Too Scared to Scream

Trailer—Too Scared to Scream

Tony Lo Bianco (more known for his acting, especially in one of my Larry Cohen favorites 'God Told Me too') directs a mechanically snug and customary stark urban-set murder mystery thriller that throws in a dose of gratuitous nudity and psychotic violence that also has it dipping in to the low-brow exploitative market. Nonetheless it still demonstrates a low-budget made-for-television feel (due to Bianco's plain, but enduring style), even though its brimming with a toughly rough grittiness brought across by its seamy backdrop. After being drowned out by a wretch song through the beginning credits (yep it's rather bad!), it actually gets better to cement an conundrum of mystery led by an convincingly collected, but dreary Ian McShane as the detective's chief suspect the doorman of the apartment building where the viciously random murders are occurring. The problem here is that the material just paints him too obviously as a red herring to be the one, but the twist (and you know its coming) to who is the actual killer had me fooled (and it's an exaggeratedly ill-advised revelation that comes from nowhere and had me thinking of a late 80s slasher effort), as I had someone else in my sights as the culprit. The busy, pictorial layout has numerous character dramas (with even the police getting involved) and suspicious dabbling that can cause the lumpy pace to lull about at times with distracting details that don't really add anything and go on to undermine its attempts of consolidating tension. Not helping either was the constant use of false jumps and lead ups, which more often lead to the real one. It's the cryptic nature of the story along with the soberly first base performances by the likes of Mike Connors, Anne Archer, Leon Iassc Kennedy, John Heard, Val Avery, Carrie Nye and Phyllis Hyman in a colorful cameo that make-up for its wayward spells. However it opens up with lasting suspense in the dying stages, but the deaths for most part appear off-screen and those we do see are theatrically staged with sudden, but clunky force. The musical score is old-fashioned, but over-cooked which makes it hard to switch-off. Not perfect, but this old-hat, stone-cold premise manages to truly hold you there for it's outrageous, if tatty final.

Too Scared to Scream is an 80s slasher film. There wasn't too many kills. This movie had a story line along with the serial killer. Rarely do you find a slasher film that is character driven. The movie does drag a bit and some dull moments, but overall, the story is engaging. There is a twist at the end and the killer is not the obvious suspect. My rating is 4 out of 10...slightly below average.

If you are looking for a good horror movie, go away. If you are looking to be scared, again, go away. But if you are looking for a nice way to spend the afternoon with an OK, cliched, but somehow still enjoyable and charming crime story with unusually high amount of nudity, you will like this. It has everything you would expect, from cheesy scenes to genre staple old and experienced detective leading the investigation. I give it 6.5/10! I think it's an OK movie which I could watch again, if I by chance stumble upon it on TV... I recommend it for some casual fun :)

"Too Scared To Scream" was filmed in 1982, but it apparently took three years for the movie to find a distributor willing to release it to theaters. Watching the movie, it doesn't take long to figure out why it took so long to be picked up for distribution. As other user commenters have pointed out, the movie (despite some nudity and foul language) has the appearance and feel of a made for television movie of the same era and lacks the "oompth" of a theatrical feature. The stalk and slash sequences come across as pretty tame, and no character seems to be particularly concerned that the body count is slowly rising. I will say the movie never gets boring, and it fooled me when it came to guessing who the murderer was... though on the other hand, the movie is never extremely involving, and I am usually terrible guessing who did it in murder mystery movies. It's odd that Mike Connors thought so much of this project that he not only acted in the movie, he produced it as well. You'd think that his years on the TV show "Mannix" would have him well trained as to what a good mystery was.

There's something curiously fascinating about the obscure and almost entirely forgotten mid-80s slasher entitled "Too Scared to Scream". In the blessed year 1985, director Tony Lo Bianco (primarily an actor and probably best known for his role as Lonely Hearts Murderer Ray Fernandez in "The Honeymoon Killers") seemingly attempted to make a mix of two specific exploitation sub-genres that were at the end of their glory days. I may just be imagining things, of course, but yours truly spotted in "Too Scared to Scream" a tribute to both the Italian Giallo and those typical New York 42nd Street Grindhouse trash flicks. The similarities with the Giallo are mainly to be found in the plotting department, as the film deals with a sadist killer who preferably slaughters lewd women when they are completely undressed and his/her favorite weapon is a giant butcher knife! There also are several (poor) attempts at plot twists, red herrings and even a surprise ending that is far-fetched and downright hilarious. As the icing on the cake, the investigation is led by a grumpy detective almost as misogynist as the culprit self. The link with the 42nd Street Grindhouse cinema obviously lies within the New York filming locations and its portrayal of the city. Very much like in modest classics such as "Maniac", "Ms. 45", "Night of the Juggler" and "The Exterminator", this film is like an anti-tourist campaign for the city of New York! Nothing you see here will ever make you want to go city-tripping in the Big Apple! The cast is full of unlikable people and many scenes play at raunchy, neon-lit districts. The horror action mostly takes place at a wannabe fancy hotel, the Royal Arms, where apparently unrelated residents turn up savagely murdered. The script desperately wants us to believe that the killer is the eccentric night porter / aspiring Broadway actor Vincent Hardwick, but I don't think anyone is gullible enough to believe he's the one. In spite of many flaws and too many boring parts, "Too Scared to Scream" is nonetheless enjoyable if you're a fan of eighties slashers and/or the above-mentioned exploitation sub-genres.

Remember the ending of "Murder By Death" where Truman Capote lashes into the murder mystery writers for the details about their writing that he hated? All of them and more pop up in this cheapie slasher film that somehow made it into secondary theaters and probably right onto cable as soon as its brief theatrical run ended. Several years before she had to deal with a knife wielding Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction", Anne Archer had to deal with a knife wielding homicidal maniac in this, going as far as to move into the luxurious residential Manhattan hotel where a friend of hers was brutally murdered. Detectives Mike Connors and Leon Issac Kennedy set out to protect her, especially when she befriends number one suspect Ian MacShane, seen putting on stage make-up in the opening scene and taking care of invalid mother Maureen O'Sullivan who will only speak to him. This film just gets more convoluted as it goes on, but there are a few entertaining bits about it, particularly the fashion show where uppity designer Carrie Nye commands the scene in her inimitable Tallulah Bankhead like mannerisms. Too bad she didn't get to share a scene with O'Sullivan; The very same year, both veteran actress (Nye of the stage, O'Sullivan of the screen) appeared together on the soap opera "Guiding Light" where Nye's murderous real estate agent had O'Sullivan's character snuffed out before she could reveal secrets. "Killing Jane from the Tarzan movies made me feel like I had shot Bambi's mother!", Nye said in an interview that year. Too bad she couldn't have done something to get a better script, although Nye's dialog is perhaps the wittiest and best in the script. Locations around Manhattan are greatly used to give this a visual treat, and they are pretty well utilized. Sharp eyes living in Manhattan today will recognize their favorite neighborhoods where the businesses may gave changed but the buildings have not. I believe that the Broadway theater where an arguing couple are picked up was where the original cast of "Nine" was. A shot of the West Village is also quite different as far as the businesses are concerned, and the park where MacShane takes O'Sullivan is recognizable as well. I didn't really hate this movie. I just found it cheesy and trite, and rather familiar in its many plot twist with an ending that was so silly that I just rolled my eyes rather than laugh at it as the bad song began to play over the closing credits.

By today's (2019) dubious standards this is an excellent slasher film with good acting, plausible attractive actors and pleasing backgrounds and environment. The people are well groomed adults. Not a gaggle of sloppily clad teens. Very good casting. Though a simple story line, it's not boring by any means. A relief to see an 80's movie with real people in an urban setting and a creepy psycho killer. Tony LoBianco's directing only enhances this thriller.

This early 80's slasheresque movie is pretty bad really, but I kind of liked it for some reason. It involves a number of murders in a swanky high rise building. The killings are investigated by a male and female cop, and the main suspect is the reddest herring imaginable--a doorman and aspiring way off-Broadway actor. There is some blood, a lot of gratuitous nudity, and that sleazy urban ambiance of the early 80's also featured in movies like "Eyes of a Stranger", "Windows", as well as genuinely disturbing flicks like "Maniac" and "Nightmare in a Damaged Brain". It was one of the last of the gritty, downbeat 70's style exploitation flicks before the happy fascism of the Reagan era and before Rudy Guliani turned 42nd Street into Disneyland. The movie was directed by obscure cult actor Tony LoBianca who appeared in "The Honeymoon Killers" and "God Told Me To". He never directed another movie, and I'm not sure how he ever came to direct this one. The female lead is Anne Archer, who was later in "Fatal Attraction" (and I'd rather watch this movie any day than that overrated and reactionary piece of crap). It's pretty hard to find (I bought a used PAL video in Buenos Aires for about 30 cents I think), but not a COMPLETE waste of time if you stumble across it.

Well, the film is not that bad, I would give it a four. It has a few interesting scenes in it, and shows a lot of nudity to cover its low budget. Nothing great here, but watchable. It is like a Manix rerun, I would watch it out of boredom. In the end I give it a 4/10.