Chad

Gobear

What a truly awful film. The plot is a cross between Rebecca and Gaslight with a supernatural twist, yet it somehow manages to be dull and tedious until the ending, which is actually pretty decent. Again, I had to flee to MST3K.

3onameathook

Plot is pretty predictable as to where it's heading, but you have to sympathize with Mickey who seems to have nothing but good intentions. Perhaps I'm a little bit more tolerant than most since I do like most of what I watch on some level. This seems to be pretty standard horror for that period of time

DaveyJoe

What the fuck kind of movie starts with a narrator explaining how terrifying the ending is going to be?

Even this frog wants out of the movie.

Executive Producer Dick Wolf. DUN DUN

DaveyJoe

Finally a movie that explores the terror of moving into a "fixer-upper."

Two nights ago the subset pick had me watching a French slut go elbow-deep in a cow's ass. Now I'm watching generic white couple from the 50s admire each other's sweaters. I love this Challenge!

(Couple embraces and horn honks)
woman: "Who's that?"
man: "I don't know." (shit, my weed man is early)

DaveyJoe

Reverend Snow knows nothing.

(Reverend hangs drape covering 1/16th of the window)
"All right, that's done"

When you hate the bitch your friend is seeing.
"Oh, she's so very nice, Eric."

rbrown498

I'm so glad that the film I picked is getting so much attention here in its dedicated thread! Actually, I kind of love this film. I don't expect many viewers will have the patience to watch it, but if you just give into it and let it go where it's gonna go, there are rewards to be found. Admittedly, there are only two real "horror" segments, but they work for me. The shot where Jenni goes to the greenhouse looking for Mickey, only to find the ghost of the first wife, works really well if you're watching the film on a big screen; when the ghost opens its arms wide, it's quite startling.

I don't think that it was too standard a horror film for the time in which it was made; horror was actually on the back burner, having been supplanted by sci-fi films featuring giant mutated insects and their ilk. It was certainly an anomaly for AIP, which was cranking out a lot of sci-fi and teenage monster films at the time they released this (such as its original co-feature, Terror in the Year 5,000). I like that the film at least takes a somewhat adult approach to the material, instead of shoehorning in one of those degenerate new-fangled rock and roll songs or offering up a neat little explanation for all of the ghostly goings-on. I can only imagine how unsettled I would have been if I had stumbled across this on the Saturday night late movie when I was a kid.

In the end, though, it is what it is, and you either like it or you don't. I'll admit that I desperately wanted the Ken Films Super 8 version of the film when I was a youngster. I may still try to pick one up on eBay one of these days.

DaveyJoe

"It's just that Jenny is... very impressionable."
(Jenny fires up Fox News)

So the story is that it was raining and Maryanne slipped on a leaf and died? It must've been so easy to get away with murder before DNA evidence.

1958: Intimate couple sleeps in separate cots
2017: I've talked to this girl a few times, better send her a dick pic

DaveyJoe

"I have that horrible feeling again"
"Jenny, I forbid you to talk about it."



"When I was a girl I used to want to be a caterpillar."
You know it's bad when Mickey thinks you're crazy.

Jenny just took her shirt and skirt off and she's still more covered than I am right now.

Undeadcow

Screaming Skull does feel predictable and is slow going but the skeleton scenes are nicely surreal (maybe this is a film that is better due to being dated). I kept waiting for some out of the blue twist but it never showed.

DaveyJoe

"We need somebody outside the confusions of the love we have for each other."
Is exactly what I said to the girl at Wendy's when I decided to cut back on fast food.

"I grew up loving my father and hating my mother."
Screaming Skull, the story of Arya Stark.

"I want you to take me back to the doctor."
"No, Jenny. It may sound selfish, but my ass is not doing the cooking."

DaveyJoe

"jenny are you all right? Are you all right, Jenny?"

Trevor

The MST3K version was pretty funny, but I think I prefer the drunk DaveyJoe hosted version.

WillieMLF

I thought it was good for a movie from the late 50s. I really wanted to see this without the MST3K treatment as I didn't want bad influences. Sure, it was bad for a few reasons including 2017 eyes viewing a 1958 film, but it felt like everyone was playing this straight. I agree that the plot felt like a less effective amalgamation of Gaslight and Rebecca. Did this disk come with a commentary? I could see myself revising this one over Yongary.

They did agree to cover funeral costs due to death by terror. That was one of the the funniest lines in the movie. The best dialog has to go to this exchange:

Eric: That's where Mickey keeps his gardening things.
Jenni: Who's Mickey?
Eric: The gardener.

Gobear

The ending, that Marian's ghost was real, was the twist.

clckworang

Even watching the MST3K version of this movie, I found my mind wandering. I was thinking about things I needed to do at work, updated discussion in the challenge thread, what to feed my dog. Eventually, I got up and started doing a load of laundry. Yes, the tedium of this movie drove me to laundry.

Maybe I needed to be in a different mindset to enjoy it. I say that as if I might revisit it, but I seriously doubt I ever will.

I can't believe people are saying this was standard or even good for the 1950s. There was so much better horror during that decade than this! Creature from the Black Lagoon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Hammer horror, House of Wax, The Fly, The Bad Seed, Diabolique, Thing from Another World, Godzilla, Night of the Hunter, Curse of the Demon, Them.

To say this film that can't even garner a 4 rating on imdb is in any way indicative of the decade it was produced is giving a pretty dim view on the cinematic contributions of that decade.

Mondo Kane

Doh! Got my subset days mixed up! (Watched Bubba Ho-Tep yesterday. It was bound to happen sooner or later)

As with rbrown, I never had huge problems with this. Hard to believe this is always listed as bottom-barrel stuff from the era when there's the likes of Beast of Yucca Flats & Monster-a-go-go around.

DaveyJoe

I'll be here all month!

Dick Laurent

Meant to get here earlier, but this film has a special place in my heart as it is the FIRST film I watched for my first challenge at DVD Talk. October 1st, 2008. Can't believe it's been ten years now (for me). Nice to have my OHMC family to visit every year, even with our drunk uncle, DaveyJoe.

Trevor

Nice memories there Dick! Inspired me to search out my first ever Challenge post: Wow, very humble beginnings to this now obsession. Maybe I'll try to watch those three this month.

DaveyJoe

I have achieved Druncle status!