Scared To Death (1980)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Film: C-
The William Malone Alien knock-off Scared To
Death (1980) has been issued on DVD to capitalize on the latest spat of
DVDs form the original series, and that Malone recently remade (and trashed in
the process) House On Haunted Hill.
John Stinton, Diana Davison and Pamela Bowman are among the leads that
have barely two-dimensional characters to play. Additionally, one would usually root for the killer in these
films, but the rubber suit the actor wears when he is the monster is too
laughable to be believed.
It gives you new respect for the designers of H.R. Giger’s
creation come to life in Ridley Scott’s classic, then a piece of Brian De
Palma’s Carrie (1976) and lame police drama and genetic engineering
subplots are added. The result is a
laughable mess, which makes one realize why this film was forgotten to begin
with. It is only valuable to see how ahead
of everything Alien was, especially after so many rip-offs and even
sequels.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is from an old analog master
of the film and has serious detail and color trouble, including Video Black
limits. Lack of monochrome range turns
“suspense” scenes muddy, though that would not save the film. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is a few
generations down and noisy. There is a
healthy choice of trailers for other product from the Substance Video label,
but many of them look less ambitious than this.
- Nicholas Sheffo