The Screaming Skull, 1958.
Directed by Alex Nicol.
Starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Alex Nicol.
SYNOPSIS:
A newly-wed woman believes the ghost of her husband’s deceased first wife is haunting her at an eerie Southern mansion.
The Screaming Skull begins with a voiceover that tells you this movie is so ‘terrifying’ it ‘may kill you’, just before offering to pay for your funeral if you die whilst watching it. A small comfort – as well as being similar to a gimmick filmmaker William Castle offered for his movie Macabre that same year, where Castle offered $1000 life insurance for every cinema ticket holder – but in an era when Hammer were upping the scare factor with garish Eastmancolor blood and US filmmakers were creating giant mutated monsters, it was quite a bold statement to open a Gothic melodrama horror movie with.
But does The Screaming Skull deserve such hyperbole? Of course not, but that isn’t to say there isn’t some well crafted horror goodness here, plus one standout performance that feels like it should be celebrated more, if only because not that many women with mental issues in movies from that time were depicted with such nuance and sympathy, both from the actress and the script.
That woman is Jenni Whitlock (Peggy Webber), who is newly married to Eric (John Hudson). The couple are moving into the large house that John shared with his previous wife Marion, who died after slipping and hitting her head before falling in the pond. When they move in they meet Mickey (played by director Alex Nicol), the slow-witted gardener who was fond of Marion and believes her ghost haunts the property. Naturally, Mickey does not take to Jenni, despite her best efforts to befriend him.
It is also revealed that Jenni spent some time in a sanitarium after witnessing the death of her parents in a drowning accident, and that she is very wealthy after inheriting their money. So when Jenni starts to see a skull in various locations around the house and hears screaming late at night, questions start to get asked about her sanity and she begs Eric to have her committed again, but Eric talks her down and after ruling out Mickey playing tricks Jenni doesn’t know whether she is actually going mad or is Marion’s ghost really haunting the property?
Given what we find out about Jenni’s backstory early on in the movie it is quite obvious what is going on and who is responsible, but The Screaming Skull doesn’t let you off that easily as the final act does ramp up the scares as best it can and also asks a question that never gets answered, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. However, getting to that point does feel a bit laborious and in a movie that runs just under 70 minutes that is the biggest crime of all. Thankfully, the delightful Peggy Webber makes that journey a little more bearable with her bright smile and innocent charm that makes Jenni such an intriguing character, even down the to the way she tries to befriend Mickey.
Jenni is definitely the biggest draw here and the way she is written is also noteworthy, as she has a history of mental illness and isn’t afraid to confront it and talk about it openly, especially with the Snows’, a couple who are old friends of Eric’s and who she has only just met. Edward Snow (Russ Conway) is a reverend so Jenni feels she can talk to him, but she is also very honest with Eric and in a way that may not have entirely been the norm in 1958, which makes Eric’s initial reactions also just as refreshing.
That said, the performances from the other actors aren’t quite up to the same level as Peggy Webber’s, and the lack of anything other than what was likely on the page of the script means that you know how the movie is going to play out before it is even halfway through – at least they didn’t pencil in a detective to try and piece it all together, as the plot really isn’t that clever.
But for a short, sharp(ish) stab of Gothic horror The Screaming Skull just about gets away with it, as the country house setting and small cast creates a sense of intimacy, whilst all the tricks in the haunted house movie book are employed to create the uncanny atmosphere the story needs to work. Eureka have added an introduction to the movie by author/critic Stephen Laws and a video essay on Gothic horror tradition by film and literature scholar Mary Going so there is some extra content to get stuck into, but taken on its own merits The Screaming Skull is not the most terrifying thing you’ll ever see – it is not even the most terrifying movie AIP put out that year – but it has its creepy moments, and this gorgeous Blu-ray is a welcome addition to the Eureka Classics range.
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Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
