Review of The Screaming Skull (1958) by Kendall I — 08 Sep 2011

Many people will disagree on me liking this, I'm sure, but whatever.

PLOT:When Eric (William Hudson) marries billionaress Jenni (Peggy Webber), they move into Eric's old house where he and his past wife lived before she had her accident. But what Jenni doesn't know is that Eric is hiding skulls all over the house to try and "scare" Jenni out of her fortune. Everybody begins to suspect the gardener, Mickey (Alex Nicol), who claims to still talk to Eric's ex-wife. But even stranger things start to happen and Eric wonders if the spirit of his ex-wife is restless. Was it really an accident that killed her? I'll leave you here. This plot is the kind you'd see on late-Saturday-night entertainment blocks, but it is executed very well.

ACTING:Great. Every character played their part very well. The only true shiner, IMO was Peggy Webber as Jenni. SHe knows how to depict fear almost as well as Catherine Hilligoss in Carnival of Souls.

SCORE:Very fitting. Very spooky and unnerving, but at times goofy, just to let you know that it is still just simple entertainment.

EFFECTS:Very good for its time. Simple albiet, but good for the time and type of horror subgenre.

OTHER CONTENT:I do admit, this creepy movie has its flaws. The screenplay can get kind of ridiculous. The girl is being chased by a skull at one point. A SKULL. I would just ghetto stomp that thing and that's the end. But at times with that in mind, the mood is still haunting and somewhat frightening. Besides the silly screenplay, you can tell this movie was made to be campy. In the beginning, it tells you that they'll give you a free coffin and burial if you die of fright while watching. That's camp in its glorious form. Ryan, tell me if I am wrong. Speaking of that guy, this movie had plenty of suspense in it. I had to wait on edge at times for something to happen. What this has to do with Ryan is that me and him were having a discussion on how the pacing in some movies is just supposed to be suspense. This is an example.

OVERALL, a great midnight horror with well executed typical plot, great acting, creepy fitting score, effects good for its time, a somewhat ridiculous screenplay, and my introduction to suspense.