Scared Stiff is kind of a mess of a movie, which probably won't matter too much to fans of the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis team. As a matter of fact, several of their films are messy from start to finish, and there are some who maintain that the messier, the better. Stiff is too mild (and not messy enough) to fall into the "better" category, but it's decent enough entertainment. It's also enormously unstructured (not the fault of its original source), with plenty of detours for an extraneous musical number of a bit of comic business. One's tolerance for these detours will largely depend upon one's appreciation of the team's brand of comedy, and especially on one's tolerance for Lewis's schtick. Lewis is at least somewhat restrained here, relegated to a largely secondary part. Martin, by contrast, turns in one of his better performances as part of the team, seeming more committed and involved than is often the norm. And there's an unusually interesting supporting cast of women, starting with the oddly cast but still appealing Lizabeth Scott and including the always entertaining Carmen Miranda and a brazen Dorothy Malone. George Marshall's direction is fine, if uninspired; the same can be said for the musical numbers, most built around some bland Jerry Livingston-Mack David songs that leave the mind before the final note fades.