Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981 TV Movie)
7/10
Slow to start but effective thriller/terror movie with supernatural elements
22 January 2022
Mindless and acceptable film is packed with thrills , chills , intrigue , suspense , horror and lots of interminable screams with no much sense . Decent chiller about a gentle developmentally-disabled man, Bubba Ritter (lane Smith) , befriends young 10-year-old Marylee Williams living at an isolated location in the Deep South. After happening an unfortunate distress , four nasty friends : postman Otis (Charñes Durning) , gas station attendant Skeeter Norris (Robert F. Lyons) and farmer-cousins Philby (Claude Earl Jones) and Harliss Hocker (Lane Smith) form a lynch mob. As Bubba is mercillesly pursued and then is disguised as a scarecrow, and , after that , he hides in. It results in a deadly revenge , causing creepy goings-on the murderers . The Original Classic . What has this girl done that is driving the town mad? . What is the terrible act people are about to commit? And who is the only person who can save her?. An All-New Chiller for Halloween! . There IS other justice besides the law!

An intriguing tale of suspense , horror and survival , as the film contains restless terror and great loads of screams , blood and usual weird phenomena caused by the creepy appearance of a surprising scarecrow at a cornfield and ordinary ghastly shenanigans with weird threats that manifest themselves with violent attacks , grisly murders and anything else . It deals with the typical plot of a supernatural revenge when prejudiced townspeople attack a retarded man who was innocently befriended by a young girl . It is produced in limited budget but well recreated with special effects enough and eerie deeds that are frightening and horrifying to spectator . It packs lots of screams and strange events with the allegedly death of a little girl unusual things start to happen and in which some ominous vigilantes fall into a supernatural terror . The story starts little by little , but when there takes place a merciless vendetta , the nasty killers find only devilish horror , carrying out an implacable vengeance on each person one by one with full of nightmarish scenes and extreme terror . Moderated budget makes for big scary scream-feast . Main and support cast are pretty good. . Charles Durning gives a nice acting as the brooding, mean-spirited postman Otis , Robert F. Lyons as a gas attendant Skeeter Norris , Claude Earl Jones as the fatty Philby , Lane Smith as farmer Harliss, and special mention for Larry Drake as an intellectually-disabled man who is unjustly accused of attacking a young girl and Jocelyn Brando as his mother Mrs. Ritter.

This thriller with a moral was professionality directed by Frank De Felitta with intensity , tension and suspenseful . Frank De Felitta was a good a craftsman who wrote/produced /directed various films in all kind of genres with penchant for the supernatural and terror . He wrote or shot as Cinema as telefims or TV episodes , such as : Scissors , Two worlds of Jennie Logan , Clan of the doberman , The Stately Ghosts of England , The DuPont Show of the Week , Z. P. G. , Assignment: Underwater and many others . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average horror movie .
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