Scared to Death (1947)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

Throughout his long career as a director of feature films, (William) Christy Cabanne racked up a whopping 166 pictures to his credit. Out of that 166, Scared To Death would be Cabanne's 161st production.And, you'd honestly think that at this point in his particular line of work this dude would've acquired some real skills and expertise as a proficient director. But, no, this doesn't seem to be the case with Cabanne.After having to endure this total garbage film's 67 plodding minutes, I rank Cabanne, without question, as being one of the absolute lousiest Hollywood directors of all-time, bar none.This picture is nothing but pure junk, produced by a truly incompetent amateur. I honestly can't see how the hell this guy's career as a director lasted, as it did, for more than 30 years.Yes. Indeed. Scared To Death is absolute bottom of the barrel entertainment that's about on par with a typical "Ed Wood" schlock production. The attempts at humour in the story were some of the lamest I've ever seen.P.S. - Director Christy Cabanne died in 1950 at the age of 62.

*Spoiler/plot- 1947, A story told in retrospective with life flashbacks of a morgue slab female's victim to how she was badly treated during her life. She is involved in some family drama while in an old creepy family rural estate. Her husband, her father-in-law (Zucco) and the unfriendly housekeeper are all suspect in seeking her demise and along comes her husband's visiting foreign uncle (Lugosi) with his weird dwarf assistant (Rossito). All these elements make for some mystery and drama on screen.*Special Stars- Douglas Fowley, George Zucco, Bela Lugosi, Nat Pendleton, Angel Rossito *Theme- Being rich and living in an rural mansion can be suicidal for you.*Based on- Pulp paperback murder mysteries *Trivia/location/goofs- The dwarf actor, Angelo Rossito and Nat Pendleton had long and varied acting careers with many feature films and worked until their deaths. Their careers are an interesting study in two different character actors versatility and longevity in modern Hollywood. Their careers are worth some investigation by real film buffs.*Emotion- An interesting film for it's plot use of retrospective, script writing work and character studies.

Much like an "Abbott and Costello meet ...Lugosi" type movie. Nat Pendleton's bizarre and irritating yet somehow endearing slapstick is a major part of the film. The reporter and maid are also rather irritating characters like you find in the old screwball comedies. The midget crawling all over is one of many zany touches, and false leads. Legosi is earnest in playing it straight, as always, and he gets some good lines off. It's a treat to see Lugosi in color.One thing that's irritating today is the (Theramin?) sound every time it flashes back from the body to what happened, because that sound was later appropriated as the "UFO" sound and is now so identified with them that it feels very wrong here.