Horror Classic 10 of 50: THE SCREAMING SKULL
I lied. When I wrote last week's post, I incorrectly stated that this week's movie would be The Beast of Yucca Flats. In fact, that classic is next week. I wish to sincerely apologize to everyone -- beast or otherwise -- who may be inconvenienced by this error. In the meantime, this week I'll be covering The Screaming Skull from 1958. As I watched this movie on the 50-movie set, I realize that I had seen it before... twice. Once was on a 1-disc, 4-movie DVD of "horror classics" (which now seems downright amateurish to me) and once as on Mystery Science Theater 3000, where it was ridiculed by robots. And now, here I am watching it again . Will the third time be a charm? I don't know.
But I do know that this is the 10th film in the 50-movie set, which means I'm 20% finished with this whole shebang. Will I make it to film #50? Keep reading!
Synopsis
Before the story starts, there's a disclaimer: Over the image of an open coffin, a voice tells us that The Screaming Skull "reaches its climax in shocking horror," and that it may be so scary that we die watching it. In the event that this happens, the filmmakers will pay for your funeral arrangements. Yikes. I hope I can handle this.
On with the story: Eric brings his skittish new bride Jenny to see their house for the first time. He used to live there with his first wife Marion, who is now dead. Eric introduces Jenny to the peacocks who live on the estate, and Mickey the slow-witted gardener who still hasn't accepted the fact that Marion is dead.
That evening, the couple receives a visit from Reverend Snow and his wife,* who offer home-cooked dinner and hot, tasty exposition. Eric tells Mrs. Snow that Jenny's parents drowned, and she saw it all happen, which explains her nervousness. Rev. Snow tells Jenny that no one witnessed Marion's death, which apparently occurred when she slipped and bashed her skull on the wall of the pond behind the house during a storm. Then Mrs. Snow tells Rev. Snow that Eric inherited the mansion from Marion, and that Jenny is also "very wealthy." Isn't that interesting? Meanwhile, Mickey talks to a painting of Marion.
Late one night, Jenny wakes up late at night to the sound of a door banging in the wind, and Eric is nowhere to be found. She bumps into him downstairs and they find a lilypad from the pond, which really freaks Jenny out. Eric dismisses it as a sign of Mickey's weirdness, and suggests that Jenny try to make friends with Mickey friends with Mickey the next day while he's in the city consulting with his lawyer.
So she does, laying flowers on Marion's grave with Mickey, as well as wandering the estate listening to the peacock's unearthly screeching. That night, Jenny, all alone in the mansion, wakes from a fitful sleep to the sound of screaming... but the peacocks are nowhere in sight. Wandering around the house again (very slowly), she encounters a wardrobe that swings open to reveal... A SCREAMING SKULL! You won't find that at Ikea! Then there's knocking on the door, and when she answers it, there on the doorstep she sees... A SCREAMING SKULL! Jenny faints.
Next morning, Eric hears Jenny's story, but he and Rev. Snow find no evidence of her creepy cranium. Now Eric reveals something else about Jenny: She spent a year in a sanitarium after her parents' death because she was going crazy. Later, Eric comes up with a great new plan to cure her: Together, they will burn the painting of Marion. And they do, but when it's done, guess what Jenny finds in the ashes? A SCREAMING SPLEEN! I mean, skull. A screaming skull. Eric insists there is no skull... but once Jenny has fainted again, he picks it up and hides it in the pond. Waitta second...
Then some other stuff happens, and then the movie is over, but not before a sequence in which Eric gets a taste of his own medicine and runs around in a panic, confronted by SCREAMING SKULLS everywhere he goes, including the one that eats his head.
*Unfortunately, this is not the same Rev. and Mrs. Snow who were the parents of Chrissy on Three's Company.
Is It Scary?
Remember that disclaimer? Well, they were right. I died of fright. Nice knowing you, everyone. (Actually, I can see how those susceptible to fright would be pretty scared at certain moments in the film.)
Lessons I Learned
- Peacocks are terrifying pets
- Skeletons look lovely in ladies' clothing
ERIC: That's where Mickey keeps his gardening things.
JENNY: Who's Mickey?
ERIC: The gardener.
Comments
I wouldn't call this a good movie, but it was competently executed. The music was especially spooky, with a haunting female voice singing "ooooohs" during the tense parts.
I felt sorry for Jenny. I haven't put the theme of "men taking advantage of women" in the tags for this blog, but it's come up a lot in these movies.
Unless I overlooked one, this is the first of the 50 horror classics to be presented in widescreen.
I should rewatch the Mystery Science Theater episode that features this film, and see if I came up with any of the same jokes as Mike and the robots.
Letter grade for The Screaming Skull: C
Next movie in the DVD set: The Beast of Yucca Flats. Honest!
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