Dark Night of the Scarecrow starts as the mentally child like 36 year old man Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake) plays with his best friend, a young girl named Marylee Williams (Tonya Crowe) whom are inseparable. While out innocently playing together Marylee is attacked by a dog, Bubba manages to rescue her but thinks she is dead & takes her home to her mother. Four local men including mailman Otis P. Halzelrigg (Charles Durning) hear what has happened & assume that the mentally retarded Bubba killed Marylee, together they find Bubba & hunt him down into a corn field where Bubba hides in a scarecrow. The men shoot Bubba in cold blood thinking that he killed little Marylee but they hear on the radio that Marylee is still alive & that Bubbe actually saved her life, they quickly make up a story that they shot Bubba in self defence & are subsequently spared jail. However a mysterious scarecrow appears in a field, a scarecrow that wasn't there before & soon two of the men responsible for murdering Bubba have died in strange accidents...
Directed by Frank De Felitta this was originally made for US network TV & first broadcast on 24th October 1981 before it was subsequently released on VHS around the world & more recently on DVD, it's fair to say that Dark Night of the Scarecrow has enjoyed classic status for a long time now & while I think it's a fine film I don't think I could quite call it a genuine classic. Sure, it's a classic in some other people's eyes but as far as I am concerned it's not much more than a good solid chiller. Dark Night of the Scarecrow tells a good story, it takes it's time to build up the situation & the character's & it's easy to become engrossed, I suppose some say how the script touches on subjects like mental illness, prejudice, the way the legal system can be manipulated, assumption & child molestation & while that's true to an extent I thought the script never went into huge amounts of detail which I think is good as it could have become really bogged down with wider issues. At just over 90 minutes Dark Night of the Scarecrow might seem slow to some viewers but none of the running time is wasted & a lot is crammed into that time, the main area that I found disappointing was that there's not much of a pay-off here. Sure, the script takes the time to set the story up, to bring the character's to life & build-up some creepy atmosphere but all of the death's are off screen & I was sitting there waiting for it to really come to life but it never does which is a pity as I don't really have anything else bad to say about it. Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a good solid horror thriller that is perfectly watchable & enjoyable but didn't stand out as the classic that many seem to claim so readily.
Probably not having much money to work with director Felitta does a good job of creating atmosphere, sound effects, good nighttime photography & good use of the creepy Scarecrow image help. There's no great amount of blood or gore in it, someone is shot & there's a bit of blood but nothing excessive, in fact Dark Night of the Scarecrow is very restrained which is not a criticism just a statement. Sound is also used to good effect as well. Apparently had an eighteen day shooting schedule but was filmed in just seventeen.
Filmed in Piru in California the production values are great, made for television films have certainly regressed a long way since Dark Night of the Scarecrow, can you imagine the SyFy Channel making such a good looking & carefully crafted film as this today? The acting is very strong, Charles Durning is great in a role that was originally intended for Strother Martin before he died while the rest of the cast are also excellent here.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a really good, solid horror thriller that is is worth watching but I would stop just short of calling it an absolute classic. A good film to watch at Halloween.
Directed by Frank De Felitta this was originally made for US network TV & first broadcast on 24th October 1981 before it was subsequently released on VHS around the world & more recently on DVD, it's fair to say that Dark Night of the Scarecrow has enjoyed classic status for a long time now & while I think it's a fine film I don't think I could quite call it a genuine classic. Sure, it's a classic in some other people's eyes but as far as I am concerned it's not much more than a good solid chiller. Dark Night of the Scarecrow tells a good story, it takes it's time to build up the situation & the character's & it's easy to become engrossed, I suppose some say how the script touches on subjects like mental illness, prejudice, the way the legal system can be manipulated, assumption & child molestation & while that's true to an extent I thought the script never went into huge amounts of detail which I think is good as it could have become really bogged down with wider issues. At just over 90 minutes Dark Night of the Scarecrow might seem slow to some viewers but none of the running time is wasted & a lot is crammed into that time, the main area that I found disappointing was that there's not much of a pay-off here. Sure, the script takes the time to set the story up, to bring the character's to life & build-up some creepy atmosphere but all of the death's are off screen & I was sitting there waiting for it to really come to life but it never does which is a pity as I don't really have anything else bad to say about it. Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a good solid horror thriller that is perfectly watchable & enjoyable but didn't stand out as the classic that many seem to claim so readily.
Probably not having much money to work with director Felitta does a good job of creating atmosphere, sound effects, good nighttime photography & good use of the creepy Scarecrow image help. There's no great amount of blood or gore in it, someone is shot & there's a bit of blood but nothing excessive, in fact Dark Night of the Scarecrow is very restrained which is not a criticism just a statement. Sound is also used to good effect as well. Apparently had an eighteen day shooting schedule but was filmed in just seventeen.
Filmed in Piru in California the production values are great, made for television films have certainly regressed a long way since Dark Night of the Scarecrow, can you imagine the SyFy Channel making such a good looking & carefully crafted film as this today? The acting is very strong, Charles Durning is great in a role that was originally intended for Strother Martin before he died while the rest of the cast are also excellent here.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a really good, solid horror thriller that is is worth watching but I would stop just short of calling it an absolute classic. A good film to watch at Halloween.