DVD review: Scared to Death (1980)

The killing begins on a hot summer night when co-ed Jamie Richter is attacked. Police investigator Lou Capell (Jonathan David Moses) finds that the only clue to the killing is a web-like substance that clings to the walls of the ransacked house. Joining forces with his old partner, Ted Lonergan (John stinson), they draw a blank until investigating a killing in an underground parking Here they are approached by a young research assistant who tells them of secret research to create the "perfect soldier" by synthetic genetic engineering - the experiment was abandoned, but not before some frightening consequences were discovered. Time is running out and the creature is stalking their every move! Scared to Death is written by Robert Short and William Malone who also is the director. The acting is pretty decent, the camerawork and editing is pretty good and has a pretty nice gritty feel too it. I like that the hero doesn´t look like the typical Hollywood hero, instead he´s more reminiscent of a average joe. 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. There is topless nudity during the opening-scene.
This review is based upon the region all (Region 0) DVD release from Retromedia.
Rating: 3½ out of 7. I enjoyed this, it´s very watchable but the lack of carnage in a movie where the creature goes about ripping apart and sucking the spinal fluid out of his victims is a huge disappointment..

/JL