Paul Boyd might not be a director that many know by name, but almost everyone will have seen something he has directed, due to his prolific work in music videos. A quick look on his IMDB for example, announces Boyd as the man behind the Shania Twain pop culture phenomenon music video, ‘Don’t Impress Me Much’. In addition to working in music videos, Boyd has steadily been working in feature films, with his latest, Scared to Death, catching the attention of FrightFest who screened the film as part of their Glasgow programme.
Scared to Death borrows tonally from Evil Dead, mixing humour in with horror. This comedy horror has the added bonus of being wrapped up within the environment of a film set. The story joins a film crew, close to shooting their latest project, Dead House. However, when the lead requests to experience a seance so she can better prepare for her role, all Hell breaks loose. What begins as a simple and silly time, quickly unleashes a dark entity that won’t rest until the entire cast and crew are dead. The moral of the story it seems, is to never perform a seance in an actual haunted house.
Although Scared to Death takes a little while to get going, once it finds its groove, it becomes very entertaining. The interplay of the cast helps bring the fun factor, with the inclusion of horror icons Bill Moseley and Lin Shaye lending gravitas to proceedings. The pair are especially interesting as both play somewhat against type. Moseley sheds his typical psychopathic behaviour to portray the psychic charlatan running the show. Watching him fanboy out over The Grog – ‘icon’ starring in Dead House – is a far cry from the menacing Firefly family member, Otis.
In contrast, as Elise, Lin Shaye was the heart and soul of the Insidious franchise. Now she’s the overbearing and arrogant director, Max – NOT Maxine – making everyone else’s lives a nightmare. This type of role is typically played by a man, and Shaye does a fantastic job at upending convention. What’s more, Shaye is clearly having a fantastic time in the role, and her joy is infectious, spreading out to the rest of the cast and ensuring that the audience have an equally fun time watching Scared to Death.
Given Boyd’s history within music videos, one might expect that Scared to Death would be full of fast cuts and fancy colours. Boyd’s approach however, is more traditional. Boyd does still insert the occasional flourish, it is just never intense enough to make the audience’s head spin.
A solid horror comedy, that mixes things up, Scared to Death is a fun-filled seance gone wrong story, enriched by its cast.
Scared to Death
Summary
With Scared to Death, Paul Boyd has created a solid comedy horror that is sure to put a smile on the faces of its audience.
Scared to Death was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Glasgow 2025.
