Das Geheimnis des schreienden Schädels (1958)

Das Geheimnis des schreienden Schädels: Directed by Alex Nicol. With John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson. A newly married couple arrives at the home of the husband’s late wife, where the gardens have been maintained by a gardener faithful to the dead woman’s memory. Soon, eerie events lead the new wife to think she’s losing her mind.

“I canu0026#39;t believe the low rating this great film has gotten!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enI remember watching u0026quot;The Screaming Skullu0026quot; on the late show (when TV actually showed decent stuff) and it scared the living hell outta me. It disappeared from TV, and of course years later having found it on video, itu0026#39;s not gonna scare me under the covers but itu0026#39;s still one of the best and most clever horror films of the 50u0026#39;s.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is good enough – the ghost of a manu0026#39;s first wife haunts his new wife in their super-large house. But the film has a lot of great horror elements that work in its favor – the big house, the creepy house grounds, the grave on the grounds, the path through the woods area, the u0026quot;oddu0026quot; person (the gardener), the howling wind, the noisy windows, the scary painting, and much more, especially the skull that keeps on showing up all over the place.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe husband is the guy who played the husband in u0026quot;50-Foot Womanu0026quot; and heu0026#39;s just as good here. All the other actors/characters are just fine (there arenu0026#39;t many as the whole film takes place at the house), especially Mickey the Gardener, who loved the first wife (as a friend) and still talks to her as if she was alive.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe whole film has great horror atmosphere, one of the best instances ever of such I believe. There are many genuinely creepy scenes in the film, with the topper being the final incredible sequence, especially when the husband hears the knock on the front door. The look on his face is absolutely priceless as he goes to answer the door. Even after seeing the film so many times, when that door knocks, and the husbandu0026#39;s face shows pure fear because he probably knows whatu0026#39;s behind it, and he slowly goes to answer it, still gives me shudders!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s great that u0026quot;The Screaming Skullu0026quot; is on DVD. This film definitely deserves a lot better than the films it often gets lumped in with.”