Das Geheimnis des schreienden Schädels (1958)

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• Basiert auf: The Screaming Skull

The Screaming Skull is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film, produced by John Kneubuhl and directed by Alex Nicol, starring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Russ Conway, Tony Johnson, and Nicol. The Screaming Skull marked Nicol's directorial debut; he decided to try it because he felt that he was not acting in the roles which he wanted. The film was distributed by American International Pictures in August 1958 as a double feature with Terror from the Year 5000.

Production

The Screaming Skull was directed by Alex Nicol, an actor who had roles on Broadway productions and often played supporting characters. He decided to try directing a film, as he felt that he had not been performing the roles that he desired.

The film is loosely based on "The Screaming Skull", a horror story written by Francis Marion Crawford, which itself drew its inspiration from "folklore surrounding the so-called screaming skull that was kept on display at Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset, England." The skull is said to have belonged to a black slave who was refused a burial in his native country following his death, and "there were strange occurrences and unexplainable shrieking noise…

John Hudson stars as Eric, Jenni's new husband. Jenni is played by Peggy Webber. In order to get Webber interested in starring in the film, Nicol told her that he was planning to do a remake of the Alfred Hitchcock film Rebecca and brought a copy of the screenplay to her house. Other cast members include Russ Conway as Reverend Snow and Toni Johnson as Snow's wife. Nicol also stars as Mickey, the gardener.

The film's cinematographer was Floyd Crosby, who had previously won an Academy Award for his work on Tabu. John Kneubuhl wrote the film's screenplay; he also produced the film alongside executive producer T. Frank Woods and associate producer John Coots. The music was composed by Ernest Gold, and the film was edited by Betty Jane Lane.

The film was shot over a period of six weeks at the Huntington Hartford Estate, (now Runyon Canyon Park) on a small budget. The film did not have a large crew, and according to Webber, the actors were paid around $1,000 for their performances. During the production, Nicol promised the actors a cut of the film's ultimate box office earnings, but due to an issue with the film's distributor, this never occurred.

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