Scared to Death (1947)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good concept, poorly executed.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The corpse of a woman laying on the morgue slab tells of how she came to die—a tale of murder, mystery, a maniac in a mask, and a mischievous midget (played by Angelo Rossitto of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, who is technically a dwarf, but that wouldn't have suited my alliteration).Bored to Death would be the obvious way to summarise this creaky Bela Lugosi clunker, except that it isn't really THAT boring, merely extremely underwhelming. The film features many of the elements that go to make the 'old, dark house'-style comedy thriller genre so much fun (except that the house in question isn't dark, it's actually well lit), but it still fails to provide a good time thanks to a very convoluted plot that takes a long time to reach an inevitable conclusion (the title is a massive spoiler). The film also suffers from broad performances that border on the embarrassing (there's more ham on display than at the deli counter in Waitrose) and very little in the way of genuine scares or laughs.

Bela Lugosi's only starring role in a color film is a curious thriller that's notable primarily for the novelty that it is narrated by a corpse! Yes, the movie starts out in a morgue where we see a dead woman lying on a slab. She then begins to narrate the story of how she came to meet her end, which we see through a series of flashbacks. Lugosi is having such a great time with this, for reasons we'll probably never understand. He's certainly played better parts. Fellow genre legend George Zucco plays the whole thing straight, which is to his credit as a professional but doesn't exactly help with the limited comedy value the film has. Leading lady Molly Lamont is pretty over the top. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's grating. The rest of the cast includes Nat Pendleton, Douglas Fowley, Gladys Blake, Roland Varno, and Angelo Rossitto (Lugosi's midget sidekick). It's not a good movie. The script is peppered with corny dialogue and the actors range from bored to mugging for the camera. The comic relief from Pendleton and Blake works better than the thriller elements. The sets are cheap and the color really just works against the film. Had it been in black & white, there might have been a little more atmosphere to work with. Also, the cuts between the flashbacks are choppy with obtrusive Theremin music that doesn't achieve what I think it was supposed to achieve. It's worth a look for fans of Lugosi and Zucco, or just those who enjoy bad B movies. Everyone else will be bored out of their minds.

Ed Wood had Zero Money and Experience but Unbridled Enthusiasm and an Infectious Desire to Make Movies and Entertain People.What's this Guy's Excuse? The Movie is Shot in Color and Features George Zucco, Bela Lugosi, Nat Pendleton, and a Budget of all of Ed Wood's Movies Combined Times Ten. He had been in Films since, Believe it or Not, at the Beginning of the Silent Era with Over 160 Movies to His "Credit".But "Scared to Death" Seems so Clunky, Inept, and Just Plain Bad, that One Wonders if there was Any Direction At All for the "Product". The Cast Stands Around Most of the Time as the Camera Seems Nailed to the Floor. The Incomprehensible Script is Ridiculously Recited as the Lines are Delivered Out of Sync with the Other Actors and Out of Character Half the Time.The Story is Hard to Follow, the Costuming is Clumsy, the SFX Static and Reused Often. The Gimmick of a Dead Woman Narrating this Mystery Movie is the Only Thing that is Fresh, but the way it is Handled doesn't Work, not even a Little Bit.Overall, Recommended for Lugosi Cultists, Bad B-Movie Trashers, and the Novelty of Color for this Type of Thing but the Thing is a Thudding Dud.

This film doesn't know whether to take itself seriously as a low low budget skid row mystery or as a Three Stooges film short. The comedy is low brow, slow paced and gets old rather quickly. Be prepared to give more than the usual "willing suspension of disbelief" to get thru the Holland tunnel sized holes in the plot. The largest hole is the pivotal role of Rene. If you have a DVD reacquaint yourself with the "woman" who appears early on in the film in a mock attempt to "blackmail" George Zucco-then compare "her" to Rene when exposed at the end of the film. Are we really to believe that this actor was in drag in the earlier appearance? Heck no. And that is only one of the staggering bits of ineptness rampant in this film. The annoying reporter and his dimwit girlfriend only add more frustration to this mess. Notice how everybody talks about it but nobody ever calls the police-excepting when the reporter says, "In the morning when the police get here..." Don't know why the police don't come out at night-maybe they have banker's hours? A real turkey. Not even so-bad-it's good! Skip it.