The screaming skull is a motion picture
{y:i}that reaches its climax in shocking horror.
{y:i}Its impact is so terrifying
{y:i}that it may have an unforeseen effect.
{y:i}It may kill you.
{y:i}Therefore, its producers feel
{y:i}they must assure free burial services
{y:i}to anyone who dies of fright
while seeing the screaming skull.
Welcome, Mrs. whitlock.
It's lovely, Eric.
You look disappointed for a moment.
I did not. It's really lovely.
Oh, look.
I bet that's the den there.
That's right.
Ls that a bedroom?
- Yes, it is. - Lt's gonna be ours?
It'll need some fixing first.
It was her room, wasn't it?
Yes.
Come on along. I'll show you the rest of the house.
It's rather forbidding now, I suppose,
empty like this.
But it was usually this way.
Shortly after marianne and I were married,
she removed all of the furniture her parents had left her.
"This is our home," she used to say,
"and we must choose everything carefully."
Well, we didn't get very far before she died.
But now that you are here, it's gonna be lovely again.
I'll get the things out of storage tomorrow.
They're all in town at the warehouse.
And I'll take care of that, too.
You have candles?
Sure.
It'll be twice as romantic.
Speaking of being romantic...
I forgot to carry you over the threshold.
I love you.
- I love you. - Oh, jenni.
I thought life had died out for me.
What's that up there?
Oh, that's where Mickey keeps his gardening things.
- Who's Mickey? - The gardener.
He's kept it up for two years I've been away.
- By himself? - That's right.
He must work awfully hard.
Oh, he and marianne would spend hours on end
working here in the gardens,
and up in the greenhouse back there.
See, he loved it very much.
Sometimes, I used to wonder who she was,
my wife or Mickey's nursemaid.
You know, I don't think he quite believes she's gone.
I think he expects her to show up
one of these mornings and scold her
for neglecting the gardens.
You still love her, don't you?
No, I'm not jealous.
I'm grateful to her.
I think to have loved once,
really love,
to learn how to love always...
Learning it from her, you give again to me.
I wish there was some way to thank her.
- Who's that? - I don't know.
And they're driving around the back.
Come on, come on along.
- Eric. - I see Eric. Hi.
We stopped by to meet your new wife.
Oh, Eric, this is a wonderful surprise.
- It's been a long time. - It has.
- Reverend. - Good to see you, Eric.
Jenni, this is Mrs. snow.
I'm very happy to meet you.
Jenni, this is a lovely surprise.
And the reverend, Mr. snow.
Hello, my dear.
- Oh, she's sweet, Eric. - I know.
I happened to be going into town, I ran into Mr. mauer.
He told me you were getting back today.
And we thought we'd just drop by
and bring you something for your dinner.
- How nice of you. - Well, it'll save you
all the bother of shopping while you're trying to get settled.
Then, why don't you stay for dinner?
- Oh, no, not tonight. - Oh, no, no.
We wouldn't think of that.
- Oh, now, please say yes. - We'd like for you to.
- It would be like old times. - All right.
On the condition that I do the cooking.
You don't have to.
You know, i know that, but I'd love to.
Well, there's Mickey.
Excuse me, honey.
Mickey.
Oh, poor Mickey.
He keeps this place up like a shrine.
Eric told me how he loved marianne.
Mickey's father was a gardener here
when marianne's mother was alive.
Mickey and marianne grew up together here.
Jenni, this is Mickey.
How do you do, Mickey?
I hope we'll be good friends.
Well, Mickey?
Thank you, Mickey.
- Well, shall we all go inside? - Lt's a good idea.
Mickey, remember, you promised me
some of those rose cuttings.
Nice seeing you again, Mickey.
I'm going to have to get you
down to the barbershop one day very soon.
Excuse us, Mickey.
All right, that's done.
Oh, god. Please be careful.
Oh, Edward, now, don't break your neck.
You're doing great, reverend.
- Don't worry. - Good heavens.
Honestly, the two of them are just like children.
That doesn't look too bad, Eric.
Jenni, I hope you have more luck in getting your husband to mind
than I've had with mine.
You know, you've got to admit,
it does make the room look better.
It went very well, Tarzan.
For penance, you can come help me with dinner.
Now, come on.
Edward, you keep jenni company?
Yes, dear.
No, marianne, no.
Send them away.
No.
Oh, she's so very nice, Eric.
- Jenni? - Yes.
- Isn't she wonderful? - Yes.
She's not at all like marianne, and I think that's for the best.
You know, so many men, when they lose a wife,
they try so hard to deny the loss,
they marry someone exactly like the first wife.
It hardly seems fair using the living
to bring back the dead, does it?
No, I suppose, it doesn't.
We make a prison for ourselves out of the past,
at least, our sentimental wish for our pasts.
- Mrs. snow. - Yes, dear.
There's something I must tell you and the reverend.
Well, of course, Eric. What is it?
You see, jenni has not had a very happy past.
- Oh? - And talking about it
or about something that might strongly remind her of it,
she's very impressionable.
Is there something wrong, Eric?
No, not really.
You see,
she lost her parents many years ago
in a very tragic way,
and talking about unhappy past only...
She's very impressionable.
See, I want her to be happy, Mrs. snow.
Of course you do, and so do we all.
Now, how did she lose them?
Well, I'm not prying, dear.
It's just that Mr. snow and i can help better
if we know something about it.
They drowned in an accident.
Jenni saw it all.
Who's Mr. mauer?
Mr. mauer? Well, he's a lawyer in town.
I thought no one knew we were coming.
You said you heard from Mr. mauer?
Well, Eric wrote him.
He takes care of the estate or what's left of it.
Oh, that's right. Eric has to see him tomorrow.
Well, Eric's co-executor of the estate,
along with Mr. mauer.
You see, marianne's death was so sudden
that, well, all that was left to Eric
was the house and these grounds.
Mr. mauer told me that Eric had found
someone very sweet and very kind,
and with whom he is very much in love.
He didn't say enough.
How did marianne die?
Didn't Eric tell you?
I think the subject's rather painful to him.
I don't like to make him talk about it.
Would you mind telling me? I'd like to know.
It was a rainy day.
She and Mickey had been working up there in the greenhouse.
She left him to go back to the house for a few minutes.
The way we pieced it together after the accident is that...
While she was coming down this path,
apparently, it began to rain very hard.
She must have run along here.
We don't know, of course, what happened then.
Perhaps she slipped on a leaf.
They said her skull was smashed.
It was thought that she hit her head
on the edge of the cement wall where we're sitting,
and she fell in there.
She died in the water.
That's where Eric found her 10 minutes later.
Marianne.
You said...
You said, "Mickey, wait here.
I'm going down to the house forjust a minute.
Wait here, Mickey," you said,
and then you went away in the rain...
And you didn't come back to play.
Marianne.
Why didn't you...?
{y:i}"Back then'?
I don't forget that you and Eric are coming for lunch
the day after tomorrow.
We'll do better than that.
We'll come to church on Sunday, as well.
Oh, getting Eric to church is like moving a mountain.
He'll come.
Come along, my dear, it's getting late.
Eric, thank you very much
for bringing jenni into our lives.
Thank you for the dinner.
It's a pleasure. Thank you.
- Good night. - Good night.
Edward, did you know that jenni's very wealthy?
Well, yes, Mr. mauer told me in town today.
But she's not at all like marianne.
You know, she's so gentle and timid as if...
As if she were afraid of something.
I knew you'd like my friends, clear.
Hey, what's this, huh?
Just happy, that's all.
- Oh, come here. - L'm so happy.
Come on.
How are the cots?
Fine.
What are you reading?
Something Mrs. snow sent over.
- Interesting? - Uh-hmm.
It's called "beast in the jungle."
It's all about a man who waited all of his life
for something great,
wonderful to happen to him.
He had only one good friend,
it's a woman in whom he confided.
And she died.
At her grave, he suddenly realized
that she was the great wonderful thing
that he'd waited for all of his life.
But it's too late then.
And his memory is like...
Beast in the jungle...
Rise up out of the past...
Overwhelming.
Oh...
Poor fellow.
He doesn't know what he missed.
Eric?
Jennl
what are you doing here?
The window was blowing. Where were you?
I thought I heard someone moving about.
Now, what is it?
What is that?
Is that water?
Lily pad?
I don't think Mickey looks for her in the pond.
Jenni, now, stop it.
I can't help it, Eric, that bad feelings come back.
I forbid you to talk about it.
She looked like that, Eric.
My mother looked like that.
Oh, jenni, jenni.
I can't help it, Eric.
Darling, you're just talking yourself
into those same old fears.
I've got to talk about it, Eric.
I have to talk about it.
I forbid you to talk about it now.
What?
Just that with you beside me, I'm alive again.
I don't wanna be sick anymore.
Honey, look.
Now, you mustn't go on thinking like this.
Besides, how could a very poorly-done self-portrait
upset you so much?
I know it's only my own fear.
It's my own guilt that I can't get away from.
Eric, I'm sorry.
Oh, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to believe me.
Now, you were sick once, yes, but you were cured.
Mickey caused this.
You may as well know.
He does look for marianne night after night
down by that pond.
And he probably comes here afterwards.
I'm gonna speak to Mickey in the morning.
Now, don't you see
how simply it's all explained away?
But if I also heard a scream, Eric,
before I went to the hospital,
I was hearing things.
I'm hearing them again.
What did you hear?
It was a high, strange scream.
High, strange scream?
Like a peacock's cry?
What's that sound like?
Come here.
Sound like that?
You see?
It's all very, very real.
I'm such a fool.
You feeling better now?
Yes.
Shh, shh.
Good night.
Ah, we won't be bothered with any of Mickey's
nightly visits anymore.
I've forbidden him to come into the house.
I was just nervous last night.
I wish you wouldn't take it out on Mickey.
No, he's a child.
He must be disciplined.
I'd like him to feel I'm his friend.
Why don't you do some gardening with him
while I'm at town?
If he sees you're interested,
you'll win him over quickly enough.
Wait a minute.
I made a list, staples mostly.
Are you sure you don't wanna come in with me?
You'll get more done without me.
I got to see about the lights, the phone, the bank,
and the warehouse people about that furniture,
you know, that couch has just about broken my back.
Don't forget to see Mr. mauer.
I have to see him this evening.
It's a bore, but I'll have to see him.
Will you be home in time for dinner? I'll wait for you.
Now, if I'm not, don't you worry, darling.
Getting out of mauer's clutches
sometimes requires an active guard.
I love you.
Hello, Mickey.
Oh, look out.
You almost cut him.
He's a handsome one, isn't he?
So cuddly and warm.
When I was a little girl, I used to wanna be a caterpillar.
So, I was a very little girl.
There you go.
Marianne must've loved the gardens.
We'll keep them lovely for her always.
You know what I'd like to do, Mickey?
I'd like to pick some of the nicest flowers
and take them to her.
Would you like that?
Yes.
Eric told me she was near here.
Could you show me where?
Is that all right, Mickey?
I'm sure it was a great loss to all of you, Mickey.
She cries.
Cries?
- In the night. - Dead people don't cry, Mickey.
I heard her.
Heard her?
Mickey?
I don't think he quite expects she's gone.
She cries.
She cries in the night.
I think he expects her to show up
one of these mornings.
She died in the water.
The base of her skull was smashed.
She didn't wanna die.
She died in the water.
Eric?
Jenni?
Jenni? Honey?
Honey?
- Eric! - Lt's all right, darling.
It's all right, I'm right here.
I'm right here.
Just lie back, that's right, just lie back.
It's all right.
When you found me, what else was there?
What do you mean what else?
Askull?
Jenni?
I know there was no skull.
Of course not.
Mickey says marianne cries at night.
Why, that childish, stupid...
Don't blame him.
We both heard the peacocks.
He, out of his love for marianne,
which is the cry to be from her.
I, out of my sickness.
Now, darling.
We've been all through that nonsense last night.
Don't you see?
I've never imagined seeing these things before.
To just stand there and see it, if it turned out to be not...
Eric...
I want you to call Dr. Anne tomorrow in New York.
I want you to take me back.
No, jenni.
Now, it may sound selfish,
but don't you see, having you to love,
I'm happy, too.
I don't wanna lose that.
Now, in the morning, Mr. snow will be here,
and we'll tell him...
He's very comforting.
And I think he'll agree with me.
About what?
I think it's Mickey.
You see, he hated me from the first.
Marianne was his friend, and while I married her,
he thought I was taking her away from him.
And now that she's dead,
taken away from him forever,
I suppose in that childish mind of his,
I'm responsible for that.
And now, because you're my wife and in marianne's house,
he hates you, too.
I don't think Mickey is responsible.
He's not quick enough or clever enough.
And who?
Myself.
It's all in my own mind.
We do need somebody else, darling.
We need somebody outside of the confusions
of our love for each other.
Now, the reverend snow will be here in the morning.
It was in there.
Well, this much is real anyway.
Look here, jenni.
You see, this is how you gouged your hand.
And you say, you threw the skull down here
where Eric is looking?
Yeah.
Did you find anything, Eric?
Nothing yet.
Surely, jenni, you must agree with me
that anything as fragile as a skull
would've been smashed to bits down there.
And Eric has found nothing,
and to assume that the skull would move of its own
all the way from there to the driveway door...
Come now, jenni, there's no reason for that.
Don't you see? I agree with you.
Did Eric tell you i spent over a year
in the sanitarium'?
Well, Eric told Mrs. snow
that you are very impressionable,
but that's all.
I know lots of people needing rest go to sanitariums.
This wasn't quite that kind of sanitarium.
You see...
I grew up loving my father and hating my mother.
Well, she never knew it.
Something I kept to myself.
She was very beautiful,
very gay, like her.
Very much.
And I knew she resented that I was not more like her.
I used to lie awake at night and wish she were dead.
Well, that isn't very unusual.
I understand many children go through such a period.
I was no longer a child.
One day...
I got my wish.
They were both drowned.
I could still hear her scream.
I was all alone on the little beach.
And all I could see was the overturned boat
on the top of the waves.
And I kept trying to reach them,
and the waves kept throwing me back.
And then...
I could hear her cries no more.
And then, hours later,
the men came and searched for the bodies.
They were never found.
And that's when these bad feelings started,
this feeling that if I really wanted to,
I could've saved them, but I didn't.
That I really killed them.
No, jenni, you tried.
You tried your very best.
I didn't.
But thinking, and begging,
and praying couldn't make this feeling go away.
That's when they took me to the hospital.
But they told me I was cured.
Jennl
they told me I was cured.
Mickey!
All right, you go on.
I'll be there in time for lunch.
But where do you think he's gone off to, Eric?
Who knows about Mickey.
He might be hiding.
You looked at marianne's grave?
Mickey?
Mickey!
Mickey?
Mickey!
Eric, did you find him?
No.
Where's jenni?
She's with Mrs. snow on the patio.
Eric...
I think I should tell you that jenni has confided in me
about the sanitarium.
Oh, did your wife know?
I told that jenni was impressionable,
but not that...
Well, I haven't said a word to her.
Mr. snow,
you can do both jenni and me a great favor
by forgetting she ever told you that.
But, Eric, if it helps explain...
It explains nothing.
If I were you, Eric, I'd take her away.
If she's so impressionable,
and that house frightens her so much,
why subject her to it?
Look, I can't do a thing like that.
It'd be the worst thing for her.
Mr. snow, it would be admitting she was sick again.
I want her to be happy.
We'll stay here.
Perhaps you know best, Eric.
See, I've got a simple and old-fashioned
piece of philosophy.
The only cure for her fear is to teach her she's loved,
I mean, really loved,
and I love her so much.
God bless you for that, Eric.
She's a very fortunate woman
having someone like you to care for her.
Be night soon.
Oh, jenni, jenni.
I'm sorry.
Darling, you've got to believe it will not happen again...
9v9 l...
Mickey!
Eric.
Eric!
- Eric, stop it! - No, all right.
What are you trying to do with that skull?
Eric, stop it, it wasn't his fault.
- Where did you get it? - Leave him alone.
I'll take care of this, jenni.
Now, I know you never liked me, Mickey.
I know you're doing it to get us to leave here.
Idiotic attempt to scare us, as if we were children.
It was you, wasn't it?
Wasn't it?
No, not me, not me.
Ah, get out of here! Get out of here!
I wish you'd apologize to him.
You know as well as I do it's not his fault.
It's all in my own mind.
Jenni, I'm gonna do something, and you're gonna help me do it.
- What's that? - That portrait upstairs...
Reminds you of your mother.
Yeah.
You were fine until you saw it.
Now it has you all preoccupied with memories of the past.
We're gonna burn it.
That's precious to you, Eric.
The picture means nothing to me.
I want you to be happy.
We can't be until this fear is out of our lives.
All right, jenni.
Go on, jenni.
Let's go back in now.
It's only the peacocks.
Fire's almost out.
Yes.
We can't let those ashes stand overnight.
The brush in this hill is a regular tinderbox.
You wanna help me?
All right, you feeling better?
It's as if I destroyed her with my own hands.
She'll come back, Eric.
She'll come back.
Darling, if you go on talking that way,
you destroy the whole purpose.
Now, the thing is out of the house, and it's over.
You just give it half a chance, and you'll begin to forget it.
And if you'll just spread those ashes out a little for me,
I'll get the water to it.
That's it.
Eric!
What is it, darling?
That skull!
It's the skull!
Darling, there's no skull there.
There's no skull there, darling.
There is no skull there, jenni, darling.
There's no skull there.
There's no skull.
We'll be able to catch a plane tonight?
When we get into town, i will call Mr. mauer.
He'll arrange a midnight plane.
I thought there'd be more time.
Time for so many wonderful things.
It's gonna be all right.
Of course.
It's just me.
It's gonna be all right.
Good evening, my dear.
Mrs. snow's hens thought you might like some fresh eggs
for your breakfast in the morning.
Hello, Eric.
This is a surprise.
Those hens labored mightily, as you can see.
Fine, I'll take them.
If you'll excuse me, dear.
Of course.
What is it, Eric?
I've got to take jenni away.
That hospital she was in before.
It happened again?
I thought it would help her if we got rid of that portrait.
- You know the one. - Yes.
And we burned it.
She saw a skull in the ashes.
You were there?
I saw nothing, of course.
Of course.
And I thought it was Mickey.
But when I was there myself, and I saw her...
Mr. snow, there's something I've never told you,
I've never told anybody,
but when jenni was put away in that hospital,
she tried to do away with herself.
I'm terribly afraid.
You think she might try it again?
I know she will.
Unless I get her back to that hospital.
When are you going?
Tonight.
We shall miss you.
Mrs. snow and I have grown very fond of jenni.
Yes, and she of you.
I don't suppose you'll be coming back here again, Eric?
No.
{y:i}Nev er.
I'll miss him and his wife.
He's very kind.
Yes.
And I said good-bye to him just now.
He tried to talk me out of what I saw.
How?
He said he felt the skull was real.
He's gonna bring the some men in the morning
to search the estate.
Where?
Everywhere.
He's just talking, trying to be kind.
I suppose.
I'll go upstairs and pack.
You wanna come with me?
I'll be up in a minute.
Mickey!
All right.
Where's the skull at? You saw me put it in the pond.
- You must have. Where is it? - I don't know.
- Don't lie to me.
Don't lie to me. Where is it?
- I don't know. - Tell me the truth.
Who took it?
Tell me, tell me.
- Tell me. - I didn't take it.
- Who?
- Not me, not me.
Who?
Marianne, marianne, took it.
Marianne took it.
You and your marianne.
All right!
Oh, Edward, in the name of heaven.
Mickey, where did you find this?
Pond.
Well, who put it there?
- He did. - Eric?
He did.
Then, there was a skull.
But Eric said that he didn't see it when jenni saw it.
I know.
Oh, but why would Eric lie like that?
Mickey, those other times with the skull,
did you do it?
No.
Mickey, you've never lied to me before.
Lying is a sin, you understand that?
You must not lie to me now.
Did you do it, Mickey, all those other times?
No.
I simply do not understand that.
If it wasn't Mickey...
And it wasn't her imagination...
But why would Eric do such a thing?
I don't know, i just don't know.
Well, what do you think we should do about it?
We're going back there to that house.
All right.
Mickey?
Eric and I are leaving, Mickey.
I'd like to say good-bye.
I'd like to leave as your friend, Mickey.
Mickey?
Eric! Eric!
Eric!
Jenni?
Jennfl
what happened?
Jennl
jenni, are you all right?
Oh, jenni?
Eric...
Eric tried...
- Shh, oh, don't, don't. - Where is Eric?
I don't know.
- I don't know. - I'll find him.
It's all right, Edward. Now, be careful.
Shh.
It's all right, darling.
Oh, it's all right.
All right, come on.
Eric?
Please answer me.
Eric?
Eric, where are you?
Eric?
Eric.
Why did he do it?
Your money.
The question is now, did marianne die in an accident?
I suppose we'll never know.
They'd gone.
Rest.