There are a few good made for TV movies!
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
Directed By: Frank De Felitta (The Entity)
The Prologue
You know, long before I ever got the chance to see Dark Night of the Scarecrow, which was a made for TV movie that came out back in 1981, I had heard a ton about it. Well, I had heard a ton about it but I didn’t even know the name. As it goes, I have a friend who doesn’t really like horror, but he caught this on TV once. He didn’t know the name, but he kept telling me the plot and how I just needed to see it. Well, here we are! I have finally watched this made for TV classic myself, and I really did like it!
The Movie
Bubba, is a man child. He’s a 37 year old man who’s mind never got passed a child level. As a result to this, his best friend is a little girl named, Marylee. Now this fact bothers a lot of people in town, namely a creepy postman named, Otis P. Hazelrigg. Otis and his a-hole friends are always looking for a reason to give Bubba a hard time. And they get a reason to do a lot more than that when Marrylee is badly hurt and Bubba is falsely blamed for it. This leads to these men forming a mob, hunting down, and shooting poor, Bubba, to death as he tries to hide dressed as a scarecrow. After they seemingly get away with this crime, that Scarecrow seems to come back looking for revenge.
You may think of Dr.Giggles when you think of Larry Drake ladies and gentlemen, but trust me when I say Drake steals the show in the role of Bubba. If you didn’t know better you’d think the man was really mentally retarded (Can I still use that word?), and it’s that fact that helps sell the film. Along with that you really have to give credit to everyone in this film, because the acting is A Class all around. The people you are supposed to hate you REALLY hate and it makes you want to see Bubba get revenge. So in an interesting twist, the “monster” here isn’t really the films real monster at all. And the Scarecrow might not be doing what you’d find morally right, but it’s a reverse of the norm when it comes to horror films, and it works great.
Now this movie was on CBS back in the day, so you won’t get a full on blood bath. But what you do get is a great series of kills that are done very cleverly and very classy if you know what I’m saying. It leave most the gore to your imagination, but it’s just shot so well that you don’t really mind. I also think the dated look of the film actually helps it overall as it just has that classic feel that you don’t really get these days unless someone goes out of their way to give that look to you. I also think the sweet little girl, Marrylee, does a grand job going from just a normal kid to creepy when she learns what has happened to Bubba and seems to realize what is going on long before everyone else truly does.
Now thats not to say the movie isn’t without some flaw. There are of course logic holes that you can just look over due to it being a horror film, but they are still there. Also while I think the films comes out the gate hitting all the right points and keeping things very interesting (manly due to the great actors), it does seem to kind of slow up a bit before finally giving us what we want with the ending. And with the ending you are lead to believe there has to be more of these films to come, but those never came. That might be best, as not every horror film needs a sequel, but it does make the films ending seem just a tad bit odd. I’d assume for a one and done the ending might be more heartwarming and final seeing as how Bubba’s work is now truly finished…right?
The Conclusion
Still a very good film, and by far one of the better made for TV ones. It’s not IT by any means, but it’s head and heels better than Killdozer. So if you want something not too gory but interesting to watch one night I’d suggest this film. It just so happens to have a new DVD out as well, do you may want to snatch that out before it becomes out of print.
The Rating (6/10)
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