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.

Scared to Death (1947) ** (out of 4)A dead woman (Molly Lamont) is laid out at the morgue and then tells us how she ended up there. Through flashbacks we learn about a strange doctor (George Zucco), a nutty detective (Nat Pendleton) and a mysterious man (Bela Lugosi) and his dwarf assistant (Angelo Rossitto),SCARED TO DEATH is best remembered today for being the only color film to star Lugosi. That's not 100% true since he appeared in a 1930 film that was in color but I believe the color version is lost. He was also in a WWII short that was in color but if you're wanting lead material Lugosi in color then this here is it. Sadly the film itself really isn't all that good, although there are a few interesting moments they just never really come together.The biggest problem with the film is that it really doesn't make too much sense. I've seen the movie several times in my life and its story just never really played out too well and it seems that everything was just thrown together to get to a conclusion. Another problem is that the idea of a corpse telling us their story just doesn't make much sense either and especially since there's so much here that the corpse, when alive, wouldn't have known about. Perhaps that's putting too much logic into a B movie?The one saving grace is the good cast, which includes Lugosi getting to play it up. I must admit that it's pretty neat getting to see him in color and I'll also add that his persona just doesn't seem as good as it does in B&W. I don't know, there's just something about Lugosi that screams for B&W. He has some good moments with dwarf Rossitto; the two had previously worked together in THE CORPSE VANISHES. I also liked Zucco and Pendleton but neither one gives too much of an effort.Another major problem with the film is that the "victim" is so hated that you really don't care what happened to her as you're happy that it happened. This works against the picture but if you're a fan of the cast then SCARED TO DEATH is still worth watching.

Don't be confused by the vivid color in this deliciously silly thriller with tons of comedy-both intentional and accidental. This actually was photographed in a process known as "Tru Color". This is the type of film that Mystery Science Theater used to depend on to ridicule, so wonderfully preposterous and poorly made that you might end up with an eternal grin that freezes from viewing the absurdity, that is if your eyeballs don't end up in the back of your head for rolling them too hard. Horror greats George Zucco and Bela Lugosi are enemy cousins, tossed together here like Lugosi and Boris Karloff in "The Black Cat" to toss barbs over an old vendetta that is never explained. Zucco's son (Roland Varno) is married to extremely nasty Molly Lamont who is being haunted by a mysterious person in a green mask whose image keeps appearing in the window in an attempt to frighten her.Comedy relief is provided by the bumbling Nat Pendleton who is in love with the sarcastic maid (Gladys Blake). Others present include diminutive Angelo Rossito as Lugosi's companion, Douglas Fowley as an obnoxious reporter, and Joyce Compton as his girlfriend, and the sudden appearance of an obvious man in drag looking like something out of "Glen or Glenda". The film is narrated by Lamont's corpse, already dead as the film starts, giving the impression that a dead body's brain can still think. The narration is intertwined with extremely wretched editing and eerie music that pops up every time her corpse is shown. The conclusion is hardly worth waiting for. Enjoy it purely as fun crap with plenty of moments to laugh at, not with.

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.