THE SCREAMING SKULL: Fun 1950s Horror Movies to Watch During Halloween
Since it’s October and the Halloween season is upon us, I thought it’d be fun to talk about some of my favorite horror films that come from the 1950s. There’s a certain charm about these old-school movies that I absolutely love. I especially enjoy watching them during Halloween with friends and family. I thought I’d recommend a few of my favorites to you over the next couple of weeks. You may have seen some of these films that I talk about, but if you haven’t, you really need to check them out! If you have, you can talk about them in the comments section below.
When I was growing up, I watched every horror movie I could get my hands on and I was introduced to some of the classics by my dad. I remember one day he found a VHS copy of a 1958 film called The Screaming Skull, which he said scared the hell out of him as a kid. This will be the first movie that I recommend to you.
We popped the movie in and it had us all laughing our asses off. Yeah, in the '50s it was meant to be scary, and it even came with a word of warning before the movie started. A narrator offeres a disclaimer as a coffin opens. He explains that the film's climax is so terrifying that it may kill the viewer, and he goes on to reassure the audience that if they do die of fright during the film, they will receive a free burial service. The camera then closes in on the casket which has a card inside reading "Reserved for You."
It just gets better from there! The film follows a newly married couple, Jenni and Eric, moving into the home of the Eric's late wife, Marion, who was killed after she accidentally slipped and hit her head on the edge of a pond at their home. The gardens at the estate are being maintained by a disabled gardener faithful to the dead woman's memory. Soon after they move into the house, eerie events start to happen involving a screaming skull, which Jenni believes is the ghost of his first wife, and this leads Jenni to believe that she's gone crazy. It also doesn't help that she had previously spent time in an insane asylum.
I love that the "scary" aspects of the film include a skull popping up around the house in certain places and at some points, it even just rolls around on the floor, which apparently was terrifying for people to see back in the '50s. It’s wonderfully hilarious! Who knows, maybe one day Hollywood will actually remake this thing. If they do, it has to be done as a serious horror film because it would make the premise that much funnier.
The film is actually based on horror story written by Francis Marion Crawford, but it is never credited. The story was first published around 1906. Crawford's inspiration for his tale came from folklore surrounding the so-called "screaming skull" that was kept on display at Bettiscomb Manor in Dorset, England. This skull that inspired both the story and the movie is said to be that of a black slave whose request for burial in his native country was denied following his death, and it's said that there were strange occurrences and unexplainable shrieking noises that came from the wooden box in which the skull was kept.
The full film is available to watch for free on YouTube and it’s a great film to watch at a Halloween party with a group of friends. I included the embed for the film below along with the trailer.