He decided to try directing a film, as he felt that he had not been performing the roles that he desired. The Screaming Skull was directed by Alex Nicol, an actor who had roles on Broadway productions and often played supporting characters. I just worked my way through the script, blocking it out as I went along, trying to get the film shot on time.' 'There wasn't any one director I tried to emulate on that film I wasn't smart enough to do that. Rest.' A vision of what may be a woman's face begins to appear in the pond as smoky bubbles cover its surface.Ĭast Jon Hudson and Peggy Webber The film ends with Mickey taking some water from the pond in his hand and placing it on his face before saying 'They're gone. Reverend Snow declares whether or not Marion's death was an accident will remain a mystery. Some undisclosed time later, Jenni and the Snows depart from the house. Snow comforts an hysterical Jenni and the Reverend discovers Eric's body in the pond. The ghost appears and chases Eric outside, corners, and attacks him, drowning him in the decorative pond.Īfter Jenni regains consciousness, the Snows arrive. Jenni sees Marion's ghost in Mickey's greenhouse and flees back to the house, where Eric begins throttling her. That night, Eric prepares to murder Jenni and stage it as a suicide. Mickey secretly steals the skull and brings it to Snow before Eric can retrieve it. Later, Jenni tells Eric that Reverend Snow, when saying goodbye, had promised to bring people the next day so that the entire property can be meticulously searched for the skull as a last resort. Reverend Snow visits, and Eric tells him that Jenni is going back to the hospital. As Jenni faints, Eric withdraws the skull and hides it, revealing that he has been gaslighting her all along.īelieving she has finally lost her sanity, Jenni resolves to be committed, and Eric says he has arranged for them to leave that night. Jenni panics at the sight of the skull, but Eric denies that the skull is there. Eric and Jenni take the painting outside and burn it, later uncovering a skull from the ashes. Eric suggests that they remove Marion's self-portrait from the home. Though Eric speculates to Jenni that Mickey, who was a childhood friend of Marion and thus dislikes Jenni, may be behind the trickery, Jenni worries that she is going insane. When she begins to hear unexplained screaming noises and see skulls around the house, she believes that Marion is haunting her. Jenni is disturbed both by Mickey's belief that Marion's ghost wanders the estate and by Marion's self-portrait inside the house, which Jenni believes resembles her mother. Eric privately mentions to the Snows that Jenni spent time in an asylum following the sudden death of both her parents, who were also drowned, and Mrs. At the home they meet Eric's friends, the Reverend Snow and his wife, as well as Mickey, the mentally disabled gardener. It is revealed that Jenni is Eric's second wife: his first wife Marion died when she accidentally slipped and hit her head on the edge of a decorative pond on the estate, drowning in the pond. Newlyweds Jenni and Eric arrive at Eric's palatial country home in a gull-wing Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Inside the coffin is a card that reads 'Reserved for You.' Over a scene of an opening coffin, a narrator explains that the film's climax is so terrifying that it may kill the viewer, while reassuring the audience that should they die of fright they will receive a free burial service. Plot An opening prologue explains that The Screaming Skull is so frightening that it may kill its viewers. The simplistic musical score centres on the dies irae. The film's storyline concerns a newlywed woman who believes she is being haunted by the ghost of her new husband's previous wife. The film was distributed by American International Pictures as a double feature in different markets with either Earth vs. The Screaming Skull marked Nicol's directorial debut he decided to try it because he felt that he was not acting in the roles which he wanted. The Screaming Skull is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film, produced by John Kneubuhl and directed by Alex Nicol, starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Nicol.

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