Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Skullduggery Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 23, 2022

Gordon Douglas' "Skullduggery" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, C. Courtney Joyner, and Sergio Mims, as well as a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The opportunist

The inspiration for Gordon Douglas’ film Skullduggery came from Jean Bruller’s book “Les animaux denatures”. I am completely unfamiliar with the book and do not know whether Skullduggery accurately recreates the events that are described in it. However, I am still going to speculate that Douglas’ cinematic adaptation of the original material from the book is extremely loose. It has to be because it is too obvious that Burt Reynolds, Susan Clark, and most of the other stars and supporting actors do a tremendous amount of improvising. It is where the only fun in the film comes from, which probably means that the improvising was not only justified but desperately needed.

The plot is beyond silly. Cash-strapped opportunist Douglas Temple (Reynolds) and his best pal Otto Kreps (Roger C. Carmel) use a couple of dirty tricks to convince archeologist Dr. Sybil Greame (Clark) to hire them to be part of her team heading to a remote area in Papua New Guinea. Soon after they enter the jungle, Dr. Greame begins searching for evidence of early life and locates some very valuable bones. Meanwhile, Temple and Kreps uncover a massive phosphorous field that, if developed properly, can make them filthy rich. As the outsiders try to contain their excitement, however, a group of friendly ape-like people who have lived in the area for centuries approach them and soon after begin interacting with them on a daily basis. Temple then figures out how to use them to dig out the phosphorus in exchange for sandwiches and other cheap prizes. But when Dr. Greame’s fiance, Vancruysen (Paul Hubschmid), a wealthy businessman with killer instincts, realizes that the ape-like people can be trained to be even more efficient workers, all kinds of different relationships become extremely complicated.

The main trouble with Skullduggery isn’t that it dispatches its characters on a fairly straightforward expedition. There is actually some pretty good footage from Papua New Guinea (as well as Jamaica and Samoa) in it that would fit perfectly in any of the famous genre films the likes of Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato directed at approximately the same time. (And just to be clear, I am not implying that Skullduggery needed more graphic material as well). What collapses the film and makes it awfully difficult to endure are the awful politics that overwhelm its narrative. Indeed, almost as soon as the ape-like people connect with the outsiders, the film becomes cluttered with preachy statements about exploitation, workers’ rights, justice, and humanism. On top of this, a bizarre development transforms the final third of the film into a serious court drama that channels even more politics.

I mentioned at the top of the article that the improvising was more than likely desperately needed. It should be perfectly clear why now. It is the only antidote to the politics and ultimately complete boredom. Reynolds had probably realized it too because there are a couple of scenes where he attempts to break Clark’s resistance while improvising with funny lines and charm that are essentially the only authentic likable bits in the film. The rest is instantly forgettable material.

Skullduggery was lensed by Robert Moreno, whose credits include the TV series Police Woman and Anna and the King, as well as the funny western Sam Whiskey.

Skullduggery Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Skullduggery arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The film is sourced from a very healthy recent 2K master. I don't have an older DVD release of this film in my library to point out specific areas where the upgrades in quality are most impressive, but this would have been a meaningless attempt anyway. Why? Because aside from some minor density fluctuations and perhaps sporadic flatness in wider panoramic shots, most of which is introduced by the original cinematography, nighttime and daylight visuals look very good. This is a type of consistency that would not have been present on any DVD release. Color balance is convincing as well. Perhaps there is a bit of room for improvements in terms of saturation, but the primaries and the supporting nuances already look quite good. There are no stability issues. Despite a few minor blemishes, the entire film looks healthy as well. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Skullduggery Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio is always clear and stable. The upper register is healthy as well. Dynamic intensity is pretty modest, but this isn't surprising because the film's original sound design isn't impressive. Oliver Nelson's does not produce any interesting contrasts either. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Skullduggery Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Skullduggery. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, C. Courtney Joyner, and Sergio Mims.

Skullduggery Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I wanted to give Skullduggery a try because I am very rarely disappointed by a Burt Reynolds film. I find something to like even in low-budget projects, like Shark!, so long as I view them late at night. Unfortunately, Skullduggery bored me to tears. It has some nice panoramic footage plus a few funny bits with Reynolds improvising while trying to convince Susan Clark to sleep with him -- in the jungle of course -- but its politics are awful. So, I would say that you should consider picking it up only if you are a hopeless Reynolds completist. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a nice recent 2K master.