Short: (1956) A Gumby cartoon. Gumby builds robots to do his chores for him.
Movie: (1958) Newly married headcase Jenni sees human skulls everywhere in her new home.
First shown: 8/29/98
Opening: Tom has become a beautiful butterfly
Intro: Tom’s still a butterfly, but you can’t really tell; Pearl, Observer and Bobo pull a not-so-fast one on M&tB
Host segment 1: The bots try to work through the pain of the Gumby short
Host segment 2: The bots try to scam a free coffin
Host segment 3: Crow, disguised as a screaming skull, freaks Mike out
End: The coffin arrives from Coffins Etc.; Bobo fails to pull an even-less fast one on M&tB
Stinger: Hubby flings his stool.
(290 votes, average: 4.39 out of 5)
Loading...
• This is another one of those episode where the spectacularly funny short outshines some decent riffing on a drab, dull movie. I wonder how it even came up that they would be able to use this cartoon. The segments are hit and miss, but a couple of them are real classics.
• Bill’s thoughts on the episode are here.
• References.
• This episode is featured on Shout’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXXI.
• This was the last episode of the show broadcast on Sci Fi Channel, January 31, 2004.
• Nice build on Servo in the opening segment; kudos to whoever did it.
• Watch Mike as Servo explains his metamorphosis. His reactions are great.
• The opening bit in the castle is one of those long-walk-for-a-little-bit gags, but I have to admit everybody’s costumes are pretty funny.
• I wonder why Pearl didn’t mention the short in her intro.
• M&tB are still wearing their costumes as they enter the theater.
• The short is simply sublime, hilarious from start to finish. The reaction by fans was overwhelmingly positive, with a lot of calls for more cartoons.
• Fave riff from the short: “Thank goodness for the internal genitalia!”
• Alex Nicol, who plays unhinged gardener Mickey, was also the director. So I think you can pretty much blame him for this movie.
• Again, another nice build for segment 1. And the segment is hilarious, a rare look at the world through the eyes of the bots.
• Last time around I wrote a long plea for somebody to explain the movie to me, and I got several good responses. As I understand it, we are to believe that, in addition to the skulls evil hubby Eric was placing around the house, the ghost of Eric’s dead first wife was capable of conjuring up tangible, corporeal objects (see the skeleton in the wedding dress, which is clearly a physical object–though it is transparent as it runs around the garden) in revenge for what we assume was his murder of her?
• This may not be the worst print of a movie they ever riffed, but it’s up there.
• That’s Barb Tebben as the as operator at Coffins Etc.
• Arty riff: “Pinched lady at Giverny.”
• Jenni disrobes down to her underwear at one point, and I think the movie was trying to titilate the audience a bit, but jeez-louise that is the least sexy bra ever.
• Segment 3 is an all-time favorite, one of those Looney Tunes-style segments that works perfectly. I particularly like the way Mike keeps screaming in horror as he carefully selects just the right golf club.
• Also note, right at the end of the sketch, Mike’s elbow accidentally(?) brushes against Servo’s head — and of course it immediately falls off.
• That’s Patrick in the closing bit as the delivery guy. His “this must be a great place to work” comment is probably something they heard at BBI a lot.
• I have to assume Kevin was boiling in that costume inside a costume.
• And the episode closes out with a little blast from the past: a forced perspective gag. Paging Joel…
• Cast and crew roundup: Executive producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson worked on too many MST3K movies to name. In front of the camera, Peggy Webber was in “Space Children.”
• Creditwatch: Directed by Kevin. Andrea DuCane couldn’t do hair and makeup this episode (the only episode in season 9 where she didn’t) so Mary K. Flaa took her place. Barry Schulman, who renewed them one last time just before getting canned, gets a special mention in the credits.
• Fave riff: “Wow, too bad. So…some?” Honorable mention: “GET A BOX!”
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
I always thought the reason pearl didn’t announce the short, was maybe The Brains wanted it to be a surprise for fans. Who knows.
On the “Crow Vs. Crow” special on the recent DVD release, Bill mentions that he got to keep the model from Segment 1.
God, so many great riffs from the Gumby short, and most have already been mentioned.
Three riffs from the actual movie stand out for me:
Jenni: “What’s that over there?”
Servo: “Just some robots I hired to do the yardwork.”
*a bunch of peacocks appear*
Mike: “NBC’s after us! HEEEEELLLP!”
*flower dies*
“Pepe Le Pew walked by!”
Anyone know if there’s a connection between the MST3k episode here (i.e., specifically) and the reference to “The Hall of Screaming Skulls” in Futurama: Bender’s Big Score? I can’t convince myself that a reference like that would be made directly and out of nowhere to a dreary, obscure movie like this.
“I’ll put you on Don Knotts strength.”
#25, M AAAAA!…Sipher, yes, the term “foam peanut” is used in our household a LOT for television episodes that do nothing but, well, fill up space. (Many episodes of Lost fell into this category for me, which is why I stopped watching.)
I’d forgotten about the small casts of Terror from the Year 5000, Killer Shrews, etc., but for some reason Screaming Skull always feels as if there’s no one else left on Earth, anywhere. Sure, they talk about a Mr. Mowrer (Mauwer?), but you never see him; it’s just these people, wandering around among the peacocks & skulls.
#52 – I’ve wondered that since I first saw Bender’s Big Score. The Futurama crew are MST3K fans so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were referencing the movie because they saw the Mistie ep.
I’ve seen Screaming Skull issued in several of those 100 Classic Horror Film packs that you can get at Best Buy for around $10, often alongside The Killer Shrews, Bloodlust! and Giant Gila Monster. I just figured that someone from Futurama might have come across it that way, but it sure seems like they were referencing this film.
It’s been said that The Screaming Skull ripped off Rebecca and maybe Gaslight too. They should have ripped off more–everything they could carry, really–but they didn’t.
#52: “I can’t convince myself that a reference like that would be made directly and out of nowhere to a dreary, obscure movie like this.”
I do agree that all the Futurama movies are dreary and obscure.
On Gumby’s father;
Mike: He’s very high crotched.
One of my top-ten favorite MSTs. The Gumby short is a consistent scream (save for the “Hey! His bump’s on the other side!” bit at the very end of it, where a joke opportunity is wasted with a complaint), and the ‘Bots reaction to it–The Bollus & Horseflop Diorama Family Program Extravaganza–actually brings me to tears of laughter with their colorful, descriptive language (“wretched lumps of discharge”).
The main movie itself is complete arse (Director Nicol–Mickey–went on to play the racist jerk colonel from “A*P*E”), but the riffs make it magic, whether they’re commenting on the incompetent technique (“Quick! Clear the frame before the jump-cut!”) or making their own humor (“He just scooped up his stool and threw it at her! It’s a hard stool! He should at least have used some stool softener!” “Okay, that’s enough…”).
The “Crow as Skull” segment is pure gold. Everybody’s screaming (Servo loses his dome again!), and the performances are perfect.
Clearly not everyone’s favorite (I confess to being shocked at this), but I adore it.
Raised Catholic, I never fail to laugh at the religious stuff:
“My wife and I have an understanding.”
Um, “Dave”, honey………..care to run that by me one more time ???????
Completely agree with Sampo’s take. A terrific short, and really funny host segments (especially Mike freaking out over Crow as a “screaming skull” and actually taking the time to select an appropriate gold club with which to beat him!), were overshadowed by this clunker of a film. Indeed, if it weren’t for the short and the host segments this would’ve been the worst episode in the show’s history. The Brains do this best but there really wasn’t much here to work with. It’s a dreary little dreck of a film. So, short and host segments, five stars. The film itself, one star. Overall, three.
Re Skull-Crow, just because the heads fall off easily doesn’t mean they can’t take punishment when affixed to a desk. It was probably fortified somehow precisely for that purpose.
I’ve actually introduced a friend to other friends for the first time as “Wide awake nightmares.”
Also, during college a friend of mine, Mike, would wear shorts 99% of the time. (Even during midwestern winters.) So need less to say the few times he would wear pants. After watching this episode, differnt people in my group of friends would say out loud as he walked into the student center in something other than shorts. “Hey look it’s Mike.” “Yeah, it’s Mike and he’s wearing pants today.”
The “free coffin” gag is pretty awesome, also enjoyed the bots reaction to the robot dismemberment scenes in the Gumby short. I don’t tend to play this one very often, but it’s funnier than I remember it to be.
“this is what happens in the real world, horrid lumps of discharge destroy beautiful innocent robots with impunity”
Is there a higher than usual number of bad puns in this episode? it seems like it to me.
Kiri Te Kanawa’s drunk again!
This one has strangely grown into one of my favorites over the years. Sure, within ten minutes you can see the plot points drawn out like a road map, but the movie sustains its dreary mood in a way that somehow works for me, and I can’t put my finger on why exactly. Maybe it has something to do with there being a such a minimal cast and a single location—it’s almost like watching a playlet, rather than the knocked-out-in-a-weekend movie that it is.
And as others have observed, having an especially irate Crow never hurts. “Can we give you a push or something?” and “GET A BOX!” have definitely had their uses in real life.
I really love this episode. Maybe its because I enjoy the frustrated and impatient humor that Bill brings to these type of episodes. This episode has gotten better for me with multiple views, and should not be overlooked. @ #3 I agree one of the best riffs ever, given its context.
I really enjoy the “dialogue” the robots make up for the “lumps” during their therapy session:
thneh thneh thnedda thnehthneh THNEH!
Shout Factory should include a Crow Skull replica when this finally makes it into a future DVD set.
the gumby short is absoulutly hilarious in this episode
It hasn’t yet been mentioned yet here in this comments thread, but this episode also has the special designation as being the very last episode repeat to air of the series on the SciFi Channel, when the SciFi Channel’s January 31, 2004 9-11AM PST west coast feed airing of this episode finished, it would become, and still is, the last time any episode repeat would air on any given network, as the SciFi Channel declined to renew their TV distribution rights to the series past the previously-extended contract.
Comedy Central’s last aired repeated episode of the series during its run at that network, for those keeping track, was episode #622 — Angels’ Revenge, back on December 30, 1996 at 2AM.
Raised Catholic, I never fail to laugh at the religious stuff:
“My wife and I have an understanding.”
Um, “Dave”, honey………..care to run that by me one more time ???????
The line was voiced by Mike as the Reverend. A man of the cloth saying that is hilarious. Hope I cleared that up for you “Save Ferris.”
Crow-Skull host seg with Mike swinging that golf club reminded me of Tiger Wood’s home on Thanksgiving.
Super special show for me. This is the show I rediscovered the show after we moved and did not get comedy central in our new home and we just got the sci fi channel added to our tv lineup and found it. :shock: :shock: :shock: YAY!
Have’nt read the above so forgive redundancy. I figured that the husband was gaslighting his already unstable wife. So it started out as trickery by him and a little hallucination by her. At the end it seemed that either the husband had gone insane, or that the spirit of his first wife was haunting him (driving him crazy) like Vi in Tormented (Tom Stewert Killed Me!!).
The short has a very Rifftrax feel to it, for me. Watching such a venerable cartoon doesn’t seem like something BBI would have done a few years prior (I can’t see Trace doing it–the zaniness of Gumby seems like something he would respect). Still makes you wish they could’ve gotten more shorts in the Sci Fi era.
I love Servo’s rendition of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.” Beautiful.
I agree with most of the posters here. The short is great, but the movie isn’t so hot. It’s so dull and dreary. Mike and bots give it a good shot, and there are some classic riffs but in the end it just never takes off. Even the host segments are hit and miss for me. But I love Crow’s Scream Skull gag.
I give the episode 2 green balls of clay out of five.
Check out my blog for a full review: romansreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/screaming-skull-mst3k-review.html
After reading all the comments I want to use this as an example for fans who hate one or another episode. Yeah this film is hard like trying to swallow a whole walnut. But add in the great short, the riffs and the host segments and now you got a delicious brownie dripping with chocolate and walnuts…….oh boy lets dig in …. ;-)
Eh. In my horror geek opinion, horror movies don’t have to make sense. Plausibility doesn’t hurt, of course, but it’s a lot to ask from a genre that features werewolves, zombies and other patently unscientific mythologies. It’s more an exploration of irrational fear, dream imagery, the mysteries of the unconscious mind and, ideally, sex and violence. Horror fantasy. The Italians were particularly aware of this. Anyway, 90% of horror movies are just completely idiotic. It’s practically a given.
I watched most of The Screaming Skull un-cut when it was shown on Svengoolie last year. This is possibly the most scratched up film ever. The stuff that is cut in the MST3K version looks even worse than what is left in.
I give this episode 4 stars. The movie is dreary, but Mike and the ‘Bots do a good job with it. The Gumby Short and host segments keep the energy going in this episode, making it hard not to like.
Fave. riffs:
1. Mike: “Clay figures go home.” As the robot is painting the side of the house.”
2. Tom Servo: “Crackers? Wow! Maybe we can have white rice later.” (Honestly, was Art Clokey just trying to be different or was Mrs. Gumby so poor as to not be able to afford cookies?)
3. When Jenny holds her book, “Advanced face pinching.” “Well, I better start rubbing lemons on my body.” (I have no real-world reference for them, but I still laugh the mention of old-fashioned beauty techniques.)
Favorites:
–Eric, in his suit, attempts a very brief skip/frolic on the way to the house with Jenni after exiting the Mercedes, prompting Mike to utter a deep-voiced, monotone, “whee”.
–During Eric’s droning exposition to Jenni after carrying her over the threshold into the dreary-looking empty house, Crow asks, “Is he reading from a report?”. Once his explanation was finally over, Mike as Eric declares, “…and so ends my narration”.
–Mike and the bots help Reverend Snow answer Jenni as to how Eric’s first wife died, one of them coming from Crow: “Well, a lion jumped out and shot her. At least that’s what Eric says”.
–Mike, as he’s hilariously done before, forces one of the actors (in this case, the matter-of-fact-speaking Reverend Snow) to overreact toward a perfectly civil question with, “so lay off!!”
–The “windblown” tree slapping the window during Jenni’s lengthy “tension-filled” wondering segment. Mike as the tree pleads like a little kid, “Can I come in? It’s scary out here!”.
— My favorite of the whole movie: Crow, as Mrs. Snow comforts Jenni, “Shhhh. It’s okay. Uncle Lady is here. Shhhhhh. It’s Uncle Lady”.
Sorry. Left one out: “Bugs Bunny sneaking-up music”.
“Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen!”
The “scary tuba music” is the 13th-century version of the Dies Irae, incompetently arranged and performed.
I remember the Simpsons later had a horror movie supposedly so shocking that it’d been sealed in a vault for decades, and the drive-in theater (they still had drive-ins in the late 90s?) promised a life insurance policy with every popcorn purchase during the showing. I thought at the time it was a reference specifically to this movie, but apparently this wasn’t uncommon in the 50s and 60s.
I always like it when the riffers just get so frustrated that they start snapping at the movie. It probably would have gotten old if they’d done it more often, but they didn’t abuse it, and it worked.
I agree that Mickey is definitely Torgoesque, but the main difference between them is that Mickey is more childlike and innocent while Torgo…well, we all know what Torgo’s problem is.
What gets me is the thundering gullibility of Reverend and Mrs. Snow. A close friend of theirs dies mysteriously, and her widower gets re-hitched post-haste to a nervous gal who just happens (like wife #1) to be loaded. And then they’re surprised when he tries to kill wife #2. One quote from Mrs. Snow illustrated this: “Why would Eric do such a thing?” Hmmmmmm.
I’m surprised the movie only takes place over a couple of days. I’d always thought it was longer than that. Boy, that marriage tanked quick. Eric sure didn’t waste his time trying to off Jenny. A *smart* criminal might have waited…oh, at least a week to murder his spouse for the inheritance. But then, given the stupidity of the people around him, maybe he figured he didn’t have to wait that long.
As for the plot, I always thought it was implied that while Eric was placing the skulls around to drive Jenny insane, the other shenanigans (non-peacock screaming, the beekeeping running back) was all ghost-related. Though why they couldn’t have put a woman in that outfit instead of an obviously burly man, I’ll never know.
And of course, the plot was hilarious. I agree about wishing they’d do more shorts. I *think*, when Gumby’s mom offered him crackers and milk, she meant graham crackers, which go pretty well with milk.
Finally, Gumby’s parents may practice tough love, but when your schemes end up with Dad landing crotch-first on the roof, it’s probably needed.
Fave riffs:
“Give her your paw, Mickey, that’s a good boy.”
“Man, that’s a power bra. Underwires, overwires…”
“It’s a fair-to-partly cottony day today.”
“I’ll give you something to scream about, young skull!”
I like the score, though. Especially the part where she’s wandering through the house at night. I don’t know how to describe it but like an eerie somber star trekky chorus. I can’t imagine how agonizingly uninteresting that scene would be without the riffing *and* the music.
#83:
I agree that Mickey is definitely Torgoesque, but the main difference between them is that Mickey is more childlike and innocent while Torgo…well, we all know what Torgo’s problem is.
Do we? Torgo’s mission was to “take care of the place while the Master is away.” This is also Mickey’s task in the late Marian’s garden. Do his efforts here insure her an eternal resting place? Upon rewatch I think Jenni’s offering of flowers to the grave of Marian ensures her blessing. Additionally, once Mickey senses the living woman’s sincerity, he sides with her, watching the house at night not as a threat but as a defense. The burning of the self-portrait was the final straw. In the end, I submit that it was the land itself, the grounds, which, with Mickey’s guiding hand, re-animated the dead wife’s spirit to wreak revenge upon her treacherous husband.
After Mickey’s triumph in landscaping magic here, I see him relocating to New Mexico, developing goat-legs, then moving onward… eventually becoming Torgo.
#82 Yes, This Guy, they still had drive-ins back then, and some are still around today!
One word: PAAARTY!
The Gumby short is classic (you’re really slacking off on the houseshaking there Ron) and as dreary as the movie is I find it very watchable, it doesn’t bore me. So I rate this an overall solid episode. The ‘crossdressing beekeeper’ line (not gay as one person put it) is a spot-on riff, a CDing acquaintance agrees with me on that. I’d better go rotate the hostages… and the peacocks are apparently machining tools in the back yard :???:
#83 But we don’t see Mickey pawing Jenny awkwardly and declaring her as “his wife now.” That’s the difference I was talking about. The perviness. Pervertedness? Pervosity? If Mickey eventually turns into Torgo, he was probably molested by a carnie somewhere along the way.
And with that mental image, good night!
This episode is so… hard for me. I love the short, and I love some of the host segments (Tom trying to scam a coffin, Mike carefully choosing which golf club to use while continuously screaming, the phrase “For the love of God, put on your penguin costumes!”), but the movie itself is just so dry after its sub-Castle opening. Still, there’s some funny stuff (especially with Jenny’s “sexy” negligee and the clueless neighbors). On the whole, though, it’s the short & segments that keep it afloat.
Favorite lines from the short: “You can throw things through Dad? I’ll get an anvil!” and “Davey & Goliath are moving in next door – there goes the neighborhood.”
Favorites from the movie: “And then a lion jumped out and shot her.” and “Van Gogh’s ‘HOOOOOWWWDY!'”
I think I can go with Mickey as sort of an ur-Torgo. He may not be at Torgo’s level of disturbed just yet, but Mickey could be well on his way.
If this isn’t a classic episode, it’s still one that I’ve always found consistantly watchable even though it shouldn’t be. The skits and short are tremendous, while they get nice and vicious at times with this drawn-out movie. And hey, this kind of hokey supernatural revenge flick is a laugh on its own.
The little “he shot her” comments during the Rev’s attempt to explain what happened to the first wife reminded me pleasingly of Tom’s “she died” riffing in Girl’s Town.
Adlerian Therapy-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Adlerian_psychology
Peggy Sue Turnpike and I give this ep 5 stars.
Very well rounded.. Short and Movie, Riffs and Host Segments.
Short Question: Is this is the only fiction short that was not part of a serial or series ? We could have had more of those, it works really well, and not just because their were bots in it.
That must have been an XXXL gorilla mask to fit over Kevin and his own gorilla make-up.
The bots’ therapeutic lumps bit is almost too good, it transcends the rest of the show in its intensity. Those guys were channeling some hurt.
I am surprised that nobody mentioned Tormented before cornjob @ 74. SS is really a companion piece to that one. Very similar films in tone mood look plot.
Yes, Hubby was gas-lighting Wife2. BUT there REALLY was supernatural goings on at the same time. ( just because someone is pretending to be a ghost doesn’t mean that the house is NOT haunted ).
The film-maker is clever or perhaps unfair towards the end in anti-telegraphing this , when the specter of Wife1 runs down the garden path and very clearly looks like a man in a dress ( and the crew riffs on that fact ).
Though I guess there is an outside Hey Mickey might have been gas-lighting the hubby at the same time, but within the reality of the film, ghosts are real and the house is haunted.
( I am reading the source story linked to by JoBebu @ 13. cool & thx. )
FarBar @72, my thoughts exactly, and yesterday was Tiger’s first day back in competition, same day we start discussing this ep… spooooky.
Mickey and Torgo : The physical resemblance is notable, but they’re only superficially similar. Torgo is sick and evil. Mickey is merely a special needs case. And the crew didn’t let the fact that they knew Mickey was not the villain stop them from mercilessly ragging on him up and down the entire film.
Yup, this one is right up my street. Older, low budget, but still mainstream, thriller with odd characters and poor dialogue with plenty of room to riff in.
Gorn Captain #68: Shout Factory should include a Crow Skull replica when this finally makes it into a future DVD set.
Screaming Skull was already released in one of the Rhino sets (can’t recall which one right off).
SiDu @95. It’s not listed in the DVD section here and it’s currently available from DAP ( they are religious about respecting the rhino-shout releases ).
This is one of my all-time favorites. Of course, I was a fan of the Universal flicks that dominated the first third of Season Eight, so take my opinion for what you will.
I think the riffing is great, and the movie offers so much to work with — flat, undeveloped characters, a weak premise and a porr execution of what could have been a passable cheesy horror film.
Some favorite moments:
— The screen brightens dramatcially during one of Eric’s monologues, prompting M&TB to pantomime melting.
— The whole explanation of the death Eric’s first wife. “And then she got dead.”
— Any of the invented dialogue for Rev. Snow. “The gospel speaks of losers like you.”
— Servo proposes the gang follow in true ’50s tradition and start necking midway through the film.
I’ve seen this ep close to a dozen times, and it never gets old for me.
“I do agree that all the Futurama movies are dreary and obscure.”
That’s too bad, because they’re actually enjoyable and rather well-known. That’s why Comedy Central is producing a fifth season of the show. ;-)
And are they also in the habit of referring to *themselves?*
@ #71
WHEW!!!!! Thanks, honey……. ;-)
Sitting Duck says:
April 9, 2010 at 8:32 am
“Gorn Captain #68: Shout Factory should include a Crow Skull replica when this finally makes it into a future DVD set.
Screaming Skull was already released in one of the Rhino sets (can’t recall which one right off).”
The Screaming Skull episode was never released by Rhino.