Customer Reviews

The Screaming Skull

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

You know, I like this little shocker and don't understand why there isn't a better print of it around. It's rather spooky and quite effective. The story concerns a husband bringing his new bride home to his family estate. She's recently out of a mental hospital due to the shock of her parents' accidental drownings. He's a widower and the shadow of his former wife {whom he's killed) hangs over everything. The bride (Peggy Webber, later a "Dragnet" regular on TV) is now rich from her inheritance and the husband tries to drive her insane and/or to suicide to get the money. He plants a skull everywhere trying to scare her and the screeching of his late wife's peacocks that still roam the grounds of the estate add to the spookiness. The screeching of the peacocks is used to emulate screams that Webber thinks is the skull screaming. But the estates' looney gardner (who loved the late wife) is on to everything and has a skull of his own that he keeps hidden in a murky fountain. Just as Webber has screamed herself into a near catatonic state from fright, the ghost of the late wife shows up to exact revenge. This sequence is handled very well as the specter is dressed in a flowing gardening dress and big hat with a skull for a face. It floats out of the greenhouse (her favorite place as she loved flowers) and chases Webber down the garden path and into the house---at night of course and very effective. It's all very low budget but well done in b&w with creepy music and a good performance from Webber. The estate is properly run down and gothic looking and shadows are used to good effect. I hope to see a decent print of this one day. I'd love to own it.

I first discovered "The Screaming Skull" while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. I immediately thought the film seemed interesting, so when the chance arose to purchase the film, I took advantage of the opportunity.

"The Screaming Skull" is about a newlywed couple who come to live in an old vacant house that is owned by the husband after his previous wife mysteriously died. At night a skull haunts the wife all throughout the house. Convinced it's her husband's dead wife trying to scare her, she is viewed as crazy - she had already spent some time in a mental hospital after witnessing the drowning of her parents.

Although the budget is low and the film seems to drag at times, it's good for the fact that it really tried to build suspense and give the audience an interesting story to follow. There are a few twists in the movie that you may figure out early on, but that's the fun of the movie. You also have to laugh at the fact that at the beginning of the movie, the producers announce that they will provide free burial services to those who die of fright while watching "The Screaming Skull".

I would definitely recommend this film to people who love old horror B-movies. This is one the few that will leave you thoroughly entertained!

Want to know if you'll either love this or hate it? Okay, here goes:

The "screaming skull" makes it's appearance by being rolled across the floor.

Now, do you A) think that that's funny or B) think that that's stupid. If you chose A, then you're in luck, this double feature is for you. If you chose B, well then why are you even looking at reviews of this schlock?

Eric and Jenni Whitlock are newlyweds, moving into the home that Eric shared with his recently deceased wife Mary. Jenni has issues that stem from seeing her parents drown, but I suspicion that Jenni has a lot more issues than just that. After all, who else saw the bouncing skull?

Jenni (and we) get to see the skull in various places on the property. We also get to see other eerie things happening, all supposedly caused by deceased wife Mary. However, if you pay attention and use a little deductive reasoning, you can figure out much of what is going on long before the movie reveals what is happening - except for the supernatural parts, of course.

I thought the director plotted this movie well. The plot is borrowed from other films that rely less on the supernatural aspects of the plot, but this film also uses those supernatural aspects to create an ending that varies from other, similar films. I am unable to point to a place in the movie where I was frightened, but there are a couple of scenes that I thought were a little spooky.

The picture and sound were reasonably good, though I am unable to tell whether they have been restored using the best available modern standards. I suspect not.

This movie tries very hard to take itself seriously, and other than the campy beginning (if you are frightened to death by the movie they have a coffin reserved for you) the movie is played as a reasonably straightforward horror story. If you like movies that use a supposedly haunted house and combine supernatural and natural aspects in the plot, then you may enjoy this movie. A couple of things moderately surprised me enough to give this film a mild recommendation for those viewers who like movies of this type.

Good luck!

Ok, you are probably looking at this package and wondering why its so cheap. I did the same thing, expected very little, and came out delightfully surprised. The quality of the transfer is of these two films is not the best, but it doesn't run into some of the other problems Madacy discs are known for (heavy pixelation, pausing, skipping, etc). THE SCREAMING SKULL looks like it was transfered from videotape and the images are not always very clear. It is still way better than some videocassette versions you will encounter. It doesn't have DVD quality, but paired with the other rarity THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN you can easily overlook this. The disc also includes the trailers for both pictures, a cartoon and a coming attraction trailor for THE BRIDES OF DRACULA...all on one disc! THE WEREWOLF VS, THE VAMPIRE WOMAN looks like a film that was stored in someone's attack. The print has occasional instability and lines, but overall looks wonderful..though the color is faded. But hey, for under 10 bucks for 2 films plus trailors you can't go wrong!

I'm usually a big 50's sci fi buff so how could I resist such a great title and cover art, right?

It was a decent story and well done but there really wasn't much to it. Nothing really creative as far as scares or special effects - just the same plastic skull rolling around on the floor over and over. It probably would have played better as a 1/2 hour episode of Night Gallery. For reference purposes on 50's horror, I prefer House on Haunted Hill or Tingler to this film. Screaming Skull is not bad, just uneventful with a lack of real scares or creativity.

One thing to note on the Good Times version - it has a decent transfer, the sound has a hiss and crackle and there is a GoodTimes 'GT' logo that stays in the bottom corner of the screen the entire picture. I guess GoodTimes will always be lame.

Yet again, Madacy has gone out of their way to find the worst prints imaginable to sell to the unsuspecting viewing public.

The first feature, "The Screaming Skull" (a title that's given me a headache for decades!), is exceptionally muddy and dark, obviously an extremely poor dub from a several-generations old video source. The second feature on the tape, "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" is pure pan n' scan from a very scuffed and chopped print. Distortions and color blur are obvious on the edges of the picture.

In "The Screaming Skull", young and nervous newy wed is terrorized by a skull, supposedly that of her new hubby's ex, who died from a crushed skull/drowning in a lilly pond. Grade Z acting all around.

While "The Screaming Skull" is a classic low-budget horror flick from the 1950's, "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" is of European 1971 vintage.

In this one, two college girls travel to eastern Europe in search of a legendary grave of a lady vampire. They meet up with a spooky guy when the run out of gas. Naturally, he's a werewolf. Well, with at least one of the two college girls, I'd be howling at the moon, too.

Anyway, they stupidly awaken the lady vampire, and after a bunch of killings, the werewolf and vampire have it out. Obviously the "director" was a fan of "The Six Million Dollar Man", because the lady vampires run and jump in slow motion (not as sexy as it sounds). There are hints of breast from time to time, but if there were any naughty scenes originally, they appear to have been cut (European versions have five to six more minutes then the US drive-in release, which this seems to be).

I would strongly urge DVD collectors to avoid any of the horror titles in this Madacy set.

I gave the disc two stars only because of the interactive menus. They are the only part of the disc that was nicely done, and there is a Popeye cartoon added for "intermission".

This movie seems to get a bad rep on amazon, but truly is an entertaining film. I can't say that it looks the best (but what movie made in the 50's looks good on a 1080p lCD?) but what they have done to remaster the film to DVD helps. Don't let the title fool you, it has wonderful imagination and thrilling moments filled with suspense around every turn.

Good buy!

thanks!!

Eric and Jenny (John Hudson and Peggy Webber) are newlyweds who move into the country mansion that Eric lived in with his first wife, Mary. Mary met with an untimely demise by "slipping" and smashing her skull on the pond wall. Now, Jenny is experiencing late-night visitations by Mary's ghost. Or is she? Eric seems supportive, but just might be gaslighting his new bride. Mickey, the gardener, grew up with Mary and could be crazy enough to terrorize Jenny. Yes, the skull rolls around like a boney soccer ball. There are some periods of dullness, but the whole thing is just over an hour long. Worth a look...

Now, I bought another DVD that contained this film so I wont be rating it for the quality. It is for the film alone. It is a great film with corny acting (hey, its 1958), but I think that adds needed effect.The house the film takes place in is creepy looking, which gives you an odd, unsure feeling of what could possible happen once the two main characters enter. The story is good too. It is corny and all, but I think that is what grabbed me when I first watched it. (I watched it a 12:00 at night. You should too, it gives you a great, spooked out feeling) All I am trying to tell you is that this is a great old horror film, and even if the quality is bad, you should buy it.