SCARED TO DEATH ’80s monster movie – free on Hoopla, Tubi and YouTube

‘If you’re frightened by the unknown… wait ’till you face reality!’
Scared to Death is a 1980 sci-fi horror about apparent serial killings which turn out to be caused by the Syngenor – a synthesized genetic organism.

The movie written and directed by William Malone (previously chief designer at the Don Post mask studio), based on a storyline co-written with Robert Short (The Scream Team).

The Lone Star Pictures production stars John Stinson, Diana Davidson, David Moses and Toni Jannotta.

In 1990, a belated sequel titled Syngenor was released. Malone has also directed Creature aka Titan Find; House on Haunted Hill (1999) and Parasomnia.

Plot:
A monster stalks Los Angeles as a Bio-Engineered creature called a Syngenor (which stands for SYNthesized GENetic ORgansism) takes refuge in the city’s sewer system and then hits the streets at night in search of human spinal fluid…

“Most of the acting and dialogue is terrible and one can certainly do without all the “homages” to well-known names in the genre […] Still, the killings here are inventive and nasty, and that silver-eyed monster is scary enough to warrant a sequel.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1980s book

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“I can imagine that some will have a problem with the pacing which is kinda slow but I liked it. The sewer setting is pretty creepy and claustrophobic. The violence is lame and there’s no gore in this. The creature FX design is cool and I love that it’s a man in suit design.” Independent Flicks

Filming locations:
Los Angeles, California

Technical credits:
1 hour 36 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1

Budget:
$74,000

Alternate titles:
Originally known as The Aberdeen Experiment and also released as Scared to Death: Syngenor 

Release:
Scared to Death premiered at the Paris Festival of Fantastic Films in November 1980. It was released theatrically in the USA in March 1981.

In the UK, the film was passed uncut by the BBFC censorship body with an ‘X’ certificate and a running time of 87m 25s on 21 May 1981.

Vinegar Syndrome released the film on Blu-ray scanned in 4K from the original negative on July 26, 2022.

Trailer:

Free to watch on YouTube:

Related:
Syngenor (1990)

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