Back home

Scared Stiff

42 votes

Producing House

A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress, who has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island. The trio hunt for a hidden treasure and encounter a ghost, a zombie, and a mysterious killer...

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1953-04-27

Runtime: 108 mins

Director: George Marshall

Spoken language: English

Genres: Music, Comedy, Horror

Original title: Scared Stiff

Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Wallis-Hazen Inc.

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

J

John Chard
It's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. Larry Todd (Dean Martin), and Myron Mertz (Jerry Lewis) run a foul of gangster "Shorty" and are forced to flee the hotel when suspicion of murder falls on Larry. Hooking up with heiress Mary Carroll (Lizabeth Scott) who is sailing for Cuba, the guys find that Cuba is one mysterious place, full of weird goings on and Zombies! Scared Stiff was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis' ninth picture, a remake of Paramount's 1940 comedy spooker, The Ghost Breakers that starred Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, it's also directed by the same man, George Marshall. Though both Lewis and Martin are on record as saying they didn't want to remake The Ghost Breakers since the Hope movie was fine the way it is. The guys were bound to do it by their Paramount contract, and thus producer Hal B. Wallis, rightly assuming that it was viable material for the duo, got the film made. In the pantheon of Martin/Lewis films, Scared Stiff ranks as one of the better efforts that the guys did. Larks and songs and a Carmen Miranda cameo make up the main body of Scared Stiff. Standard slap-stick to none fans of the intrepid duo, but essential viewing for those that have a kink for such shenanigans. From a ventriloquist dummy skit to Lewis' delightful take on Miranda, and containing an hilarious sequence with Jerry stuck in a trunk, there's enough guffaws to keep the grin on ones face. Fans of the singing side of Deano are however short changed here, and there is no getting away from the fact that Scared Stiff is ultimately a rushed cash in job. So with that in mind newcomers to the pair are advised to possibly give the film a miss and head for the likes of Artists And Models and Hollywood or Bust instead. 7/10
2020-07-13

Recommendations

Satan's Slaves
3.3

Satan's Slaves

2017-09-28

After dying from a strange illness that she suffered for three years, a mother returns home to pick

Strain 100
2.1

Strain 100

2020-10-22

After surviving a terrifying car crash, a young woman discovers that aggressive, flesh-eating zombie

Horno
1.8

Horno

2009-07-28

Ron is a porn director with a little more vision than talent, not that he has much of either. He asp

Night of the Living Dead
3.8

Night of the Living Dead

1968-10-04

A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of

To Zombie... Or Not to Zombie
0

To Zombie... Or Not to Zombie

2024-02-29

A Hamlet-inspired tale of two sisters running their late mother's business. When one sister has a ru

The Awakening
0

The Awakening

2023-12-21

A young man decides to pay a visit to his deceased friend at the cemetery when he is caught up in a

Plan 9 from Outer Space
2.1

Plan 9 from Outer Space

1957-03-15

In California, an old man grieves the loss of his wife, and dies the day after she is buried. Howeve

I'm Haunted
2.9

I'm Haunted

2022-09-14

A young woman documenting paranormal occurrences in her apartment realizes she's dealing with someth

The Blackwell Ghost 8
3.3

The Blackwell Ghost 8

2024-01-12

A filmmaker continues his quest to uncover the truth behind a series of unsolved murders from years

Do You See What I See
3.5

Do You See What I See

2024-05-16

After Mawar falls for her very first boyfriend, her friends' joy turns into suspicion as they realiz

Fido
3.2

Fido

2006-09-07

Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. B

Monster X
2.5

Monster X

2017-03-01

Two friends hide in an old theater to escape ravenous hordes of vampires, zombies and werewolves.

Ghosts of Mars
2.6

Ghosts of Mars

2001-08-14

In 2176, a Martian police unit is sent to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining pos

Severed
2.3

Severed

2005-10-20

A multi-national forestry company engages in genetic experimentation to increase logging yield in a

BIOHAZARD 2 TV-CM
4.2

BIOHAZARD 2 TV-CM

1997-01-01

On September 29, 1998, most citizens of the Midwestern American mountain community of Raccoon City w

Date of the Dead
0

Date of the Dead

2006-10-31

A guy takes care of his undead girlfriend.

Halfway
0

Halfway

2009-11-11

What is cooler than having a pool in your backyard? A portal to another dimension.

You Belong to Me
1.3

You Belong to Me

2008-12-21

After a messy divorce, Alex Wilson isn't interested in the advances of her colleague, Michael. But w

Chrysalis
2.4

Chrysalis

2014-04-24

Joshua and Penelope are survivors of a deadly infection that laid waste to humanity 25 years ago. Wh

The Dead Walk
1

The Dead Walk

2008-06-06

The Dead Walk is an eerie and atmospheric tale about the rise of the living dead, besieging the worl