Thursday, April 14, 2022

Scared to Death (1980)

Remarkably good sewer monster thrills.

Some kind of deranged super strong maniac is killing random women, not that unusual in LA of course but the police are baffled by this case... no wonder because the assailant isn't human! Ex-cop and now novelist Ted (John Stinson) is finally persuaded by his old buddy (David Moses) to help investigate the case. His girlfriend Jennifer (Diana Davidson) arranges to meet shy nerd girl Sherry (Toni Jannotta) who has vital information on the attacks but before she can meet her at a former research centre she ends up the latest victim (though survives).

Ted is told by Sherry that the attacks are being made by an artificial life form which lives on human spinal fluid. Ted and Sherry head into the sewers to find... and ultimately get chased by the creature...

Although the story is fairly generic (and an early Alien inspired film), this is an entertaining film that rises above the obvious cliches and makes the most of the low budget (the monster itself when we see it is pretty cool).