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'Too Scared to Scream' was fairly interesting to me... worth a one time watch - kept me watching until the end. It's not what I would call a horrible film - but I would not call it a top-notch film either - mediocre.

Most of the people in this film are "odd" or "weird" - not just our prime suspect. The film does have a surprise ending (in it's way). So if you like crime-thrillers then you might like this film.

This is a 'slasher' film - but not in the stereo-typical way (you know, kids in the woods, no cops or terrible cops around, and a killer slashing away sex-crazed young adults - this film is NOT that way). This is a police detective film that is after a 'slasher'.

6/10

There's something curiously fascinating about the obscure and almost entirely forgotten mid-80s slasher entitled "Too Scared to Scream". In the blessed year 1985, director Tony Lo Bianco (primarily an actor and probably best known for his role as Lonely Hearts Murderer Ray Fernandez in "The Honeymoon Killers") seemingly attempted to make a mix of two specific exploitation sub-genres that were at the end of their glory days. I may just be imagining things, of course, but yours truly spotted in "Too Scared to Scream" a tribute to both the Italian Giallo and those typical New York 42nd Street Grindhouse trash flicks. The similarities with the Giallo are mainly to be found in the plotting department, as the film deals with a sadist killer who preferably slaughters lewd women when they are completely undressed and his/her favorite weapon is a giant butcher knife! There also are several (poor) attempts at plot twists, red herrings and even a surprise ending that is far-fetched and downright hilarious. As the icing on the cake, the investigation is led by a grumpy detective almost as misogynist as the culprit self. The link with the 42nd Street Grindhouse cinema obviously lies within the New York filming locations and its portrayal of the city. Very much like in modest classics such as "Maniac", "Ms. 45", "Night of the Juggler" and "The Exterminator", this film is like an anti-tourist campaign for the city of New York! Nothing you see here will ever make you want to go city-tripping in the Big Apple! The cast is full of unlikable people and many scenes play at raunchy, neon-lit districts. The horror action mostly takes place at a wannabe fancy hotel, the Royal Arms, where apparently unrelated residents turn up savagely murdered. The script desperately wants us to believe that the killer is the eccentric night porter / aspiring Broadway actor Vincent Hardwick, but I don't think anyone is gullible enough to believe he's the one. In spite of many flaws and too many boring parts, "Too Scared to Scream" is nonetheless enjoyable if you're a fan of eighties slashers and/or the above-mentioned exploitation sub-genres.

Purists or experts might disagree, but I believe "Too Scared To Scream" is an earnest attempt by the filmmakers to create an American version of the Italian "giallo" thrillers. Although the violence isn't particularly graphic, the film plays like a murder mystery in which you think you know who the murderer is, but you can't be sure until the last frame. It does have its flaws (some obvious red herrings, some ridiculous "fake scares"), but it offers a few tense moments, an unexpected (if far-fetched) conclusion, and good performances by most of the cast (especially by the man who plays the chief suspect). A good choice for mystery fans. (**)

Rating: *** out of five

Too Scared to Scream is actually a better slasher movie from the 1980's than many would expect. Mike Connors (from TV's Mannix) plays a police detective with his partner (Anne Archer, in one of her first major screen roles) who try and solve puzzling murders that are happening at a sky rise apartment building in New York. There are a few suspects including the apartment building's gentle, kind doorman (Ian McShane) who lives with his mute, paralyzed mother (Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Jane in the Tarzan films). Other suspects include a fashion designer (Sully Boyer), and countless persons in and around the building. The film has aged poorly, and the script could have used some more originally and maybe a larger budget since it was not picked up by a major distribution studio, but Tony Lo Bianco's solid direction and fine acting and special effects and suspenseful musical score make this film a tense shocker. Supporting actors include John Heard, Ruth Ford, Leon Issac Kennedy, Carrie Nye and even Murray Hamilton, who we remember as Mayor Vaughn in Jaws. Charles Azonvour sings the film's song "I'll Be There" in the opening sequence.

Tony Lo Bianco (more known for his acting, especially in one of my Larry Cohen favorites 'God Told Me too') directs a mechanically snug and customary stark urban-set murder mystery thriller that throws in a dose of gratuitous nudity and psychotic violence that also has it dipping in to the low-brow exploitative market. Nonetheless it still demonstrates a low-budget made-for-television feel (due to Bianco's plain, but enduring style), even though its brimming with a toughly rough grittiness brought across by its seamy backdrop. After being drowned out by a wretch song through the beginning credits (yep it's rather bad!), it actually gets better to cement an conundrum of mystery led by an convincingly collected, but dreary Ian McShane as the detective's chief suspect the doorman of the apartment building where the viciously random murders are occurring.

The problem here is that the material just paints him too obviously as a red herring to be the one, but the twist (and you know its coming) to who is the actual killer had me fooled (and it's an exaggeratedly ill-advised revelation that comes from nowhere and had me thinking of a late 80s slasher effort), as I had someone else in my sights as the culprit. The busy, pictorial layout has numerous character dramas (with even the police getting involved) and suspicious dabbling that can cause the lumpy pace to lull about at times with distracting details that don't really add anything and go on to undermine its attempts of consolidating tension. Not helping either was the constant use of false jumps and lead ups, which more often lead to the real one. It's the cryptic nature of the story along with the soberly first base performances by the likes of Mike Connors, Anne Archer, Leon Iassc Kennedy, John Heard, Val Avery, Carrie Nye and Phyllis Hyman in a colorful cameo that make-up for its wayward spells. However it opens up with lasting suspense in the dying stages, but the deaths for most part appear off-screen and those we do see are theatrically staged with sudden, but clunky force. The musical score is old-fashioned, but over-cooked which makes it hard to switch-off.

Not perfect, but this old-hat, stone-cold premise manages to truly hold you there for it's outrageous, if tatty final.

Well, the film is not that bad, I would give it a four. It has a few interesting scenes in it, and shows a lot of nudity to cover its low budget. Nothing great here, but watchable. It is like a Manix rerun, I would watch it out of boredom. In the end I give it a 4/10.

The title is complete BS. Every victim or near victim screams her head off, even the policewoman played by Anne Archer. This is NYC in the gritty, filthy 80's. Peep shows in Times Square, fashion models by day, call girls by night. Deranged doorman quoting Shakespeare, his mute mother a study in barely controlled terror. The acting is mediocre, as is the writing. Plus, a young and lovely Anne Archer, Minus, a past his prime Mike Connors. Plus, a couple of the model/call girls get naked. Minus, one of their dirty old man clients nearly naked in the sauna. Overall, not terrible, and certainly not good, but reasonably entertaining.

Great little 80s slacker flick with many nods to Psycho. No cheese so it may get a little dry at times for the standard slasher fanatic, but if you can stand a more serious type of horror, go for it. But make no mistake- this isn't art either.

Apart from two scenes of gratuitous nudity there's absolutely nothing to recommend here."Too Scared to Scream" is completely lifeless,dull and bloodless outing in the slasher genre.The acting is awful,the pace is extremely slow and the final motif of a knife-wielding killer is so painfully stupid that it has to be heard to be believed.Anne Archer in her first role is incredibly wooden,and there is almost no blood and gore to be seen here.So don't be fooled by other reviews-this is one of the worst,most boring slash'em all flicks I have ever seen.1 out of 10.You'll regret seeing this your all life!

If you are looking for a good horror movie, go away. If you are looking to be scared, again, go away. But if you are looking for a nice way to spend the afternoon with an OK, cliched, but somehow still enjoyable and charming crime story with unusually high amount of nudity, you will like this. It has everything you would expect, from cheesy scenes to genre staple old and experienced detective leading the investigation. I give it 6.5/10! I think it's an OK movie which I could watch again, if I by chance stumble upon it on TV... I recommend it for some casual fun :)

This TV-ish stalker flick has a few entertaining moments but is mostly marred by boring dialogue and useless scenes that don't mean anything. A gloved killer knocks off the rich and arty residents of a Manhattan skyrise bringing in a couple of detectives who suspect British poetically-charged doorman McShane who's mute, wheelchair bound mother reminds us of 'Psycho' a tad... The okay premise is wasted by misusing the setting and barely touching on the supporting characters resulting in a total lack of sympathy for anyone, and when the killer is finally revealed, it borders on prejudice... A little more imagination would have been nice.

By today's (2019) dubious standards this is an excellent slasher film with good acting, plausible attractive actors and pleasing backgrounds and environment. The people are well groomed adults. Not a gaggle of sloppily clad teens. Very good casting. Though a simple story line, it's not boring by any means. A relief to see an 80's movie with real people in an urban setting and a creepy psycho killer. Tony LoBianco's directing only enhances this thriller.

This film will leave you too bored to yawn. I gave it three stars for the always fabulous Yvonne Talton Kersey. Another half star for Victoria Bass's uh, assets. Other than that it is low grade trash. Mike Connors produced and gave himself a job - at our expense. Poor Maureen O'Sullivan looks embalmed. Anne Archer is awful as always.

Tony Lo Bianco directs this thriller mystery like a conventional television show, only he loads it with bloody violence and lots of nudity. The result isn't really that bad. The first three-fourths, in point of fact, are very engrossing as we tag along with cops Mike Connors and his "buddy" Anne Archer as they try to unravel the identity of a killer killing in the Royal Arms, a swanky hotel in New York City. The deaths seem to be unrelated, and the ways in which each is killed is horrifying. The prime suspect is the evening doorman Ian McShane. McShane gives a fantastic performance as a dour, reserved, yet mentally unstable man who still lives at home caring for his invalid mother(played by Maureen O'Sullivan). Images of Psycho will resonate as you watch, but the film is in no way a reproduction of that classic film. The film, however, starts to fall apart as the mystery is finally revealed and logic takes a holiday. Agatha Christie could not(and probably would not) have dreamed up an ending like this film has. But despite its illogical conclusion, the acting, direction, and script are tight enough through most of the film to be very entertaining.

Too Scared to Scream (1984) is a movie that I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a serial killer in New York. A detective recruits a young lady as bait to try and flush the killer and uncover his identity. The killer may not be who they think...

This movie is directed by Tony Lo Bianco (Kaz) in his major motion picture directorial debut and stars Mike Connors (The Ten Commandments), Anne Archer (Fatal Attraction), Ian McShane (Dead Wood), Leon Isaac Kennedy (Lone Wolf McQuade) and John Heard (Home Alone).

This movie has more of a "who done it" element to it than a traditional horror feel. This had a European feel to it in a lot of ways (even though it isn't)and is a "made for TV" slasher with a little too much chit chat and not enough kills. There is a washer machine scene that's fun but most of the kills are very average. Many of the sequences and elements are dated. There is some 80s nudity and some classic horror music.

Overall, this is a very average to below average addition to the horror genre that I would recommend skipping. I would score this a 4/10.

The title was intriguing so we decided to give it a go. Sadly, as soon as it started we could see it was cheaply-produced and further viewing showed it to be not very good. It was rather cliched even for its time and it was one of those films which looked as though it may have been made with TV in mind rather than a cinema release. Ian McShane as the 'mummy's boy' was a typical thriller trope and it was left to the police officers to inject some much-needed life into the proceedings. To be honest in the end it was quite a relief to see the final credits roll and we won't be recommending this film to our friends.

Everyone in the building loves Vincent (Ian McShane), the doorman, and the ladies in this plush apartment building is vying for his attention. He is handsome and charming. Something one of the characters said in the beginning of the film made me wonder about something that was confirmed later. (See if you can pay close attention.) He does seem psychologically unstable, though, especially when he is with his mother, who is wheelchair bound.

When a young model is murdered in her apartment, it is up to Lt. Alex Dinardo (Mike Connors) to piece together the puzzle and find the culprit. He is assisted by Kate Bridges (Anne Archer). When there are more murders, Kate goes undercover to lure the perpetrator.

Being an 80s slasher movie, you're guaranteed to see boobs. Yup, plenty female nudity to live up to the 80's sexploitation. The kill scenes were not as brutal as many of the 80s slashers and 'Too Scared To Scream' is more of a whodunit murder mystery thriller. There are subtle humour, which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Alex and Kate (and thought Anne Archer was very good in her role).

There's an interesting twist of events in the final reveal, which I never expected. In general the movie was a nice surprise and I liked it. I just don't think I'm going to remember the film by its title.

TOO SCARED TO SCREAM is a little-known but enjoyable slasher picture from 1984 with an uneven provenance. Originally conceived of as a TV movie in the Hitchcock mould, it ended up having extra nudity and violence added to make it suitable for cinematic release as an R-rated slasher, and the end result is both refreshingly gritty and mildly tense.

The story is set in an apartment block plagued by the usual murders of nubile and usually naked women. The list of suspects is varied, centring on Shakespeare-quoting doorman Ian McShane, who spends his spare time caring for his wheelchair-bound mother Maureen O'Sullivan (the original Jane to Johnny Weismuller's Tarzan!). The cast is populated by plenty of other familiar faces like Mike Connors and Murray Hamilton, and the whole thing has a good psychological angle that reminded me of the classic days of the 1960s-era psycho-thrillers. The ending is particularly exciting. Fun stuff!

This early 80's slasheresque movie is pretty bad really, but I kind of liked it for some reason. It involves a number of murders in a swanky high rise building. The killings are investigated by a male and female cop, and the main suspect is the reddest herring imaginable--a doorman and aspiring way off-Broadway actor. There is some blood, a lot of gratuitous nudity, and that sleazy urban ambiance of the early 80's also featured in movies like "Eyes of a Stranger", "Windows", as well as genuinely disturbing flicks like "Maniac" and "Nightmare in a Damaged Brain". It was one of the last of the gritty, downbeat 70's style exploitation flicks before the happy fascism of the Reagan era and before Rudy Guliani turned 42nd Street into Disneyland.

The movie was directed by obscure cult actor Tony LoBianca who appeared in "The Honeymoon Killers" and "God Told Me To". He never directed another movie, and I'm not sure how he ever came to direct this one. The female lead is Anne Archer, who was later in "Fatal Attraction" (and I'd rather watch this movie any day than that overrated and reactionary piece of crap). It's pretty hard to find (I bought a used PAL video in Buenos Aires for about 30 cents I think), but not a COMPLETE waste of time if you stumble across it.

It's the Intriguing Cast that Keeps this Miss-Fire from Actor Turned Director Tony Lo Bianco's Attempt at a Slasher-Giallo Hybrid.

Here is Mike "Touch' Conners as a Geriatric "Mannix" Type Cop in the Big-Apple with Anne Archer His Female Partner, and Ian McShane as a "Doorman" in a Luxury Apt. Building the Prime Suspect, Maureen O' Sullivan as McShane's Mute-Wheel-Chair-Bound Mother with Leon Issac Kennedy as a Suspect, and a Cameo from John Herd.

The Problem is Bianco's Complete Lack of Style. Straight-Forward Sets and Locations Show No Pizazz of Atmosphere and the "Killings" for the Most Part are Pedestrian, Dull, and Without an Edge.

It's as Entertaining as a Weekly TV-Cop-Show with some Brief Nudity and Blood Sprinkled Around to Distance Itself from the "Tube".

Overall it's a Minor Failure and Disappointment but,

For Fans of the Actors and Giallo/Slasher Completest its...

Worth a Watch.

Mike Connors stars as Lt. Alex Dinardo, who is brought in to investigate the murder of a prostitute in a high rise apartment building. Not too surprisingly, this is only the first in a series of killings.

TOO SCARED TO SCREAM is an effective horror-thriller / crime drama, loaded with action and several suspects / red herrings to sort through. Mr. Connors is in his glory, playing Dinardo like he played Mannix in his TV days. He's a hard-boiled, no nonsense cop, out to solve the case. Ann Archer plays Dinardo's fellow cop, Kate. She's really good.

This movie has some nice giallo-like touches and the ending is a twisty grabber!...