Scared to Death (1947)

The body of Laura Van Ee, a victim of a murder, is brought into a morgue to be autopsied. As the autopsy takes place, the corpse remembers back to the events that took place before she died. In her life, she was married in a loveless marriage to Ward Van Ee, the son of a doctor. One day, Professor Leonide, a master hypnotist, arrives at the mansion for a visit. He has information that implicates Laura in the dark secret that she had been carrying for years – she had betrayed her first husband to the Nazis for a tidy sum & she believed that he would take his revenge. As strange events begin to take place in the mansion, Laura's mental health begins to nosedive, prompting a former cop to try to solve the case.Not to be confused with the William Malone early 80s' monster flick of the same name, Scared to Death is a 1947 el cheapo thriller done that stars Bela Lugosi in what would ultimately be his only colour film (this would say a fair bit for the actor's career since this was in 1947, a decade before Lugosi would perform his last act in Ed Wood's classic trashfest Plan 9 From Outer Space & various B-graders of that era before that).Scared to Death is a comedy thriller that had an unusual premise – that of the story being narrated by a corpse (D.O.A. wouldn't come out for another three years) & essentially ruining the surprise for the viewer. The only kick is to see how she would bite the dust. As well as that, we get for the admission price various hi-jinks involving the local dumb cop trying to solve the case & Bela Lugosi doing his usual Dracula thing (although to be fair, Lugosi was a romantic actor by trade in his native Hungary before he rocketed to fame in Dracula in the early 1930s & does a good job here) dressed in his White Zombie outfit. The film drags out somewhat & fails to make a good thriller out of it, but it is quite funny at times & this humour makes a drag look almost appetising.

This is not Bela Lugosi's and George Zucco's best film but it does have some entertainment value there for the fans of Lugosi and/or Zucco - in fact, it may only be Lugosi and Zucco fans that may find some entertainment value in this "so bad it's good fun" flick.What's notable about the film is the fact it is Bela Lugosi's only movie in color. In the film we can clearly see his beautiful blue eyes - the same eyes that hypnotized audiences in "Dracula" and "White Zombie"."Scared to Death" is not a great film but I love the campiness. Lugosi looked as if he was having a good time filming this one - which adds to the pleasure of watching this bad film.The movie is not a complete drama. It's a dramedy (comedy-drama). The cop is there as a comic relief. You will hear the "cutesy" music in the comical parts of the film.The movie is really worth maybe 2 or 3 stars but I'm giving it a 6 out of 10 for the fact we can see Lugosi in color and the campy fun! 6/10

If Bela Lugosi weren't in "Scared to Death," I would probably have skipped it. As it is, the producers used the "Dracula" star simply as a red herring. He shows up at a doctor's office with a dwarf and lurks mysteriously in the shadows and shrubs. The action focuses on a girl named Laura who is married to the son of the doctor (George Zucco), but she acts like she is a hostage in the house. Most of everything that we learn about Laura occurs as a result of her memories of the past. What makes "Scared to Death" such an oddball opus is that Laura narrates the film from the slab of an autopsy room. Exactly why she undertakes this task is anybody's guess. Not surprisingly, she died--as we discover in the final quarter of the film because she saw a man who she believed was dead, shot by the Nazis. The final five minutes unloads a treasure trove of exposition and revelations that you are not prepared for during the previous 50 minutes. The story unfolds at the doctor's office as Professor Leonide shows up with his dwarf Indigo. Pay close attention to the first few minutes after the autopsy room. Lugosi is appropriately flamboyant while Zucco is all business. About half-way through the story, a wisecracking reporter, Terry, shows up with his future wife. Nat Pendleton is amusing as a cop who is no longer on the force. "Scared to Death" is a low-budget epic shot in color.

Hilarious Lugosi "horror", his only filmed in colour, begins at Central City Morgue with the two pathologists pompously philosophising about the dead girl's last thoughts before death. This segues into the main story, narrated by the corpse herself(!), about the events leading up to her demise, including some events that she was clearly not present for, so how could she narrate them to the audience? And, if she's at the morgue, dead, at the start of the film, needless to say the outcome holds no surprises.Various different film stocks were used, as well as various different lighting techniques (sometimes soft lighting; sometimes more harsh overhead lighting, which is occasionally visible at the top of the frame) Pure hilarity involving almost everything one can want from an old B-movie: corpses, severed "heads", midgets, and enough purple dialogue to rival Ed Wood's entire oeuvre (my favourite of Lugosi's lines has to be: "There is an air of inquiry about you that immediately offends my deepest nature! Something suggesting Scotland Yard, the French Sécurité, the Italian Carabinieri, the Turkish Polizi, and other minions of the law!") this is a sure bet for Lugosi fans and fans of old B-movies.