The Screaming Skull

The Screaming Skull is a 1958 horror film directed by Alex Nicol. The cast includes John Hudson, Peggy Webber and Russ Conway. 

A newlywed couple, Eric and Jenny Whitlock, move into a fancy big house. The nice garden with peacocks is maintained by a gardener, a troubled young man with learning difficulties. While the couple settle in and meet their neighbours, there are eerie screams at night and a ghostly skull. Within the garden is a grave of a woman who died tragically and her portrait unsettles Jenny. 

There are some scary and ghastly scenes. The film is based on a 1906 supernatural story of the same title by Francis Marion Crawford although it wasn't credited. The author was inspired by the legendary screaming skull in Bettiscomb Manor, Dorset, England. During the filming, actress Peggy Webber, who played Jenny, was pregnant and couldn't do a scene of her falling down the stairs. The director of the film played the gardener. The carving on the gravestone is a reproduction of L'Inconnue de la Seine, a death mask of an unknown woman who drowned. 

I rate this ghostly thriller a 8/10.

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