The films share main themes and plot points, and a few very peripheral characters, but work more as distant cousins than legitimate sequels. Each can easily be viewed in isolation with little lost as far as story integrity or clarity.

The Skulls
Summary:
The main thematic thrust of The Skulls can be summed up quite succinctly in a line of dialogue uttered by one of the characters early in the film. "If it's secret and it's elite, it can't be good." Lucas McNamara, played competently by Joshua Jackson, is the feisty kid from a hardscrabble, underclass background, who is working his way through Yale in the cafeteria while nursing dreams of the prohibitively expensive Harvard Law. His last chance to get in just might be the Skulls, a secret society on campus that lavishes its members with money, women and expensive cars, but also expects unquestioning loyalty.

His entry into the elite group brings him new friends and ready cash, but also a lot of tension with his old friends Will (Hill Harper) and Chloe (Leslie Bibb). They've spent the last three years in constant company with Lucas, and resent this new secret area of his life. Things escalate when Will steals a Skulls house key from Caleb (Paul Walker), Lucas' assigned "soul mate" in the Skulls, and sneaks in to dig up dirt for the expose he is writing. When Lucas finds Will hanging from a rope the next day in the newspaper office, he begins to suspect that all is not wine and roses in his new secret club.

As one might expect, things go downhill fast from there and the more thrilling aspects of this thriller begin to unfold. As thrilling as it gets, anyway. At best The Skulls is a workmanlike film, never rising to the level of genius of, say, Marathon Man or The Manchurian Candidate. Lucas, who very much wants to go to Harvard Law but not to betray his principles, is presented with a believable though forced moral dilemma, and this causes most of the emotional tension in the film. The dramatic tension builds as he secretly follows Skulls through the mazy Yale campus, is chased through alleys by SUVs and gets in fights with large men in three piece suits. But we never quite feel that sense of desperation and impending disaster that makes a thriller work.

The events we are shown fail to invest the viewer sufficiently in his fate, however. Joshua Jackson is likeable enough, and does an adequate job of creating a sympathetic protagonist. Indeed, the caliber of actors, such as William Petersen, Craig T. Nelson and Nigel Bennett, does much to overcome the sometimes clunky dialogue and formulaic plot. Even Paul Walker does a serviceable job. Herein lies the problem. The entire film is serviceable. It is slickly produced, competently acted, adequately written and moderately entertaining. It is worth a quiet evening's perusal, but will not last through the ages.

The DVD

Video:
The video quality of The Skulls is actually quite good. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation allows an encompassing view of outdoor action and several panoramic night shots. The blacks are rich and dark, but with good contrast that allows us to see what is going on in night scenes. Colors are smooth and deep in most places, though on a few occasions bright whites would wash out completely.

Sound:
The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1, with an available French language track. Captions are available in English only. The LFE channel is used fairly often, though mostly only for music cues. The dialogue is crisp and easily audible. The sound genuinely adds to the film, particularly in the numerous action or chase scenes, where the audio will move around the room, though generally being distributed throughout the channels. The score is heavily sprinkled with rock songs, which envelop the listening area.

Extras:
The Skulls actually has a significant amount of extras, more than would normally be expected on a film of this kind. Most of them are inconsequential. One or two do add to the overall experience of the disc. Let's look at them one at a time.

Spotlight on Location This featurette clocks in at 13:40, and features interviews with John Pogue, the writer, Rob Cohen, the director, and the three main actors. The title is a little confusing, as it neither deals with the location much, nor are the interviews conducted solely on location. Regardless, the interviews, while providing a few smidgens of interesting information, are mostly recitations of how lovely and fantastic the other cast and crew are. This adds little to the disc.

Deleted Scenes Ten scenes deleted from the film or severely cut are offered, with optional commentary from Cohen, who describes why they were removed. There are a few interesting scenes here that add some additional nuance to our understanding of the film.

Commentary with Rob Cohen This is actually the most rewarding of the extras. Cohen is gregarious and engaging. He describes the origin of the film, comments on the difficulties he encountered, and reveals inside secrets, such as some shots that I was surprised to learn were almost entirely digitally created. He also passes along a number of personal anecdotes, including a description of having a black roommate in college and how the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. during that time affected the both of them. This commentary track contributes significantly to the enjoyment of the film, and left me with a greater respect for Cohen and the film in general. Alas, none of the other extras measure up.

Other Extras Several other minor features are presented, including a theatrical trailer, production notes (all text and repetitive of material already seen) and trailers for "recommended" films, which mostly have nothing to do with The Skulls apart from the fact that several were directed by Cohen. Cast and Filmmaker bios are also included, in text. The only oddity here is that writer John Pogue's name is listed, but no information on him can be accessed.

DVD ROM Content The information available via DVD ROM access is frivolous, and requires registration. Much of the information is duplicated in other extras, though some additional behind the scenes information is included in text form. A few production photos are offered, and a partial listing of the songs on the soundtrack. Nothing here is worth the time or effort.

The Skulls II
Summary
The Skulls II and The Skulls III are both included on the second disc in the set. The Skulls II is a definite step down in both writing and acting from The Skulls, though the production values are comparable. The ceremonies are sillier, as is the stilted dialogue. The inferior caliber of acting talent cannot pull off the unnatural and forced phrases they are expected to utter in complete seriousness. Craig T. Nelson can bull his way through a silly monologue that the small time cable TV alums here cannot hope to master.

Our tale begins in a dark and mysterious wood. Robed figures with torches lead a group of blindfolded young men into a clearing, where they are instructed to dig their own graves. Chilling initiation rites ensue forthwith. Ryan, played by Robin Dunne, is a legacy, who feels pressured by his older brother to join the Skulls. Jeff, Ryan's friend, is played by Christopher Ralph, who resembles nothing so much as a younger Richard Grieco. The two execute a prank involving fake knives and blood during one of the rituals that causes them to be punished with cleaning the floor in the attic. While there, Ryan thinks he sees a young woman drinking with a fellow Skull fall off the roof.

Ryan's relationship with his girlfriend Ali was strained before, and now it is positively shattered as he is caught up in what may be the cover up of a young girl's accidental death. The now familiar tale of conflicted loyalties and Skulls retribution unfolds yet again, with a few strange twists and unoriginal developments thrown in to differentiate things from the previous outing. The attempts at originality are undermined, however, by the sheer ridiculousness of what we are asked to believe. When the grand plan to save the day involves a lecherous coroner acting with the mindset of a less than bright porn character, super secret medical blackmail files being kept in a marked, alphabetized filing cabinet, and elevator doors working as they never have in the history of the Otis Elevator Company, you may want to send your script out for a polish.

The Skulls II fails on most levels as a piece of film entertainment. It is an uninspired copy of a superior work that was never outstanding to begin with. It isn't worth anyone's time.

The DVD
The Video:
The video quality on The Skulls II is acceptable, though better than one would expect on a direct to video offering. Like its predecessor, it is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The colors are at times rich and smooth, and at other times drab and washed out, causing it to lack the consistency of quality of the original. In the numerous night scenes, as in the original, the gradations between light and dark are fine enough that we can discern the action.

Sound:
The audio is Dolby digital 5.1, with no additional language tracks available. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French. The quality is generally good, with a crisp articulated dialogue, and occasional effective use of the LFE channel. Not much effort was made to maximize the sound experience, though, and it shows. During the action scenes, things get louder, but not effectively separated in the space. The sound maintains, but does not add to the experience.

Extras:
There are no extras to speak of on the second disc, which is not surprising considering that the two sequels were low budget, direct to video offerings. I can't think of anything that would make the films interesting or enjoyable.

The Skulls III
Summary
Keen observers have doubtless already guessed the surprising twist in The Skulls III. That's right, this time it's a girl! Taylor Brooks, played by Clare Kramer, is the daughter of a congressman, who is himself a Skull. Her brother mysteriously died during his own initiation to the Skulls, and now she is determined to force her way into the group and finally gain respect from dad. The fact that the Skulls don't want her, and that her entry necessitates her long suffering boyfriend be excluded to make room for her, don't matter in the slightest, much to his irritation. Either she's in or she files a lawsuit. Our heroine: the heartless, litigious shrew who is concerned only about herself. How could that not be a good idea?

Mostly because we wouldn't have a movie otherwise, Taylor succeeds in getting herself tapped for the Skulls. She excels more than she could possibly have imagined at the reality show like tasks that make up the "revealing process", and begins to have romantic feelings for her fellow initiate Brian (Steve Braun), which is convenient since she has most likely irreparably damaged her relationship with her boyfriend. Of course, things are not as straightforward as they first appear, and a dead body soon appears, causing moral dilemmas for Taylor's congressman father. Action and thrills ensue.

The writing in The Skulls III is uniformly atrocious. Characters talk baldly about their feelings and motivations in a way normal humans do not, but which conveniently passes on to the audience important information and clarification. The Skulls' initiation ceremonies are incredibly silly this time around. The acting is unnatural and forced. Barry Bostwick particularly should ashamed of himself for his turn as industrialist Nathan Lloyd. The Skulls III is silly, overly earnest, unbelievable and devoid of entertainment value. Skip it.

The DVD
The Video:
The Skulls III is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. It appears to have been cropped at some point, as the top few inches of people's heads are routinely cut off. The palette of colors is considerably less vibrant than the previous films, particularly The Skulls. The image is less sharp, closer to SciFi Channel made for TV quality. The separation between light and dark is murky, and action is routinely obscured in night scenes.

The Sound:
The audio is Dolby digital 5.1, with optional Spanish and French language tracks. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French. Little effort has been made to utilize sound to enhance the viewing experience. The audio is spread out uniformly across the channels, and the subwoofer is rarely used except in a few of the execrable rock songs thrown in to pad the film's many montage scenes.

The Extras:
As in The Skulls II there are no extras present.

Final Thoughts:
The Skulls is an average movie which delivers a couple of hours of light entertainment that isn't terribly taxing. It tries but fails to rise above the vast middle of the thriller genre, but still manages to distract us from the workaday world for a while. The obvious question, then, is why would someone make not one but two sequels to a film that was not particularly striking or original to begin with?

This question is best left with the gods, but it can definitely be said that the two additional entries in the Skulls canon contribute nothing. In fact, they detract from the overall experience of the set. There would be little to cause anyone to purchase them if they were not boxed together with the original. The Skulls is worth a viewing on a quiet, rainy day with nothing else to do. Its sequels are to be avoided if at all possible.