| Screaming Skull (1958) |
| Rating: 3 Severed Heads |
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| Synopsis: When newlywed couple Eric & Jenni move into an old house where Eric and his first wife (who died under mysterious circumstances) lived, Jenni is tormented by screaming at night. Because Jenni spent time in a mental institution in her youth after watching her parents drown, she and Eric believe that it is mearly a relapse of her mental disorder. Or could it be that the ghost of Eric's first wife is taking her jealousy for Jenni out from beyond the grave? Or is something even more sinister at hand? And what's the deal with the retarded gardner Mickey (played by the film's director Alex Nicol)? At the beginning of the film, an announcer tells the audience that your burial is on the house if you are to die of fright while watching this film. Needless to say, I don't think they actually had to come through on any free burials. The movie drags a bit, but, as so often is the case, the creepy ending is definitly the pay off. Even though this film can enduce a slight chill, it could have been more macabre with a title like Screaming Skull. Even still, it's a classic film from the drive-in era. |
| What Has This Movie Taught Us? -You're more likely to die by being eaten by Abraham Lincoln then from watching this movie -Leaves are nature's deadliest killers -Ghosts have a signature knock -The best way to calm a hysterical woman down is to throw an ashtray at a peacock |
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| Memorable Moments: 01min- Do we get free burial if we die from boredom? 03min- Do you always walk away with the car doors open? 09min- Yeah, get a haircut you damn retarded hippie! 14min- Oh Mickey, you and your crazy beatnick poetry 16min- Geez! Spoil the end of the book for everyone! 20min- He really likes forbidding things 22min- More forbidding 25min- Just as she always wanted to be buried, underneath a large phallic symbol 27min- If this was designed to get the men in the audience's attention, it aint workin' 28min- Here's a recap for thos of you who fell asleep for the first half of the movie 57min- That's right. Who's crazy now? 60min- Say, what's that rope for...oh. |
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| Don't Quote Us On That: Announcer: "The Screaming Skull is a motion picture that reaches it's climax in shocking horror. Its impact is so terrifying that it may have a unforeseen effect. It may kill you! Therefore, its producers feel that they must assure free burial services to anyone who dies from fright while seeing The Screaming Skull.." Mrs. White: "Poor Mickey. He keeps this place up like a shrine." Mickey: "She crys." Jenni: "Crys?" Mickey: "In the night." Jenni: "Dead people don't cry Mickey." |
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