Scared to Death (1981 film)
Encyclopedia
Scared to Death, also known as The Aberdeen Experiment and Scared to Death: Syngenor, is a 1981 B
horror
/science fiction
film directed by William Malone
.
in the lead role. Springfield however called up Malone the night before filming began saying he could not be in his film because he was going to miss too many acting classes. Malone then called up actor John Stinson whom he remembered from an improv class and begged him to be in the film, to which he agreed. Filming began in February 1979 and the shoot lasted a total of 4 weeks, a rather long time for a low budget film.
After filming Lone Star Pictures, a Texas based company, picked up distribution of the film and wanted the premier to be in Texas. Director William Malone agreed and flew to Texas only to be shocked that the premier was actually at a Drive-In theater. After the premier the first sale for the picture was to Malaysia for $90,000. They were already making a profit since the film only cost $74,000 to make.
by Media Home Entertainment
in the 1980s.
The film was released on DVD
by Retromedia Entertainment in 2010. The title on the box art was changed to Scared to Death: Syngenor to show a connection to the film's 1990 sequel Syngenor
.
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film directed by William Malone
William Malone (director)
William Malone is an American horror filmmaker who directed such films as the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill, Scared to Death and FeardotCom.-History:...
.
Synopsis
A monster stalks Los Angeles as a Bio-Engineered creature called a Syngenor (which stands for SYNthesized GENetic ORgansism) takes refuge in in the cities sewer system and then hits the streets at night in search of human spinal fluid.Production
Wanting to become a director, William Malone decided to make a monster movie because it was the type of film one could get a lot of production value for very little money. He also had experience with monster designs as he had previously worked as a designer at a Halloween mask factory so he knew he could design the monster himself. In order to raise enough money for the film Malone had to sell most of his personal belongings including his car and mortgaging his house. After raising enough money he began building and sculpting the monster suit. Being inspired by H.R. Giger's design from the movie "Alien" he took 3 months to build the suit. During this process Malone began casting the film and surprisingly he originally cast actor/pop star Rick SpringfieldRick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...
in the lead role. Springfield however called up Malone the night before filming began saying he could not be in his film because he was going to miss too many acting classes. Malone then called up actor John Stinson whom he remembered from an improv class and begged him to be in the film, to which he agreed. Filming began in February 1979 and the shoot lasted a total of 4 weeks, a rather long time for a low budget film.
After filming Lone Star Pictures, a Texas based company, picked up distribution of the film and wanted the premier to be in Texas. Director William Malone agreed and flew to Texas only to be shocked that the premier was actually at a Drive-In theater. After the premier the first sale for the picture was to Malaysia for $90,000. They were already making a profit since the film only cost $74,000 to make.
Release
The film was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band....
in the 1980s.
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Retromedia Entertainment in 2010. The title on the box art was changed to Scared to Death: Syngenor to show a connection to the film's 1990 sequel Syngenor
Syngenor
Syngenor is a 1990 B horror/science fiction movie that is a sequel to the 1981 film Scared to Death. The film is directed by George Elanjian Jr and written by Michael Carmody and Brent V. Friedman...
.