912-The Screaming Skull

Film Year:  1958
Genre:  Horror
Director:  Alex Nicol
Starring:  Peggy Webber, John Hudson, Russ Conway, Alex Nicole
MST Season:  9
Featured Short:  "Robot Rumpus"

The Short

An early Gumby short, Robot Rumpus tells of Gumby shirking his chores and giving them to robots.  Because, you know, kids have lots of robots to do this stuff.  Instead of being annoyed that Gumby is being lazy, his parents are oddly charmed by these machines…until they start wrecking the yard (and turning against humanity, in this thrilling prequel to the Terminator and Matrix franchises).

Robot Rumpus is unique among Mystery Science Theater in that it’s the only thing they’ve ever riffed that was animated (not including the early marionette episodes Invaders from the Deep and Revenge of the Mysterions from Mars).  Like mostly anything Gumby, this short is charming, funny, and innocent.  It might be a bit cruel to riff on something this simplistic and pleasing, but its simple nature and imagination also make it an easy target.  One almost wishes Gumby became an MST mainstay, because the shorts are pleasing and are quite wild.

The Movie

The Screaming Skull is a rip-off, er, remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, tells the tale of a woman settling into a new life with her recently wed husband.  After moving in she begins to hear screeching and a skull popping up all over the house, and she begins questioning her sanity.

You know you’re in trouble when you’re watching a horror movie that is boasting about how scary it is.  When The Screaming Skull begins the film offers a “free coffin to any viewer that dies of fright.”  Translation:  Our movie isn’t scary at all and we’re trying to manipulate you into thinking it is.  That said, The Screaming Skull does have the right frame of mind when it comes to filming atmosphere, but the movie’s attempt at building tension is overly slow and dull, and the actors never seem to quite have faith in the movie they’re making.  The most committed performance comes from the movie’s director, who plays the mentally incapacitated groundskeeper who just kind of limps around and does nothing other than act like a red herring.

Things get insane for the climax, which is nothing but endless screeching and a prop skull rolling around.  Nonstop noise terrifies you then this is the movie for you.  By the time it ends I feel like I’ve gotten barely any resolution to barely any movie.  The mystery aspect however is neat, and there are a few moody touches that I like, but Screaming Skull doesn’t offer a whole hell of a lot to keep me invested.

The one great thing I can say about Screaming Skull is that I’d rather watch it again than Robert Zemeckis’s What Lies Beneath, which is pretty much the exact same movie, only much longer and much more boring.

The Episode

Most seasoned MSTies will admit that when an episode revs up with a short that’s incredibly wacky and fun it’s hard to keep pace once we switch to the movie.  The best we can hope for is for the episode to switch gears and keep up with whatever they have to follow.  Screaming Skull is often lumped as an episode that has a short that outshines the feature, and while the short is spectacular that would be selling the film portion short.  Their approach to this particular movie is absolutely marvelous, as they take it’s dreary tone and fend it off by upstaging it with their comedy.  The Gumby short is child’s play, but with this movie they work to make it as funny as it is and the end result is impressive.

But as for the Robot Rumpus short, Gumby is so full of wacky images and stuff the series doesn’t see in the movies they watch.  It gives them something new to play with, and of course it’s an instant classic.  I’d just be arguing that the movie itself is a classic of a lesser tier.

The host segments can be a bit of an anchor dragging the episode down, however.  The robot’s outrage on the Gumby short, while funny in concept, never really lands a big laugh.  Crow’s imitation of the titular Skull causing Mike to go on a screaming rampage of horror goes on too long and Mike just doesn’t sell it with his obviously fake screaming.  And the Mad segments involving costume practical jokes are just horrible.

Rebounding these host segments is some quality work by Kevin Murphy’s Tom Servo, who has a very amusing opening involving him turning into a butterfly (and a follow-up segment about him turning back is just as funny).  But the highlight of the entire episode is the brilliant “Free Coffin” sketch, in which Servo tries to scam American International out of a coffin by claiming he died during the movie.  Of course he gets sucked up in the technical details and the fun of the prank dies.

The Screaming Skull never really seems to get its due.  This is a funny, funny, FUNNY episode from beginning to end, regardless of the short that started it.  And it’s one that I’ve watched many times and plan to watch many more.

Classic

The DVD and Blu-Ray

The Screaming Skull continues its Free Coffin promise as a part of Shout Factory’s Turkey Day celebratory Volume XXXI.  Video and audio are solid.  Special features kick off with a custom made Turkey Day intro by Joel, Servo, and Crow.

Also included are two brief featurettes.  The first is called Gumby & Clokey, which is an interview with Joe Clokey, son of Gumby creator Art Clokey.  He gives a brief but detailed description of Gumby’s history, plus a few words on Robot Rumpus, which he claims was one of his dad’s favorites.  And yes, he loves the Mystery Science Theater version.  The second is a documentary on the film itself called This Film May Kill You, which for the most part is an apologists documentary defending the film against people who “don’t get it.”  Narrator Tom Weaver even goes far enough to call people who don’t like it “idiots,” which I guess I’m one because I don’t feel the movie is that hot myself.  The movie does share behind the scenes info, and has an interview with star Peggy Webber (who isn’t fond of the movie either).

Finally we have two worn down trailers for the film itself.  One of which advertises it in a double feature with former MSTed movie Terror from the Year 5000.  Did someone say MST double feature?  I’d love to!

The Screaming Skull is also one of the few MST episodes released on blu-ray, albeit in standard definition.  The episode was included as a special feature in Shout Factory's uncut blu-ray of The Screaming Skull, which includes the feature in high definition and the episode's film documentary ported over.  There is also a still gallery thrown in.  If you find yourself enjoying the movie, this might be a version worth picking up.  Not to mention the transfer of the movie itself is way better than the one seen in the MST episode.