Scared to Death

a little bit confusing but a watchable and fairly entertaining flick that is well directed and has an interesting story the acting is decent Bela Lugosi gives one of his very very rare weak performances still he was okay overall but he has done much better and his presence was always felt as well. George Zuccio is good here as the doctor he is likable and played it straight Nat Pendleton is really funny and amusing here as the dummy he had me laughing several times i loved him! Molly Lamont does well in her role as she plays a grumpy mean hearted person and she does it well! Joyce Compton i couldn't stand i wanted to slap her silly!! i know she is supposed to but she totally over did it! Gladys Blake is very amusing in her role as the maid and was one of the most likable as well she has some funny lines too.Roland Varno does his job well not much of a part though Douglas Fowley plays the nosy reporter well but at times was irritating.Overall a fairly entertaining flick one of Bela Lugosi's rare weak performances (still not bad though) that is worth the watch **1/2 out of 5

I do admit to someone not into classic films this movie will seem boring and it is in fact not on the same level as the greats of this time period but it does have endearing qualities. For one as others have mentioned Lugosi and Zucco play solid roles. Second it does have good comic relief with the bungling ex detective and the ditzy fiancee of the reporter. Also I like the wide open ending where you are left wondering what exactly happened. Now it does have flaws also, the major one being switching back to the morgue ever few mins to have the woman on the slab tell you what is coming up next, a complete waste of film. But, All in all a decent movie for the time period.

This film is notable because it's the only color film Lugosi ever made.

The entire plot is very confusing (in the vein of "the Gorilla") and a lot of the "thrills" are done for their "creepy effect", without any real explanation for some of them.

Even so, the floating green mask at the window, secret panels, disembodied heads and other things provide an "undercurrent" of an eerie mystery.

It's also interesting that Zucco & Lugosi are in this film; to my knowledge, they never made another film together.

It's a difficult film to find, but see it if you have the chance!

Most of the reviews on IMDb for Scared to Death give it a good trashing. And, while I understand it has many flaws, I didn't find it to be as bad as some of the reviews would lead one to believe. Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind or something.

The basic story: A women is slowing being driven mad. So mad in fact, that by the end of the movie she is literally scared to death (I'm not giving anything away as the fact she is dead is presented in the first minute of the movie). She is presented with numerous images and circumstances that become too much for her to bear. There are several suspects - her husband, her father-in-law, the maid, her husband's mysterious uncle, the uncle's dwarf companion, or could it be someone else? But which one of the suspects is behind it? You'll have to watch to find out.

Scared to Death stars Bela Lugosi and George Zucco. Lugosi is obviously having fun. He seems to understand just how silly some of the situations are, yet he handles each as if it were life and death. Zucco, on the other hand, acts most of the film as if he would rather be someplace else. Very aloof. The rest of the cast does a decent job with the material they are given.

This is the only time I've ever seen Lugosi in color. The film is marketed as being his only color picture, although I'm not sure that's true. The color is very nicely used throughout the movie. Very vivid.

Some of the flaws in the movie: a little stagey at times, goofy dialogue, and it may prove slow to some. The biggest annoyance, however, is the way the story is told. It's presented in a series of flashbacks from the dead woman at the morgue. It gets old real quick. But for the most part, I was able to look past these weaknesses and have a good time.

One final note. I picked up the DVD for $5 from Alpha. This is one of the better Alpha DVDs I've seen. While there are a few spots and other picture flaws here and there, overall the picture quality is good. The sound (so often bad on older films) is above average. All in all, for $5, Scared to Death is a wonderful addition to my DVD library.

Norm thinks more of this turkey than I do. I found it inept in plotting, dialog, direction---well, everything. Lugosi tries, but the deck's stacked against him. Watch as Zucco takes the dead girl's pulse, lets go of her hand, and it hangs there for a second before dropping to the floor. Lines get flubbed but they go on anyway. Hear the corpse stick her two cents in periodically, while the same spooky chord plays every time. Okay, I've seen it, but the next time I watch it I'll have some liquored up friends over for some solid laughs.