Bravo, writer/director Paul Boyd! Scared to Death is bold, brilliantly mixed, and a cunningly clever blending of The Haunting and Sleepy Hollow that’s so bloody good, frightening, and funny it’s bound for cult horror status.
Some folks will sell their souls to get into the movie business. And for our young, keen, and full-of-dreams aspiring filmmaker Jasper (Olivier Paris), well, he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel of his dignity, essentially lowering himself to the level of personal slave to that most illustrious of horror movie directors, Maxine “Max” Wolf (Lin Shaye), as she embarks on her next bloodcurdling opus, “Dead House.” Besides Jasper at her beck and call, Max has assembled a hot young cast, a capable scribe, and this picture’s resident Kane Hodder, Gregory “The Grog” Grogstone (Kurt Deimer), to headline it.
Attempting to impress his tyrannical director, Jasper shows his leadership capabilities by enlisting the help of an above-average medium, Felix Crust (Bill Moseley), who has a genuine haunted house for rent. Jasper’s idea of utilizing spirit-medium powers and an authentic location is stolen by Max in order to appease her method-acting-adhering leading lady. Jasper and Max clash over this, meeting in a duel of bitter words before an uneasy truce is met, and a séance, for educational purposes only, is on.
Thus, Jasper, Max, Felix, “Dead House” stars Lena Cooper (Victoria Konefal) and Johnny Fizz (B.J. Minor), the film-within-the-film’s grip, stoner Champ (Jade Chynoweth), and The Grog. The man behind hits like “The Grogfather,” making an appearance, was the sole reason for Felix giving up the goodies so cheap, being a lifelong fan of The Grog’s catalogue.
“Some folks will sell their souls to get into the movie business.”
Thus, the festivities slowly unfold at this abandoned site, formerly an orphanage in the 1940s, at which a group of children was discovered deceased. Felix proudly presents his guests with an ancient newspaper clipping with the heading “Scared to Death.” Creeped out yet undeterred, Jasper and Champ set up the filming equipment as the rest of the ensemble bicker and banter before Felix calls an opening to the proceedings.
The night that unfurls like the faint whispers of dead kids from behind the walls turns a research and development exercise into a night trapped in the company of a foreboding and omnipresent madman, who, Medusa-like, has the power to gaze into the eyes of those who see him and frighten the s**t out of them.
One by one, the movie crew members find themselves stuck between the suspicion that the whole evening’s paranormal activity could be a hoax and the supernatural strength of a dark presence that is not merely part of the secret that threatens the lives of all who enter the house but the heart of energy that powers this pesky poltergeist. The truth will be revealed, or the Dead House cast and crew’s fate shall be sealed, unless they meet the monster in the fight, survive until daylight, and not wind up getting scared to death!
Applause all around for genre stalwarts Shaye and Moseley, who never phone it in. Special mention to this reviewer’s personal favorite character, Greg “The Grog” Grogstone, Mr. Deimer, well done. Of course, Mr. Boyd, for his masterclass in brilliantly scripted contained horror/comedy, made all the more luminous when paired with the talented eye of Donnie Darko D.O.P. Steven Poster and the eerie and comical accompanying score of Misha Segal.
Scared to Death is made better because it is both meta and a milkshake of staple genre ingredients that, when you list them, you think, “These shouldn’t taste as good as they do,” but they do. So, even though that menacing ghostly voice will tell you to “GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!”, this reviewer highly recommends you hang around, because it’s a rare treat when the hair-raising and the hilarious get together for a good time.
For screening information, visit the Scared to Death official website.
"…the hair-raising and the hilarious get together for a good time."
