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Scared to Death

Play trailer Poster for Scared to Death R Released Dec 12, 1980 1h 35m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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A writer (John Stinson) and a coed (Toni Janotta) chase a synthetic genetic organism through the sewers of Los Angeles.

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Scared to Death

Critics Reviews

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Mark H. Harris Black Horror Movies I swear, at least 30 minutes of the running time is made up of extended scenes of victims just walking around in the dark, begging to be killed. Rated: 2/5 Aug 26, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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John C First of all, I know it's petty - but the title. We all know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, so you shouldn't base your opinion on a film's title. But 'Scared to Death' sounds more like some psychological horror or slasher film. It's not. It's a 'monster munching' movie, more akin to a (low budget!) 'Alien' rip-off. Anyway, there's a monster rampaging round an American city, murdering hapless extras and the police are baffled until a local private detective teams up with the obligatory love interest to save the day. There's not an awful lot to say about the film. As I mentioned, it's set on Earth, therefore there are no outstanding science fiction sets to speak of. The acting and dialogue is passable at best and there's really nothing you haven't seen before if you're a fan of the genre. I will mention I actually quite liked the creature itself. It reminded me of something out of the mind of HR Giger (who actually designed the xenomorph from 'Alien'), but it's ruined by budget constrains preventing it from being particularly well animated in its facial movements, making it end up like just a man in a rubber suit from a 70s 'Dr Who.' If you really want to watch yet another 'monster movie' then there are definitely worse. It's not offensively bad, but it's not great either, relying on long scenes of victims quietly walking around deserted places before ultimately meeting their doom. Even fast forwarding them until the kill itself made the film drag. Just watch 'Alien' or 'Species.' Oh, and there's a bit which made me laugh and think they ripped off 'The Terminator.' Then I realised this film was made four years before that classic. So, er, fair play to 'Scared to Death' for beating James Cameron to the punch on that one! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/26/25 Full Review Ian S B grader. can be watched with one eye open. A pretty dull affair with some awful acting. Not the absolute worst but on the way......... Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/23/25 Full Review Monsol E The only reason I got thru this, was I watched the Rifftrax version. A relatively cool looking monster is completely wasted on a movie that had no idea how characters, scenes, plots, or movies are supposed to be made. This isn't "so bad it's good", it's just unbearable on all fronts. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/19/23 Full Review Audience Member William Malone wanted to be a director and decided that a horror movie was the way to go. After all, he'd made monster masks at a factory so he could make the monster himself. And by that, I mean spend three months making an H.R. Giger clone. Then he sold his car, mortgaged his house and somehow got Rick Springfield to be in this, but he dropped out the night before shooting started, which feels like a total kayfabe story. This might seem like a slasher, but then you learn that the killer is drinking spinal fluid and this woman just shows up and says, "Oh, I worked at the lab where we made a creature named the Syngenor that lives off spine juice. And in case you wonder, the name means SYNthesized GENetic ORgansism." Yes, the very same Syngenor that Re-Animator villain David Gale goes absolutely full-on bonkers within. That's why when this movie was released to DVD, it got the new title Scared to Death: Syngenor. Malone would move on to make Creature, House on Haunted Hill, feardotcom and Parasomnia. If we let him make another movie, I really worry what the title will be. I have no idea who let him make a film again after feardotcom because not even my steady diet of Franco and Mattei could get me through that movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member The is low-budget horror trash. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member pfffffffffffffffff. ez mà (C)g nekem is sok volt, vagyis inkább kevà (C)s. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Scared to Death

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Movie Info

Synopsis A writer (John Stinson) and a coed (Toni Janotta) chase a synthetic genetic organism through the sewers of Los Angeles.
Director
William Malone
Producer
Gilbert M. Shilton, Rand Marlis
Screenwriter
William Malone
Distributor
Lone Star Pictures International
Production Co
Malone Productions Ltd.
Rating
R
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 12, 1980, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 1, 2017
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Surround
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