by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden
In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s Scared to Death by writer/director Paul Boyd.
Synopsis
While working as a lowly production assistant a young opportunistic filmmaker, yearning to climb the Hollywood ladder, Jasper (Olivier Paris) seizes his chance to be a “real” director when he suggests to his cantankerous boss Max (Lin Shaye) that the crew and actors from their upcoming horror film attend a real séance led by self-proclaimed medium Felix (Bill Moseley) in an old haunted house for research. The place they choose is an abandoned children’s shelter that has been closed for 70 years since the mysterious murders of five children in 1942. Ominously, the orphans were discovered scared to death. Once the séance begins, the motley crew find themselves trapped inside the old house and haunted by the children . . . and something possibly worse.
The Good
Joseph: Scared to Death is an interesting work. Humorous at times but not enough for me to consider it a horror comedy — it reaches for chuckles rather than belly laughs — and broad but thankfully not enough to cross the line into being camp, it’s entertaining throughout, and leans toward being freaky more than scary. I feel that Boyd pulls off the balancing act quite well. The players are obviously having fun, with Shaye going for it as her director character earns the expletives that her cast and crew members use to describe her, Paris as the ambitious person who is the closest thing to a voice of reason within the group, Moseley having a blast chewing scenery, and a solid group of supporting cast members led by Kurt Deimer as “horror movie legend” The Grog, looking and sounding every bit a milder mannered version of pro wrestling legend Mark “The Undertaker” Calaway (stick around during the ending credits for a gallery of film posters featuring The Grog).
Mike: Director Paul Boyd walks a very fine line between comedy and horror with Scared to Death and manages to deliver a film with very few stumbles, never falling too far one way or the other. The humor is more situational and as a reaction to events in the film, never aiming for the “slapsticky” or over-the-top variety of laughs, while likewise, the horror is never too horrific and more of a “gateway” type (benevolent child ghosts, creepy - not scary - prosthetics and makeup work).
The actors are the drawing power here with Bill Moseley being the obvious one to watch, but far and away the best performance goes to Kurt Deimer who brings fictional horror legend “The Grog” to life. While there are some entertaining posters based on Grog’s filmography to enjoy during the credits, the true payoff would be an actual production of one of the many films of his that is name dropped.
The Bad
Joseph: As I mentioned in 'The Good,' Scared to Death walks a fine line between being a serious horror outing and a comedic one, without fully committing to either. Although the overall vibe of the film worked for me, viewers’ mileage may vary regarding that approach.
Mike: I’m not a huge fan of ghost or haunted house movies, so despite my best efforts I still had a bit of a bias going into Scared to Death, although my slight dislike for the sub-genre doesn’t factor in my ‘Bad’ thoughts. No, those are - ironically enough - the same thoughts I had as to what made the film ‘Good’. Boyd never leans far enough towards comedy or horror and as a result the film felt a bit hollow to me.
The Verdict
Joseph: Viewers in the mood for some chuckles with their chills should have an enjoyable time with Boyd’s amusing feature Scared to Death. Seasoned fright-fare fanatics won’t feel what the title suggests, but overall it’s a fun cinematic ride.
Mike: Scared to Death should serve as a good gateway to horror film for that significant other who’s never gotten into horror films because they’re too scary or too gross. Boyd does a good job at keeping one foot in the realm of horror while keeping the other toeing the comedy line (or maybe it’s the other way around) while the actors keep things interesting with some strong performances.
Now Boyd and Deimer just need to get to work on bringing us either a full length Grog feature or, better yet, a sizzle reel of some of his greatest hits!
Scared to Death
Directed By: Paul Boyd
Written By: Paul Boyd
Starring: Lin Shaye, Kurt Deimer, Bill Moseley, Olivier Paris, Rae Dawn Chong
Run Time: 1h 38m
Rating: NR
Release Date: August 11, 2024 (United States)
There was no trailer available at the time of this review
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