Scared to Death

1980
R
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

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An ex-cop, now working as a hack novelist, is called out of retirement to help investigate a string of deaths that appear to be the work of a serial killer but soon are revealed to be the wo... Read allAn ex-cop, now working as a hack novelist, is called out of retirement to help investigate a string of deaths that appear to be the work of a serial killer but soon are revealed to be the work of the Syngenor - the synthesized genetic organism!An ex-cop, now working as a hack novelist, is called out of retirement to help investigate a string of deaths that appear to be the work of a serial killer but soon are revealed to be the work of the Syngenor - the synthesized genetic organism!

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.2/10

1.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins

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Trailer 1:31

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Trivia
Director William Malone had to sell most of his possessions (including his car and mortgaging his house) in order to raise enough money to make the movie.

Crazy credits
[Before the film commences, this is placed across the screen] PROLOGUE: The events portrayed in the film, although fictional, are based on scientific fact. If they have not already happened, they soon could. Genetic engineering is real, and soon we may all have to deal with new values and definitions for life and death.

Alternate versions
A TV print that aired on USA Network included a scene not included on Media's VHS: a group of teens searching for their lost friend in a parking garage find her body hanging upside down much like a scene in Halloween (1978).

Connections
Featured in Working with a Master: William Malone (2006)

User reviews23

Review

Featured review

Minor monster movie

My review was written in December 1982 after a screening at Lyric theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

Made during the horror production boom of 1980, "Scared to Death" is an unusual amalgam of the standard Earthbound killer on the rampage format with many elements lifted from the sci-fi hit "Alien". Never trade-screened, this thriller has already played off and is reviewed here for the record. Picture is unrelated to Ovidio Assonitis's "Scared to Death", aka "There Was Once a Child", also shot in 1980.

Monster on the loose in L. A. is a synthesized genetic organism, known as the Syngenor, the result of a genetic engineering experiment. While local police are searching for a maniac, it is the real killer, using its long tongue to live off its victims' spinal fluid.

Picture works best in atmospheric chases through the storm sewers, a favorite haunt of monsters dating back to "Them" and "The Snow Creature" in the early 1950s. Filmmaker William Malone's self-designed creature is effective when glimpsed briefly, but looks like a man in a rubber suit when shown too fully in the final reels. Besides the careful "Alien" imitation regarding the monster's appearances and attacks, pic's climax for dealing with the beast is taken from "The Fly".

Cast is okay, though little interest is created during the sluggish non-horror scenes. Credits are below par, with an adequate blowup from 16mm.