Strange visions come to haunt a singer when she, her son, and her psychiatrist-turned-boyfriend move into an old colonial house that is haunted by the ghost of a ruthless slave owner.Strange visions come to haunt a singer when she, her son, and her psychiatrist-turned-boyfriend move into an old colonial house that is haunted by the ghost of a ruthless slave owner.Strange visions come to haunt a singer when she, her son, and her psychiatrist-turned-boyfriend move into an old colonial house that is haunted by the ghost of a ruthless slave owner.
Bill Hindman
- Dr. Ben Brightman
- (as William M. Hindman)
Jackie Davis
- Detective Whitcomb
- (as Jakie Davis)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter the film's underwhelming performance, it was released on VHS and then LaserDisc, but then fell into obscurity. In 2004, film historian Robert Ellinger was in one of the last video rental stores that still sold VHS tapes when the film caught his eye. He loved the film's music, especially "Beat of the Heart", but no soundtrack had ever been released. This began his long obsession with the film. He began acquiring everything he could from the film: test posters, various foreign VHS copies and even a promotional paperweight from when the film was released to home video. He was able to reach the film's costume designer Beverly Safier, who sent him a piece of fabric from one of the dresses that Kate wears in the film. He wanted to see if the film had other fans, so he uploaded "Beat of the Heart" to YouTube and discovered that there were fans who loved both the song and the movie. Because Ellinger works in the music industry, he was able to locate the film's composer The Barber Brothers (who was really just one person, Billy Barber) and asked him if he had the original masters for the soundtrack, but they were lost. Unwilling to give up, Ellinger contacted producer Daniel F. Bacaner, who had disowned the film and was surprised to hear someone mentioning the film so long after its release. Ellinger told Bacaner that he should re-release the film to introduce it to a new audience. They were able to locate the original negatives in an MGM vault in Pittsburgh, where it had remained for thirty years, as well as a treasure trove of unused promotional materials. Bacaner contacted director Richard Friedman and was able to secure a restoration by Arrow Video, who also gave the film a Blu-Ray release. They were able to get some of the cast and crew to provide some background information on the film, and Friedman, Bacaner and Ellinger made a commentary track. Billy Barber even performed a piano cover of "Beat of the Heart." As thanks for setting the restoration in motion, Bacaner gave Ellinger some negatives from the film out of his personal collection.
- GoofsThe workman's eyes clearly move after he is dead.
- Quotes
Michael Murphy: [as a hallucination to Kate] Hi Miss Christopher... I'm fine now... wanna see?
[unzips his forehead, causing his scalp to fall off, displaying his pulsating brain]
- ConnectionsReferenced in Robot Ninja (1989)
- SoundtracksBeat of the Heart
by Billy Barber
Featured review
I wasn't scared stiff but I wasn't disappointed either
In the 19th Century some slaves put a curse on cruel slave trader George Masterson (David Ramsey). Move forward to the mid-1980's and pop singer Kate (Mary Page Keller, complete with mullet) moves into Masterson's Southern mansion, along with young son Jason and boyfriend Dr David Young. Needless to say strange and spooky things start to happen, eventually becoming more and more horrific. Back in the 1980's and 90's I was visiting video shops most weeks and I did have a poster for the UK VHS release of this movie yet strangely I don't think that I had actually watched it until last night. I recently acquired the Arrow blu-ray and a fine release it is too. Scared Stiff is very typical of the B movies that found themselves more or less straight to VHS, and that is certainly no bad thing as that period was awash with such films and it was a great time to be a horror fan. This one reminds me of "House" (1986) but with less humour plus it's not as good. The movie had a low budget but the acting is fine though the practical special effects (so much better than horrible CGI) are the real stars of the show. I have seen better quality but they are good enough. I clearly remember this for its wonderful Graham Humphrey's VHS poster artwork but can find very little mention of it in my horror movie books. Sad really, it's no classic but does deserve to be better known. For a late night movie, lights off and a few beers it's a pretty entertaining watch. And after the end credits have rolled don't be surprised if you have the song "Beat of the Heart" going around and around in your head, ha ha!
- Stevieboy666
- Mar 30, 2024
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Box office
- Budget
- $1,300,000 (estimated)
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