director
John Pogue	....	second unit director
Branko Racki	....	second unit director

Art Department
Sarah Ashton	....	construction bookkeeper
Tory Bellingham	....	property master
Rupert Lazarus	....	first assistant art director
Neil Morfitt	....	set designer
Mark O'Donoghue	....	carpenter
Jeff Poulis	....	assistant property master
Reet Puhm	....	key scenic artist
Phillip Tellez	....	construction coordinator
Shawn Thomas	....	graphic designer

Sound Department
David Franklin Bergad	....	sound editor
Leslie Bloom	....	sound effects editor
Michael C. Casper	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bell Dave	....	cable person
Christopher Emerson	....	sound effects editor
Glen Gauthier	....	production sound mixer
Jeff Gomillion	....	adr mixer
Daniel J. Leahy	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Nutt	....	supervising sound editor
Jack Snyder	....	sound engineer
Steve Switzer	....	boom operator
Matthew Spiro	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Trevor Cripps	....	special effects technician
Bob Hall	....	key special effects
Warren Keillor	....	special effects
Ted Ross	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Kelvin McIlwain	....	matte artist
Kenneth Nakada	....	matte artist: Illusion Arts

Stunts
Ron Bell	....	stunts
Marco Bianco	....	stunts
Matt Birman	....	stunts
Eric Bryson	....	stunts
Shane Cardwell	....	stunts
Wayne Downer	....	stunts
C.J. Fidler	....	stunts
Errol Gee	....	stunts (as Errol G.)
Howard Green	....	stunts
Danny Lima	....	stunts
Dwayne McLean	....	stunts
Duncan McLeod	....	stunts
Kevin Monaco	....	stunt performer
Edward A. Queffelec	....	stunts (as Ed Queffelec)
Ken Quinn	....	stunts
Branko Racki	....	stunt coordinator
Branko Racki	....	stunts
Robert Racki	....	stunts
Kevin Rushton	....	stunts
Robert C. Shannon	....	dive supervisor
John Stoneham Jr.	....	stunts
Bryan Thomas	....	stunt double
Bryan Thomas	....	stunts
Robert Thomas	....	stunts
Tye Tyukodi	....	stunts (as Anton Tyukodi)
Jennifer Vey	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Abby Anderson	....	video assist
Andy Chmura	....	camera operator
Wayne Goodchild	....	key grip
Andy Langevin	....	rigging gaffer
Mark Lewandowski	....	video assist operator
Keith Murphy	....	Steadicam operator
Keith Murphy	....	camera operator
Kris Wood	....	video playback operator

Casting Department
Krisztina M. Neglia	....	extras casting (as Krisztina Meuring)
Alex Newman	....	casting associate
Rachael Erwin	....	casting intern (uncredited)
Chris Parson	....	casting intern (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Natalie Bronfman	....	costume assistant
Gayle Franklin	....	costume assistant
Gayle Franklin	....	costume buyer
Linda Petty	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Luke Borghi	....	assistant editor
Jim Flynn	....	assistant editor
Jana Lynn Gold	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Michael Matsumoto	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
Elton Ahi	....	scoring engineer
Joanie Diener	....	music editor
Michelle Kuznetsky	....	music supervisor
Steve Porcaro	....	composer: additional music
Mary Ramos	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Robert Tenaglia	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Elizabeth A. Bergman	....	post-production accountant
Anthony Carovillano	....	key craft service
Arthur Clarke	....	location manager
Sean Coyne	....	on-set craft
Bennett Fidlow	....	additional legal services
Daniel Horvat	....	first assistant production accountant
Stephanie Keating	....	unit publicist
Marcus Paletta	....	security officer
Angelo Vacco	....	adr loop group
Randee Lynne Jensen	....	creative assistant (uncredited)
Derek Ursacki	....	office assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (presents)
• Original Film (in association with) (presents)
• Newmarket Capital Group (in association with) (presents)
• Cranium Films

Distributors

• Eurocine (2000) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Filmes Lusomundo (2000) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Keyfilms Roma (2000) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (2000) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Hungary (2000) (Hungary) (theatrical)
• Laurenfilm (2000) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Paradiso Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2000) (USA) (theatrical)
• UGC-Fox Distribution (UFD) (2000) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2000) (UK) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2001) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Village Roadshow Greece S.A. (2000) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2000) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Warner Roadshow Film Distributors (2000) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (200?) (Greece) (VHS)
• Europa Filmes (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Europa Filmes (200?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD) (collector's edition)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Veronica (2004) (Netherlands) (TV)

Other Companies

• Decca Records  soundtrack
• Picture Mill, The  main title design
• Summit Entertainment  foreign sales

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

Color:

Color

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:

When the Skulls members are heading out to the island, the castle in the background is Singer Castle on Dark Island. The island that the Skull and Bone Society owns is called Deer Island. Both islands are in the Thousand Island of the St. Lawrence River.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Paint schemes of the oars are completely different than the actual oars of the colleges they are supposed to represent.

Quotes:

Senator Ames Levritt: Our rules supercede those of the outside world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La pianiste (2001)

Soundtrack:

Dandy Life

A Poor Man's "Eyes Wide Shut"

"The Skulls" strives to be a toned down version of "Eyes Wide Shut." Unfortunately, Joshua Jackson and Leslie Bibb are not quite Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and Rob Cohen is certainly no Stanley Kubrick. So instead of anything remotely as stylish as the movie it pretends to be, "The Skulls" simply becomes just another "teenagers taking on world" movie. And of course, we all know who is going to win such a clash.

Joshua Jackson plays a young, ambitious college student who is asked to join an ultra-secret fraternity: The Skulls. This fraternity has produced senators, congressmen and even presidents. Obviously membership in this secret society is nothing to be taken lightly. Very soon Joshua is torn between both the power and the harm this society can bring.

It is an interesting premise. Unfortunately, director Rob Cohen must have been shooting the film on a shoestring budget. The lack of any real known stars doesn't exactly doom the film, but Cohen's lackadaisical style does. Did he ever shoot a scene more than once or twice?

When we are first introduced to The Skulls, Jackson and a few other potential candidates are brought to a secret location to be initiated. The hooded figures who speak to them should be ominous, but instead they sound like a bunch of teenagers playing Halloween pranks: "Ya" instead of "You." "Try and steal" instead of "Try to steal." Where was Cohen when this scene was being filmed? Out having lunch?

You may experience a few thrills during some of "The Skulls" actions scenes, but for a movie with several supposed twists and turns, you will probably never truly be surprised. And that's too bad.