Scared to Death

A bio-engineered creature called a Syngenor hides in the Los Angeles sewer system, slipping out at night to feed on human spinal fluid. The police are stymied by the lack of eyewitnesses and fingerprints, and the media ridicules the cases as sensationalized murders.

Ted Londergan, a former detective turned novelist, is repeatedly asked to review the murders but declines. He is more focused on pursuing Jennifer Stanton, whom he met after accidentally backing into her car.

Ted meets Jennifer after the car incident; she is initially uninterested in his rude, eccentric personality but is won over by his persistence. Their first date ends with sex.

Jennifer is attacked and left in a coma, a turning point that pushes Ted to reconsider helping. The case grows more urgent as he confronts the creature behind the attacks.

Sherry Carpenter tells Ted that Jennifer's spinal fluid may have been drained by a Syngenor created at a laboratory where she worked. She explains that the creature's attacks can mimic brain tumors and warns of the danger if it matures.

Sherry reveals Amberdine's notes indicating the Syngenor would be dangerous if allowed to reach maturity and that the murders are probably under-reported. The evidence ties the killer to a lab experiment gone wrong.

The police chief closes the case, identifying a man killed in a shootout as the killer to end media embarrassment. The public narrative quickly settles on a simple, sensational explanation, downplaying the true danger behind the murders.

Ted and Sherry go to Amberdine's laboratory to obtain the notes that might prove the Syngenor's existence. They hope the documents will illuminate the threat and its origins.

In the laboratory they discover a half-dead sewer maintenance worker and realize the Syngenor uses sewer passages to move unseen. The encounter confirms the creature's connection to the city’s drains.

Ted and Sherry descend into the sewers and locate the Syngenor's lair, where numerous unconscious humans are attached to embryonic Syngenors by feeding tubes. The original Syngenor reproduced asexually to create the progeny.

Ted shoots the embryonic Syngenors, triggering the arrival of the adult monster. The creature proves its strength by attempting to drain Ted's spinal fluid.

The adult Syngenor pursues Ted and Sherry into a locked metal workshop, forcing Ted to lure it onto a drop forge instead of fleeing. The tight space heightens the danger as the trap is prepared.

Detective Lou Capell arrives and shoots the Syngenor, knocking it back onto the drop forge. His intervention shifts the balance and buys time for the final trap.

Sherry activates the forge and crushes the Syngenor, ending the threat. The creature is destroyed in a dramatic industrial trap.

Jennifer awakens from her coma but experiences hysteria and terrifying hallucinations, a grim reminder of the ordeal she endured. The experience leaves her shaken and changed.