OVERLOOKED FILM: THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958)

Just to let you know what you are getting into, this is an 1950s AIP flick.  Those who like that sort of thing, carry on; those who don't, try Masterpiece on PBS.  One other bit of warning:  The director of The Screaming Skull (Alex Nicol) has cast himself in the movie (as Mickey), so warning flags are up for those who care about such things.

The film is based on the classic horror story by F. Marion Crawford, first published as a two-parter in Colliers (July 11 & July 18, 1908) and reprinted many times.  Crawford (1854-1909) was a best-selling writer of historical novels who dabbled very occasionally in ghost and horror stories -- the best of which were collected posthumously, which indicates that he may not have thought much about them during his lifetime.   Today he is known for those horror stories and the more than forty historical novels that he wrote are essentially forgotten.

Because this is an AIP film, there's got to be some sort of cheesy gimmick.  This time it's a life insurance payable to any who dies of fright during the showing of this movie in a theater.   Surprisingly, no one ever claimed a pay-out.

Eric and Jenni Whitlock are newlyweds and move into Eric's isolated mansion where Eric's first wife, Marianne, had died in a freak accident, drowning in a pond on the estate.  (We open woith a shot of the pond.  The water bubbles in the mist.  A skull slowly rises from the water.  The title appears, covering the skull.)   Mickey is the simple-minded gardenr on the estate and he was devoted to Marianne and maintains the gardens in her memory.  Jenni has a history of mental illness and begins to see a bunch of strange things, including a skull.  Is this her imagination or can it be something else?  Eric accuses Mickey of staging things.  Because we now all the standard tropes we also know that Eric is gaslighting his new wife -- but for what purpose?   Did Eric kill his first wife?  We never know, but it turns out that Marianne's skull is coming back.  And it's pissed off.

Starring John Hudson (Gunfight at OK Corral, Many Rivers to Cross, The Racers) as Eric, and 

Peggy Webber (The Wrong Man, Macbeth. Little Miss Big) as Jenni.  Also featured are Russ Conway (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Our Man Flint, Love Me Tender) as Reverend Snow, and Tony Johnson (her only other credit on IMDb is for Crime & Punishment, USA, 1959, as "Toni Merrill") as Mrs. Snow.

John  Kneubuhl adapted Crawford's story for the screen

Enjoy.  (But if you die of fright, be aware that the insurance policy has probably lapsed.)

https://archive.org/details/TheScreamingSkull