The Forgotten Paul Walker Thriller That Launched A Franchise

Rob Cohen's 2000 conspiracy thriller "The Skulls" was a notable hit when it was first released, earning over $50 million on a $15 million budget. The film starred Paul Walker and Joshua Jackson, both rising stars from the late-'90s teen movie circuit. Jackson had recently appeared in films like "Apt Pupil," "Urban Legend," and "Cruel Intentions," while Walker had made a splash in "Pleasantville," "Varsity Blues," and "She's All That." Both of them were, naturally, all that. After "The Skulls," Jackson would continue to rise with the hit soap opera "Dawson's Creek," and Walker would appear in "The Fast and the Furious" the next year. We all know how big its sequels became.

It was a stroke of casting fortune that Walker and Jackson should star in "The Skulls" together, and as rivals, no less. The attractiveness quotient is not measurable by human tools. "The Skulls" takes place at a prestigious, expensive law school where Luke (Walker) is living on multiple scholarships. He was raised in middle-class households and feels out-of-place at his well-moneyed university. At the same time, he's dating his sweetheart Chloe (Leslie Bibb) and life is overall okay, if a little financially hard. Things seem to change for the better, though, when Luke is invited to join the Skulls, an organization in the university that is a combination fraternity and secret society. It's clearly modeled after Skull and Bones, a real club — and a very creepy, secretive one — in operation in the halls of Yale.

Luke and Caleb, the Jackson character, become "blood brothers" after staging a prank together, forcing a wedge between him and his friends. Naturally, Luke becomes involved in a web of murder, cover-ups, and conspiracies. Everything you've suspected about the rich is true.

As mentioned, "The Skulls" was a hit, although few know about the film's two direct-to-home-media sequels. "The Skulls II" was released in 2002, while "The Skulls III" arrived in 2004.

Joe Chapelle's "The Skulls II" takes place after the events of "The Skulls" but follows a whole new set of characters. The new protagonist is Ryan (Robin Dunne), who is tapped to join the Skulls along with his roommate Jeff (Christopher Ralph). Ryan's older brother Greg (James Gallanders) is already a Skulls member, so Ryan is actually ambivalent toward his potential induction. He'd rather hang out with his girlfriend (Ashley Lyn Cafagna). Naturally, Ryan discovers that the Skulls are into some shady s***, covering up the death of a young woman named Diane and her connection to one of the Skulls members. Luke, Caleb, and the actual plot of the first "The Skulls" is not really pertinent to the sequel. The only thing that remains consistent is the existence of the Skulls society itself.

The Skulls society keeps on getting away with it, however, as they are up to their usual shenanigans in "The Skulls III," directed by J. Miles Dale. Also disconnected from the previous movie, "The Skulls III" follows the misadventures of Taylor (Clare Kramer), who is very eager to join the Skulls despite the organization being exclusionary to women. She proves to be unscrupulous enough to join, however, and suggests many, many unethical things. When she's finally allowed to be part of the induction ceremony, Taylor naturally finds a deep web of malfeasance. Barry Bostwick co-stars.

The general consensus on "The Skulls II" and "The Skulls III" seems to be that they are merely serviceable, presenting ancient thriller clichés without any wit, spin, or cleverness. They seem to be the kinds of films one can rattle off on an idle Friday night after party plans have been canceled unexpectedly. Cohen's first "The Skulls" had things to say about the corrupting effects of wealth and the horrors white men commit to protect themselves from (gasp) diversity. The sequels are watered-down versions of the same thing.

Sadly, none of the "Skulls" movies are available on streaming.