This film begins with a mentally challenged 36-year-old man by the name of "Bubba Ritter" (Larry Drake) innocently playing with a young girl named "Marylee Williams" (Tonya Crowe) in a field. The local postman, "Otis P. Hazelrigg" (Charles Durning) sees them together and immediately relays his concerns about her safety to several of his friends. Not long afterward the girl is presumed dead and everyone wrongly accuses Otis of her murder. Unfortunately, rather than allowing the sheriff to arrest Bubba, Otis organizes a small group of vigilantes intent upon taking matters into their own hands. Sure enough, they find him in a field disguised as a scarecrow and kill him right there and then. Although they are later acquitted of murder due to lack of evidence Otis' mother "Mrs. Ritter" (Jocelyn Brando) promises them that justice will eventually be served. It's then that one of the vigilantes named "Harless Hocker" (Lane Smith) finds a scarecrow in the middle of his field and various mysterious events soon occur afterward which turn quite deadly. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a surprisingly good horror film all things considered with a rather nice twist at the end. Admittedly, it could have used a bit more gore and suspense but given the made-for-television format it was understandably limited in that regard. Be that as it may, I enjoyed the film and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Dark Night of the Scarecrow
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
(1981 TV Movie)
A Surprisingly Good Made-for-Television Horror Film
20 October 2020