“She saw a skull in the ashes. I saw nothing of course.”
Jenni (Peggy Webber) and Eric Whitlock (John Hudson) have just gotten married. Eric has been married before. His first wife Marion died when she fell and hit her head on the edge of the man-made pond. It crushed her skull.
Jenni is introduced to Eric’s friends, the Reverend Snow (Russ Conway) and his wife (Tony Johnson). She also meets Mickey (Alex Nicol), the mentally challenged gardener. Eric makes a point to privately mention to the Snows that Jenni spent time in an asylum after the death of both her parents.
When Jenni tries to get to know Mickey she finds out he believes that Marion's ghost wanders the estate. She finds it a little unnerving; she also finds Marion's self-portrait a little unnerving. She begins to hear unexplained screaming noises and sees skulls around the house. She starts to believe that Marion is haunting her. Eric, on the other hand thinks that Mickey is behind it. Mickey was a childhood friend of Marion’s. Jenni thinks that she is going insane.
To try to sooth Jenni, Eric suggests they remove Marion's portrait from the home. They take the painting and burn it. Later they find a skull in the ashes. Jenni sees the skull, but Eric denies it is there. She faints. Eric takes the skull from the ashes. Eric has been gas lighting Jenni. And he’s not done.
“The Screaming Skull” was released in 1958 and was directed by Alex Nichol. It was produced by AIP and is one of the poverty row movies. There are hundreds of them that were produced between the 1920s and the 1950s by smaller independent movie production companies. AIP being one of them. The movie is a horror/psychological thriller.
The beginning of the movie has a “gimmick” that is reminiscent of the type of showmanship that William Castle has been known to employ to draw audiences into the theater. Over a scene of a coffin, a narrator explains that the film's climax is so terrifying that it may kill the viewer. It reassures the audience that should they die of fright they will receive a free burial service. Inside the coffin is a card that reads "Reserved for You". In some ways it sets the tone for the movie. It’s a little campy and a little lame, but there is a little suspense as well. Sometimes it is drawn out too long. One thing I’ll say that did add a creep factor was the fact that this huge gothic mansion was basically devoid of furniture. Nothing says spooky like something not lived in.
Most of the time the movie is a bunch of skulls being thrown around, screaming peacocks, and a screaming Jenni. The movie bases a lot of the suspense on whether or not Jenni is insane or if there really is a ghost in the house. I never found the movie very scary. It’s one of those movies that you have to have loved in the past to appreciate. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I was OK with it. My favorite part was when Jenni fainted and Eric was walking around with a skull on a stick. I thought it was a little on the funny side.