Screaming Skull

Starring:Hudson, Webber, Conway, Johnson, Nicol
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD
Average customer rating:
- No worry about needing the free burial with this bad flick
- 5 stars for groovy movie, minus 10 stars for lousy DVD
- SCREAMING SKULL.......eh.
- A Great Old-Time Horror Flick!
- Do not waste your money!
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Screaming Skull
Starring: Russ Conway , William Hudson , John Hudson , Toni Johnson , and Jr. David McCallum
Director: Alex Nicol
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
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Hudson, John
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Nicol, Alex
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- The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection (The Wolf Man / Werewolf of London / Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / She-Wolf of London)
ASIN: B000087F1Z
Release Date: 2003-01-21 |
Customer Reviews:
No worry about needing the free burial with this bad flick.......2005-09-16
When it was first screened "The Screaming Skull" came with a guarantee that if the movie has the unintended consequence of scaring you to death, you got a free burial. Just be forewarned that promise is a lot more interesting than the movie itself, which was actor Alex Nicol's first directing credit (he plays Mickey). Of course this film was given the "MST3K" treatment during Season 9, but the Don, Servo and the gang are not around to help you make it through this boring little horror film either, and you have no one to blame for that but yourself.
Eric Whitlock (John Hudson) and his wife Jenni (Peggy Webber) move into a house where something not very nice happened once upon a time, namely Eric's first wife Marian died. Creepy Mickey the gardener is hanging around and when creepy things start happening involving a skull the Whitlocks think Mickey is responsible. The problem is that (a) none of the creepy things are scary and (b) Mickey does not have enough brains left to be doing anything to anybody. But Jenni has a "nervous condition," which allows her to be creeped out quite easily, especially when the local reverend decides that describing Marian's gruesome death is appropriate dinner conversation. Meanwhile, Mickey is clearly more upset over Marian's death than Eric, so we are suspicious, but since Webber's performance as Jenni is so inept we do not care.
This movie is 68-minutes long and I am here to tell you that Nicol's had to really drag it out to make it that long, which is not a good move. The appearance of the skull itself does not help matters and the "special effects" are too stupid to even get credit for being hokey. There was some notion of psychology being involved here as a fourth-rate takeoff of "Rebecca," but I think that gets thrown away at the end simply so Nicol can think he has surprised his audience with the finale. The only thing we are surprised about is that we sat through this whole film.
5 stars for groovy movie, minus 10 stars for lousy DVD.......2004-05-13
This is an endearing , odd little film directed by industry workhorse Alex Nicol who died recently at the grand old age of 85, and who gave himself the role of the grief-struck gardener Mickey in "Screaming Skull". Smart move; he's the most interesting character in the flick. I remember being scared by the trailer and even the poster when this movie first came out, but then I was 7 years old and a good, lurid poster could scare the bejayzuss out of me. The movie is cheap, moody, and the spare unadorned settings (I should think the peacocks and the flowerpots in the greenhouse took up most of the film's budget)
somehow work to create a sense of jagged paranoia, although you'd think the new bride would be a tad suspicious that her new hubby can't seem to get the electricity turned on in the dark mansion he's brought her to, and she has to manage with the light of one (!) sputtering candle by which to read her Henry James. And it's a mark of the movie's quirkiness that her bedtime reading is Henry James, and not ... well, given the era, Erskine Caldwell...
however, what should at worst be a guilty pleasure and at best a treasured item in your genre DVD collection, is sabotaged by the awful quality of the print. Alpha Video are very hit and miss, for instance their "Brain that Wouldn't Die" and "Killer Shrews" are not half bad, quite crisp with good sound, whereas "Night of the Blood Beast" is a scratchy splotchy mess, and "Hercules Unchained" has great chunks of the movie missing. But if you're keen to have a copy of some rare items, AV are often acceptable given the attractive packaging and LOW prices. In the case of "Screaming Skull", however, they frankly have a lot of nerve charging ANYTHING for the DVD. The print is speckled and scratched throughout, in places badly damaged, it jumps and hiccups, the tonal quality is non-existent; contrast so dreadful the whites flare into a screen-bleaching nothingness while the darker tones emerge as charcoal-dark blotches making the whole thing resemble a monochrome Jackson Pollock. At the most viewable moments, the image is a dull degenerated gray. Even more egregious, if that's possible, is the sound - so muffled that our plucky heroine's dialogue is unintelligible, you have to grab at a word here and there and try to infer what she might be saying. The male voices - lower register - do survive reasonably intact. Alpha Video really should be ashamed of themselves on this one. They can't keep hiding behind "But look how cheap!", eventually fans will wise up and start demanding refunds. On "Screaming Skull" at least, AV should pay us, the eager collecting movie fan public, for taking this dreadful technical travesty off their hands. But hey, I repeat ... the movie is strangely loveable, and hopefully someone will, one day, find a cleaner print.
SCREAMING SKULL.......eh........2004-03-10
Eh. The Screaming Skull was included in the 50 movie, 12 DVD horror collection I just purchased. I found the movie slow, but there are some nice touches....the peacocks on the estate and the strange sound they make at night, the way the skull lands and rolls on the garden lawn when the women hurls it from her window. That's about it.
Oh yeah,that ultimate creepy music from the opening of Kubrick's The Shining is featured in the beginning. I found that interesting.
A Great Old-Time Horror Flick!.......2003-12-29
Now, I bought another DVD that contained this film so I wont be rating it for the quality. It is for the film alone. It is a great film with corny acting (hey, its 1958), but I think that adds needed effect.The house the film takes place in is creepy looking, which gives you an odd, unsure feeling of what could possible happen once the two main characters enter. The story is good too. It is corny and all, but I think that is what grabbed me when I first watched it. (I watched it a 12:00 at night. You should too, it gives you a great, spooked out feeling) All I am trying to tell you is that this is a great old horror film, and even if the quality is bad, you should buy it.
Do not waste your money!.......2003-09-06
This movie is a let down all the way around. I am a huge fan of old horror movies, but I cannot find one good thing to say about this one. The print I attained on DVD is horrible. The picture is choppy, out of frame, shows it's age, and the sound is muffled and very low. As to the content, the movie drags all the way through, the effects were very poor, and the acting was worse than plan 9 from outer space. I thought they could have done much more with the plot, but chose a cheap route, even for 1958. To me, it isn't even worth watching for laughs. Should be a dollar store special, but even they have better movies!
Average customer rating:
- Drive-In Discs,Vol.1:Screaming Skull/Giant Leeches
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Drive-In Discs, Vol. 1: Screaming Skull/The Giant Leeches
Starring: Yvette Vickers
Manufacturer: ELITE ENTERTAINMENT
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
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- Drive-In Discs, Vol. 2: The Wasp Woman/The Giant Gila Monster
- I Bury the Living
- Day the World Ended/She Creature
- Drive in Movie Double Feature: Creation of the Humanoids/War Between the Planets
- How to Make a Monster/Blood of Dracula
ASIN: B0000A0WI6
Release Date: 2003-08-19 |
Customer Reviews:
Drive-In Discs,Vol.1:Screaming Skull/Giant Leeches.......2006-08-02
If you are looking for the spooky and not the gore, if you want something that the younger kids can watch these are the movies for you.
Lots of acting without all the special effects.
No oscars here but lots of fun.
Get out the popcorn and enjoy.
Average customer rating:
- Heads Will Roll
- Not the worst ever, but a runner up
- At least it was not the Werewolf vs. the Screaming Skull...
- Not much to miss here...
- It's the Skull! It's...the Skull!
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The Screaming Skull
Starring: Russ Conway , John Hudson , Tony Johnson (IV) , and Peggy Webber
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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- The Head
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- The Tingler
ASIN: B0002HOE08
Release Date: 2004-08-24 |
Customer Reviews:
Heads Will Roll.......2006-06-28
As the film begins a narrator warns us THE SCREAMING SKULL is so terrifying you might die of fright--and if such happens a free burial is guaranteed. Well, I don't think any one has died of fright from seeing this film, but a few may have died of boredom. THE SCREAMING SKULL is the sort of movie that makes Ed Wood look good.
Very loosely based on the famous Francis Marion Crawford story, SKULL is about a wealthy but nervous wife who marries a sinister man whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. Once installed in his home, she is tormented by a half-wit gardner, a badly executed portrait, peacocks, and ultimately a skull that rolls around the room and causes her to scream a lot. And to her credit, actress Peggy Webber screams rather well.
Unfortunately, her ability to do so is the high point of the film. The plot is pretty transparent, to say the least, and while the cast is actually okay, the script is dreadful and the movie so uninspired you'll be ready to run screaming yourself. True, the thing only runs about sixty-eight minutes, but it all feels a lot longer. Add to this a truly terrible print quality and there you are.
There are films that are so bad they are fun to watch. It is true that THE SCREAMING SKULL has a few howlers--but the film drags so much I couldn't work up more than an occasional giggle, and by the time the whole thing is over your head will roll from ennui. If it weren't for Peggy Webber's way with a scream, this would be the surefire cure for insomina. Give it a miss.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Not the worst ever, but a runner up.......2006-01-17
I couldn't resist. Alpha Video sells a T-shirt with the cover art on the front. Turns out that's just about the best part. Newlyweds return home to the creepy empty mansion driving a gull-wing mercedes (one of the highpoints of this movie). Very subtle foreshadowing on his lack of funds. Creepy pastor and his wife show up and fawn all over the new wife. Dead first wife in the pond. Creepy portrait, creepy gardener...the wife is bingo from her parent's accident and she reads Henry James to put herself to sleep. She gonna die!! Effective scary point in the middle, laughable "Bride of the Monster" quality special effect of the skull attacking the husband...in the pond even! Only 68 minutes long so it will serve as a great Halloween movie for my attention-span impared children. Other than that...buy the T-shirt and SAY that you saw the movie.
At least it was not the Werewolf vs. the Screaming Skull..........2005-04-19
The saying better late than never does not really apply to this Killer Creature Double Feature. Our first feature, "The Screaming Skull," comes with a guarantee that if the movie has the unintended consequence of scaring you to death, you get a free burial. That promise is a lot more interesting than the movie itself. The music they play while the fake drive-screen announces the featured presentation was more interesting than this 1958 horror flick which was actor Alex Nicol's first directing credit (he plays Mickey). Of course this film was given the "MST3K" treatment during Season 9, but the Don, Servo and the gang are not around to help you make it through this boring little horror film.
Eric Whitlock (John Hudson) and his wife Jenni (Peggy Webber) move into a house where something not very nice happened once upon a time, namely Eric's first wife Marian died. Creepy Mickey the gardener is hanging around and when creepy things start happening involving a skull the Whitlocks think Mickey is responsible. The problem is that (a) not of the creepy things are scary and (b) Mickey does not have enough brains left to be doing anything to anybody. But Jenni has a "nervous condition," which allows her to be creeped out quite easily, especially when the local reverend decides that describing Marian's gruesome death is appropriate dinner conversation. Meanwhile, Mickey is clearly more upset over Marian's death than Eric, so we are suspicious, but since Webber's performance as Jenni is so inept we do not care.
This movie is 68-minutes long and I am here to tell you that Nicol's had to really drag it out to make it that long, which is not a good move. The appearance of the skull itself does not help matters and the "special effects" are too stupid to even get credit for being hokey. There was some notion of psychology being involved here as a fourth-rate takeoff of "Rebecca," but I think that gets thrown away at the end simply so Nicol can think he has surprised his audience with the finale. The only thing we are surprised about is that we sat through this whole film.
"The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" ("La Noche de Walpurgis") has to be the better film by default, so at least things are looking up heading into the second feature. This 1971 film is in color and has a lot more going for it than a skull. Usually you expect a corpse to rise up as a vampire, but in this case you would be wrong (the same thing if you think the werewolf will bark like a dog rather than growl like a cat). This Spanish/West German film stars Paul Naschy (a.k.a. Jacinto Molina) as Waldemar Daninsky, who is the werewolf. Then we have the young women, Genevieve (Barbara Capell) and Elvira (Gaby Fuchs), who show up to be the damsels in distress. Elvira is a student who feels it is necessary to defile the tomb of a Hungarian Countess ostensibly for her course work but really so she can end up dripping blood on the corpse so it can come back to life. Next thing we know, the Countess Wandessa d'Arville de Nadasdy (Patty Shepard ) is up and about and women are biting each other on the neck. Periodically Waldemar turns hairy and runs around in the woods. It seems like these two plotlines should have more to do with each other given the title, but neither character is in a hurry to get to that point as ancient evil and a lengthy curse take a back step to a trip to the local market. When we get to the climax and the fight between the title creatures, I swear it happens because they ran out of anything else for the characters to do.
The day for night shooting is pretty dark and you can never really see what is going on until we get a close-up of the blood on the corpses. No wonder the Vampire Woman runs around in the sunlight. The director likes to cut back and forth between shots really quickly when something is about to happen. The music in this film becomes almost oppressive it is so unrelenting as it tries to provide more atmosphere than the actors and scenes have created. At lest there is something reassuring about gold old fashion time lapse dissolves for werewolves to turn hairy (and visa versa) and vampires to become skeletons. It is just that the big fight at the end seems so anticlimactic, especially for "the most sensational fight to the finish ever filmed," and even the pathos of freeing a loved one from a curse seems so mundane. The final credits are the best part of the film, not because it is all over, but because it is actually the most atmospheric part of the whole thing (really).
As is usually the case with these Killer Creature Double Feature DVDs there are trailers for both of the main features, both of which are better than the films themselves, with the trailer for Hammer's "The Brides of Dracula" starting off the evening's festivities. Intermission is a Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon, "Morning, Noon, and Night" recorded by Rubinoff and his Orchestra for what that is worth. Basically cats are going after baby chicks and a determined Betty comes to the rescue, although dancing is involved first and a rooster and other fowl of the air do most of the work. How day turns to night here was pretty cute. However, unlike the DVDs from Something Weird there the extras here are too skimpy to make up for the shortcomings of the films.
The math for this week has "Screaming Skull" coming in at 2 stars and "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" earns 3 stars, so we divide in half and round up because the second flick does cover all of the bases for good old European horror film from that period. Next week we try again, not only to have a double feature to watch on Saturday night instead of Monday but also to find some better bad movies as we screen "Naked Evil" and "Exorcism at Midnight" as we try biker gangs and voodoo mixed up together in England.
Not much to miss here..........2005-04-06
I'm usually a big 50's sci fi buff so how could I resist such a great title and cover art, right?
It was a decent story and well done but there really wasn't much to it. Nothing really creative as far as scares or special effects - just the same plastic skull rolling around on the floor over and over. It probably would have played better as a 1/2 hour episode of Night Gallery. For reference purposes on 50's horror, I prefer House on Haunted Hill or Tingler to this film. Screaming Skull is not bad, just uneventful with a lack of real scares or creativity.
One thing to note on the Good Times version - it has a decent transfer, the sound has a hiss and crackle and there is a GoodTimes 'GT' logo that stays in the bottom corner of the screen the entire picture. I guess GoodTimes will always be lame.
It's the Skull! It's...the Skull!.......2005-02-03
You wanna see some really bad examples of film? Watch this dvd. Both of these features are unbelievably boring and painful to sit through.
'Screaming Skull' is a typical '50s horror movie in which a husband is suspected to be driving his wife insane. 'Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman' is not as unbelievably cheesy-good as you'd expect. In fact it's utterly horrendous and not entertaining at all. It looks terrible, almost like someone's '70s porn drug through the dirt. And it's poorly dubbed over and makes hardly any sense. Even if you're a fan of B-movies, I'd advise you to skip this; it's definitely not worth your time.
Average customer rating:
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Legendary Horror Movies (I Bury The Living / Dead Men Walk / The Screaming Skull)
Starring: Legendary Horror Movies
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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- Great Scary Movies (The Terror / House On Haunted Hill / Night Of The Living Dead)
- Classic Ghost Movies (Dominique / Carnival of Souls / Tormented)
- Classic Creature Movies I - (Roger Corman): Creature From The Haunted Sea / Beast From Haunted Cave / The Wasp Woman
- Fright Night (10 Movies on 5 DVDs)
- Chilling Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection
ASIN: B0000DFXVR
Release Date: 2003-12-09 |
Average customer rating:
- Heads Will Roll
- Not the worst ever, but a runner up
- At least it was not the Werewolf vs. the Screaming Skull...
- Not much to miss here...
- It's the Skull! It's...the Skull!
|
The Screaming Skull/Werewolf Vs Vampire
Starring: Russ Conway , John Hudson , Tony Johnson (IV) , and Peggy Webber
Manufacturer: Madacy Records
ProductGroup: DVD
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- The Head
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- Brain That Wouldn't Die (B&W)
- I Married a Monster From Outer Space
- The Tingler
ASIN: B00005A07V
Release Date: 2001-03-20 |
Customer Reviews:
Heads Will Roll.......2006-06-28
As the film begins a narrator warns us THE SCREAMING SKULL is so terrifying you might die of fright--and if such happens a free burial is guaranteed. Well, I don't think any one has died of fright from seeing this film, but a few may have died of boredom. THE SCREAMING SKULL is the sort of movie that makes Ed Wood look good.
Very loosely based on the famous Francis Marion Crawford story, SKULL is about a wealthy but nervous wife who marries a sinister man whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. Once installed in his home, she is tormented by a half-wit gardner, a badly executed portrait, peacocks, and ultimately a skull that rolls around the room and causes her to scream a lot. And to her credit, actress Peggy Webber screams rather well.
Unfortunately, her ability to do so is the high point of the film. The plot is pretty transparent, to say the least, and while the cast is actually okay, the script is dreadful and the movie so uninspired you'll be ready to run screaming yourself. True, the thing only runs about sixty-eight minutes, but it all feels a lot longer. Add to this a truly terrible print quality and there you are.
There are films that are so bad they are fun to watch. It is true that THE SCREAMING SKULL has a few howlers--but the film drags so much I couldn't work up more than an occasional giggle, and by the time the whole thing is over your head will roll from ennui. If it weren't for Peggy Webber's way with a scream, this would be the surefire cure for insomina. Give it a miss.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Not the worst ever, but a runner up.......2006-01-17
I couldn't resist. Alpha Video sells a T-shirt with the cover art on the front. Turns out that's just about the best part. Newlyweds return home to the creepy empty mansion driving a gull-wing mercedes (one of the highpoints of this movie). Very subtle foreshadowing on his lack of funds. Creepy pastor and his wife show up and fawn all over the new wife. Dead first wife in the pond. Creepy portrait, creepy gardener...the wife is bingo from her parent's accident and she reads Henry James to put herself to sleep. She gonna die!! Effective scary point in the middle, laughable "Bride of the Monster" quality special effect of the skull attacking the husband...in the pond even! Only 68 minutes long so it will serve as a great Halloween movie for my attention-span impared children. Other than that...buy the T-shirt and SAY that you saw the movie.
At least it was not the Werewolf vs. the Screaming Skull..........2005-04-19
The saying better late than never does not really apply to this Killer Creature Double Feature. Our first feature, "The Screaming Skull," comes with a guarantee that if the movie has the unintended consequence of scaring you to death, you get a free burial. That promise is a lot more interesting than the movie itself. The music they play while the fake drive-screen announces the featured presentation was more interesting than this 1958 horror flick which was actor Alex Nicol's first directing credit (he plays Mickey). Of course this film was given the "MST3K" treatment during Season 9, but the Don, Servo and the gang are not around to help you make it through this boring little horror film.
Eric Whitlock (John Hudson) and his wife Jenni (Peggy Webber) move into a house where something not very nice happened once upon a time, namely Eric's first wife Marian died. Creepy Mickey the gardener is hanging around and when creepy things start happening involving a skull the Whitlocks think Mickey is responsible. The problem is that (a) not of the creepy things are scary and (b) Mickey does not have enough brains left to be doing anything to anybody. But Jenni has a "nervous condition," which allows her to be creeped out quite easily, especially when the local reverend decides that describing Marian's gruesome death is appropriate dinner conversation. Meanwhile, Mickey is clearly more upset over Marian's death than Eric, so we are suspicious, but since Webber's performance as Jenni is so inept we do not care.
This movie is 68-minutes long and I am here to tell you that Nicol's had to really drag it out to make it that long, which is not a good move. The appearance of the skull itself does not help matters and the "special effects" are too stupid to even get credit for being hokey. There was some notion of psychology being involved here as a fourth-rate takeoff of "Rebecca," but I think that gets thrown away at the end simply so Nicol can think he has surprised his audience with the finale. The only thing we are surprised about is that we sat through this whole film.
"The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" ("La Noche de Walpurgis") has to be the better film by default, so at least things are looking up heading into the second feature. This 1971 film is in color and has a lot more going for it than a skull. Usually you expect a corpse to rise up as a vampire, but in this case you would be wrong (the same thing if you think the werewolf will bark like a dog rather than growl like a cat). This Spanish/West German film stars Paul Naschy (a.k.a. Jacinto Molina) as Waldemar Daninsky, who is the werewolf. Then we have the young women, Genevieve (Barbara Capell) and Elvira (Gaby Fuchs), who show up to be the damsels in distress. Elvira is a student who feels it is necessary to defile the tomb of a Hungarian Countess ostensibly for her course work but really so she can end up dripping blood on the corpse so it can come back to life. Next thing we know, the Countess Wandessa d'Arville de Nadasdy (Patty Shepard ) is up and about and women are biting each other on the neck. Periodically Waldemar turns hairy and runs around in the woods. It seems like these two plotlines should have more to do with each other given the title, but neither character is in a hurry to get to that point as ancient evil and a lengthy curse take a back step to a trip to the local market. When we get to the climax and the fight between the title creatures, I swear it happens because they ran out of anything else for the characters to do.
The day for night shooting is pretty dark and you can never really see what is going on until we get a close-up of the blood on the corpses. No wonder the Vampire Woman runs around in the sunlight. The director likes to cut back and forth between shots really quickly when something is about to happen. The music in this film becomes almost oppressive it is so unrelenting as it tries to provide more atmosphere than the actors and scenes have created. At lest there is something reassuring about gold old fashion time lapse dissolves for werewolves to turn hairy (and visa versa) and vampires to become skeletons. It is just that the big fight at the end seems so anticlimactic, especially for "the most sensational fight to the finish ever filmed," and even the pathos of freeing a loved one from a curse seems so mundane. The final credits are the best part of the film, not because it is all over, but because it is actually the most atmospheric part of the whole thing (really).
As is usually the case with these Killer Creature Double Feature DVDs there are trailers for both of the main features, both of which are better than the films themselves, with the trailer for Hammer's "The Brides of Dracula" starting off the evening's festivities. Intermission is a Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon, "Morning, Noon, and Night" recorded by Rubinoff and his Orchestra for what that is worth. Basically cats are going after baby chicks and a determined Betty comes to the rescue, although dancing is involved first and a rooster and other fowl of the air do most of the work. How day turns to night here was pretty cute. However, unlike the DVDs from Something Weird there the extras here are too skimpy to make up for the shortcomings of the films.
The math for this week has "Screaming Skull" coming in at 2 stars and "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman" earns 3 stars, so we divide in half and round up because the second flick does cover all of the bases for good old European horror film from that period. Next week we try again, not only to have a double feature to watch on Saturday night instead of Monday but also to find some better bad movies as we screen "Naked Evil" and "Exorcism at Midnight" as we try biker gangs and voodoo mixed up together in England.
Not much to miss here..........2005-04-06
I'm usually a big 50's sci fi buff so how could I resist such a great title and cover art, right?
It was a decent story and well done but there really wasn't much to it. Nothing really creative as far as scares or special effects - just the same plastic skull rolling around on the floor over and over. It probably would have played better as a 1/2 hour episode of Night Gallery. For reference purposes on 50's horror, I prefer House on Haunted Hill or Tingler to this film. Screaming Skull is not bad, just uneventful with a lack of real scares or creativity.
One thing to note on the Good Times version - it has a decent transfer, the sound has a hiss and crackle and there is a GoodTimes 'GT' logo that stays in the bottom corner of the screen the entire picture. I guess GoodTimes will always be lame.
It's the Skull! It's...the Skull!.......2005-02-03
You wanna see some really bad examples of film? Watch this dvd. Both of these features are unbelievably boring and painful to sit through.
'Screaming Skull' is a typical '50s horror movie in which a husband is suspected to be driving his wife insane. 'Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman' is not as unbelievably cheesy-good as you'd expect. In fact it's utterly horrendous and not entertaining at all. It looks terrible, almost like someone's '70s porn drug through the dirt. And it's poorly dubbed over and makes hardly any sense. Even if you're a fan of B-movies, I'd advise you to skip this; it's definitely not worth your time.
Average customer rating:
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The Screaming Skull / Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter
Starring: TV Guide Horror Classics
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
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ASIN: B000A7DVTA
Release Date: 2005-09-13 |
Description
The Screaming Skull(1958, B & W, 68 MINs.)Starring John Hudson and Peggy Webber Horror tale of a newly married husband and wife who find screaming human skulls all around their house. The terror mounts when the ghost of the husband's first wife appears. Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter(1966, B & W, 88 MINs.)Starring John Lupton, Narda Onyx and Estelita Rodriguez In this campy, sci-fi western, infamous outlaw Jesse James takes a detour from a robbery and finds himself in the midst of horrific experiments by a descendent of Dr. Frankenstein, setting up a showdown of legendary proportions.
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Screaming Skull
Manufacturer: Synergy Ent
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ASIN: B000PDZS3Q
Release Date: 2007-04-13 |
Average customer rating:
- The poor picture-quality can be improved
- "A Night at the DRIVE-IN".......FOR REAL!!
- Who cares about the movies!
- Great Dated Movie
- Surprisingly worthwhile!
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The Screaming Skull/Attack of the Giant Leeches - Drive-In Discs Vol.1
Starring: Guy Buccola (II) , George Cisar , Ken Clark , Michael Emmet , and Joseph Hamilton
Manufacturer: Elite Entertainment
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ASIN: 630580396X
Release Date: 2001-01-02 |
Amazon.com
In an effort to re-create a genuine drive-in experience in the comfort of your own living room, Elite Entertainment has paired up two horror films with nothing in common, tossed in a couple of cartoons, and dredged up a night's worth of intermission fillers. Alex Nicol's The Screaming Skull is an eerily effective little psycho-thriller about a newlywed (Peggy Webber) who moves into her husband's secluded mansion and becomes haunted by the ghost of his first wife. Borrowing liberally from Hitchcock's Under Capricorn (in particular the titular skull that follows our traumatized heroine around ), Nicol gives it a Southern Gothic twist with a decaying old mansion, a "slow," childlike handyman, and a strangling, overgrown setting. The Giant Leeches is another story, a swamp trash take on Creature from the Black Lagoon with floppy rubber creatures trawling the everglades for victims. They're as scary as a garbage bag and about as distinct too, but the real fun is the film's hothouse melodrama of hick poachers and hot-to-trot hillbilly adulterers. The giant bloodsuckers are explained away in classic fashion: "Maybe our proximity to Cape Canaveral has something to do with it."
Elite's transfers are better than one would expect, a little soft perhaps but clear, clean, and intact, and they've both been effectively letterboxed. They've also gone the extra mile to complete the drive-in experience with the alternate "Distort-O" audio option. Select the track and listen to the glorious low-fi reproduction of the tinny, buzzy drive-in speaker sound. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews:
The poor picture-quality can be improved.......2007-02-28
The movies are good, but the picture-quality is poor on Leeches and average on Skull. When i changed the setting on my dvd-player from 4:3ps to 4:3lb, it got better.
"A Night at the DRIVE-IN".......FOR REAL!!.......2003-02-14
I must admit that I'd been holding off buying this (and the other disc)--due to the price AND the conflicting reviews of others (some have loved them...some were unrelenting in their criticism). Finally, I bought them both...
I have 4 speakers installed, in that "Surround" set-up thing...(it also works fine with only 2 speakers)...in the front left speaker, you'll hear the audio of the film (being transmitted over what SOUNDS like an actual Drive-In speaker...very tinny and MONO). In the other speaker(s), what is heard are nighttime crickets, people walking past, cars pulling up to park (beside me!), and other miscellaneous sounds!--all of which is Extremely authentic. For example, during the "Giant Leeches," (on volume ONE) there's even a carload of testosterone-charged teenagers...about 7 or 8 rows ahead (to the right!), who whistle every time blond bombshell Yvette Vickers comes onto the screen. During the intermission "highlights," people are heard running to the concession stand placing their orders, etc. ****REMEMBER: All these sounds CAN BE TURNED OFF with your DVD remote, (choosing the secondary audio track) and you'll hear full-blown (mono) audio without the distractions of the public!
The ambient Drive-In sounds on the second DVD ("Wasp Woman," "Gila Monster") are much more entertaining--I think...especially as you watch the intermission tid-bits and cartoons with two young couples who joke about the images on the screen--with regards to the warning of NO PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION, "Let's All Go to the Lobby," and especially the Freudian humor of "Chilly Dilly Pickles"! You can't help but to laugh with them! There's no annoying chatter among the (invisible) people during the films--if you're thinking that I'm implying a sort of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE atmosphere...the folks are respectfully silent (that is, about 98% of the time).
As for the quality of the films...(and to address the complaints of other reviewers)...Both feature films (on both DVDs) are presented in widescreen (1.85:1), and yes, there ARE flaws; "moderate-to-low" print-quality, splices (jump-cuts), scratches...but, hey!--YOU'RE AT THE DRIVE-IN that's showing grade-Z horror/sci-fi schlock! The "worn" prints, in my opinion, only ADD to the authenticity of being at the Drive-In movies. If you want a pristine, camera-negative, re-mastered Director's Cut of "The Wasp Woman," I might suggest waiting until Criterion releases it(!!)
Some of the intermission segments ARE repeated on the second DVD...but then, some are NEW; again, you're "visiting" your local neighborhood Drive-In, and they're not going to show a new commercial for the same food! One reviewer noted that the shorts are not of the same time period (i.e. the 1930's "Betty Boop" combined with 1950's horror), but, if you're at an outdoor theatre that's showing 2 cheapie "flicks," in actuality, all they'd probably be able to afford to rent WOULD BE a "Betty Boop" cartoon! (NOTE: The "Betty Boop" and "Popeye" cartoons ARE different on both DVD's.)
Another reviewer noted that there's no time-code (counter-display) on the DVD player. So? When was the last time you ever saw a number-counter on the theatre screen? Again folks, these DVDs are meant to give you the feel of actually being at the Drive-In...where you aren't supposed to worry about time--just worry about having fun on a "night out," and the only "time" given is the on-screen "count-down" before the next feature--giving you time to get your last hot-dog or soda.
The only problem that I CAN agree with, is that each segment (intermission bits, coming attractions, etc.) are on separate DVD "chapters," and the player must pause (ever so) briefly to seek out the next bit. It's a slight hinderance, but nothing major. TRY THIS: For those who have a DVD playing capability in their home computer, try both DRIVE-IN discs, and you'll see the entire 3 hour presentation WITHOUT ANY pauses or breaks...you'll even "hear" the pops of the splices between film segments!
All this being said, I must honestly endorse both DVDs for those who yearn for a bit of nostalgia...and an entertaining evening in front of the boob-tube!
Who cares about the movies!.......2001-11-12
I bought this DVD strictly for the classic Filmack intermission clock, which was hard-to-find on VHS. It's the same one that is featured in the movie "Grease", and it's always been my all-time fave intermission trailer. The transfer is excellent, and the copy that Elite has used is in prestine condition. The movies are interesting to watch with all the bad acting, and hokey special effects, but they are classic drive-in movie stuff. I am glad that these discs are available, especially with all the intermission trailers.
Great Dated Movie.......2001-10-03
The movie "Attack of the Giant Leeches" is a great movie even considering the dated material and the low budget. Even with these shortcomings it is entertaining in todays standards. The acting is good,the direction has flair and the setting is truly spooky. The highlight of the film is the part of Miss Vickers she is truly sexy even by today's standards and it is easily understood why Miss Vickers has developed a cult folling from this film.
The second feature is also well done again considering the budget limitations. I would highly recommend this DVD to any Sci-Fi or horror movie lover.
Surprisingly worthwhile!.......2001-05-18
My wife insisted we buy this, and I really had my doubts. I was, however, pleasantly surprised! This is one of the most enjoyable discs we've bought. While the movies are hardly the best, the overall experience makes this disc a great buy. The ads, intermission, and "Let's All Go to the Lobby" are worth the price of the DVD alone. Throw in the goofy movies, the Distort-O! Sound, and the drive-in background noise, and you've got yourself a great disc. This makes for a fun family night in front of the TV. While some of the content may be too much for younger kids, my ten year old son loved both movies and the extras. We're eagerly awaiting Volume 2!
Average customer rating:
- classics is a bit much,but the transfers are so bad how can you tell
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Horror Classics Volume 3: Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Screaming Skull, Beast of Yucca Flats, The Terror, Revolt of the Zombies
Starring: Ken Clark; John Hudson; Tor Johnson; Boris Karloff; Dean Jagger
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
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ASIN: B0009W306K
Release Date: 2004-01-01 |
Customer Reviews:
classics is a bit much,but the transfers are so bad how can you tell.......2006-05-22
save your money you can find better copies of these movies in any collection out there and get better prices.
Average customer rating:
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AMC Monsterfest - Cult Classics Collection 2, Vol. 2 - The Screaming Skull
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0006H31LC
Release Date: 2004-01-01 |
DVD:
- No Return
- Condemned to Live
- Tales of Terror (5pc)
- Paranoia
- Slashers
- Ghost Ship/Thirteen Ghosts
- The Wasp Woman - Attack of Giant Leeches
- Inn of the Damned
- Bela Lugosi: Bowery at Midnight
- Delirium: Photo of Gioia
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DVD
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John Waters Collection #2: Polyester/ Desperate Living
Strictly Sinatra
Le Viol Du Vampire (The Rape of the Vampire) [1967]
DVD: Clint Eastwood - Cop (Dirty Harry / Magnum Force / Tigh
Terra X - Best of