a_chinn Bela Lugosi in color! Lugosi's only color film is a terrible film, but ever since Martin Landau's touching performance as Lugosi in "Ed Wood," I can't help but read into these terrible Lugosi film a kind of tragic subtext. Here's a great actor hobbled by addiction having to waste his talents in embarrassingly bad low budget horror films that capitalize on his early career successes. The story here follows a young woman who's been murdered and who then recounts the events leading up to her demise, which involve a creepy hypnotist, Lugosi, and his loyal dwarf man-servant, Angelo Rossitto of "Freaks" fame who himself was a talented actor hobbled by typecasting. Besides Lugosi and Rossitto, there's also Nat Pendleton, who's not a famous actor, but who's face and voice any classic film fan will recognize. Overall, this film isn't as bad an an Edward D. Wood Jr. production, but it doesn't seem that far off.

utgard14 Bela Lugosi's only starring role in a color film is a curious thriller that's notable primarily for the novelty that it is narrated by a corpse! Yes, the movie starts out in a morgue where we see a dead woman lying on a slab. She then begins to narrate the story of how she came to meet her end, which we see through a series of flashbacks. Lugosi is having such a great time with this, for reasons we'll probably never understand. He's certainly played better parts. Fellow genre legend George Zucco plays the whole thing straight, which is to his credit as a professional but doesn't exactly help with the limited comedy value the film has. Leading lady Molly Lamont is pretty over the top. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's grating. The rest of the cast includes Nat Pendleton, Douglas Fowley, Gladys Blake, Roland Varno, and Angelo Rossitto (Lugosi's midget sidekick). It's not a good movie. The script is peppered with corny dialogue and the actors range from bored to mugging for the camera. The comic relief from Pendleton and Blake works better than the thriller elements. The sets are cheap and the color really just works against the film. Had it been in black & white, there might have been a little more atmosphere to work with. Also, the cuts between the flashbacks are choppy with obtrusive Theremin music that doesn't achieve what I think it was supposed to achieve. It's worth a look for fans of Lugosi and Zucco, or just those who enjoy bad B movies. Everyone else will be bored out of their minds.

greatpoop1 Scared to death is about a dead woman that tells the story of how she came to her demise. At the beginning the woman is laying dead on a morgue table. The dead woman then proceeds to narrate her story. In the story the woman feels she is held prisoner, from an event of her past. Through out the film the woman is presented with a dummy head. Hypnotized servants and a house full of characters, trying to calm the poor woman. Meanwhile, a figure in a green mask is stalking about the premises. The woman continues to narrate through flash back scenarios. Until she reaches her demise of being scared to death. This movie might not have gotten great ratings, but I feel it doesn't get enough credit. I mean come on what do you expect for a low budget b movie. I thought the atmosphere of the film was good, with the classic coloring of the film. Also, it had nice mystery feel to it. Its also the first and I believe the only time you see Bela Lugosi in color. If you take the film as a horror movie you will be disappointed. As there are really no horror elements what so ever. But if you take it as a good low budget mystery film it really delivers. I suggest if you happen to find this film take the time to watch it. It's not very long, but I found it to be quite enjoyable. I give Scared to Death a 6 out of 10.

Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki 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.