"The Screaming Skull" is an absurd little sudser about guy who tries to frighten his new, "highly impressionable" wife to death with a few plastic skulls. The skulls hide in her closet, come rap-tap-tapping at her chamber door at night, and come rolling at her feet(well, actually sort of tossed into the camera by someone off-stage). The producers of this feeble flick(AIP, who else?) actually had the gall to provide "death insurance" for anyone who dies of fright while viewing the film. Not much worry there. Poor production values, scene-chewing over-acting, and an obvious premise sink any possible hope of even the tiniest inkling of suspense, let alone terror. None of the cast ever rose above B-level film, although John Hudson, who plays the duplicitous husband Eric, did play a role in the classic western "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral". Director Alex Nicol, who also plays Mickey the Gardener with all the subtly of a ball peen hammer, worked on a bunch of stinky films in the 50's, 60's, & 70's(including "APE", "Bloody Mama", and "Tomahawk"), also directed such tv classics as "Daniel Boone" and "The Wild, Wild West". But this film is as lame as a 3-legged Holstein. It is mildly fun to watch the plastic skulls evoke such improbable terror from the cast, especially when they bounce around like little plastic toys(which they were!!), or seeing them float about, ocassionally emitting the odd half-hearted shriek or two. Such mooments are fleeting, cowever, as most of the film is choaked by so much melodramatic piffle. The MooCow says "The Screaming Skull" is a classic stinker that takes several viewings to truly appreciate the depths of its stinkiness. The MST3K version is a whole lot of fun, though, and is the preferred version for the non-professional schlock-viewer out there who may not be insured against untimely death brought on by the sheer brutal terror of "The Screaming Skull". ;=8)
Review of The Screaming Skull
