Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

azathothpwiggins A developmentally disabled man named Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake- DARKMAN) is subject to the suspicions and deep loathing of Otis (Charles Durning), the malevolent mailman in a small rural town. Unfortunately, Otis isn't alone, and when a little girl is hurt while playing with Bubba, he is blamed. Otis rounds up the rabble, leading to Bubba's untimely demise. The way in which Bubba had attempted to hide from them ties in directly w/ the title. When Otis and his pals get away w/ their crime, bizarre, grisly "accidents" happen that appear to be justice from beyond the grave. DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW is a made-for-TV horror movie about prejudice, vigilantism, murder, and supernatural revenge. It is also another example of how a great story and production can surpass the usual, commercial cheeeze of the network television medium. Durning's character is particularly well-realized. He's the black heart of his group of thugs, and he plays it fairly low-key. He comes across as a simmering, extremely dangerous man, rather than a wild-eyed maniac. His own proclivities are the projected motive behind his homicidal actions. This was unusual in TV movies of the period. Jocelyn Brando is also excellent as the immovable Mrs. Ritter. If you're looking for well-made TV horror, then start right here...

Prismark10 Dark Night of the Scarecrow is an effective, eerie even slightly camp television film made for Halloween but seriously put some Horror films made for cinema to shame.Mentally challenged Bubba (Larry Drake) happily plays with a ten year old girl Marylee (Tonya Crowe.) When she goes missing, a group of four local red-necks egged on by postman Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning) assumed that Bubba attacked her and go looking for him.Bubba hides by dressing himself up as a scarecrow in a field, but the the group shoot him dead in a hail of bullets.It turns out Marylee is alive and well and that Bubba was innocent. The red-necks are tried at a laughable court hearing and released in a travesty of justice.Unfortunately for the now free group of red-necks, a mysterious scarecrow begins appearing in their fields and one by one they meet a gruesome death such as being buried arrive in a silo.As each person dies the rest get jumpy. Director Frank De Felitta makes effective use of television conventions by suggesting the killer lurking in the shadows and making eerie noises. The killer might be supernatural or a figure of the imagination of the nervous red- necks.Larry Drake became better known in LA Law where he also played a mentally retarded man. The group of red-necks such as Lane Smith also became familiar faces on TV and film but the film hinges really on the repulsive, rotund and creepy postman played by Durning. Too fat that his uniform does not quiet fit him and seems to like young girls as well which might had been a motive why he wanted Bubba out of the way because his playing with Marylee was innocent.Durning is the last to go as an unmanned tractor chases him in the fields, why does he keep on running in a straight line? A corny ending if ever there was one.

Foreverisacastironmess I never judge a film by its budget, but nevertheless, the overall effect that Frank De Felitta managed to achieve with so little is something that I find very impressive. It is a bit of a sad story, ignorant bullies rushing to some very harsh conclusions and murdering a helpless mentally backward man and not even really feeling any remorse about it, only thinking of their own skins and fearing justice - and that they should indeed in this spooky country tale of just desserts from beyond the grave! It's quite straightforward and is really just a simple yet strongly focused story of supernatural revenge that they were trying to tell, and it's one of the rare flicks where you're actually rooting for the restless spirit and not the people who brought about its curse in the first place. What I most enjoy about this film is its chillingly effective foreboding atmosphere of dread and tension that builds as each of the condemned men are picked off one by one by a dark force that remains unseen... That's also something that I love a lot about this, how you don't even need to see a rampaging undead scarecrow running around slaughtering people in order to feel the fear, if they had chosen to go that route I believe the film would have turned out very hokey and wouldn't be anywhere near as well-made as it is. And to me anyone who hates the picture because of the fact that you don't really see that much just isn't getting the point, I think it's an excellent example of that which you don't see being much more eerie and unsettling, and when you finally do see just a little something at the very end it's a lot more meaningful and is like the icing on the cake! It's all done in a nice subtle way with all the gruesome horror gags being practically stripped down to nothing, which while I'm aware was very likely due to the budget, is still something that in the case of this movie I could really appreciate because I thought it made the spartan plot a lot more impactful. I liked the windblown rural setting, all of the plain and dull country visuals do a lot for the tone of the story. It's slow but to me felt like it took its time, and once again I liked how its horror was very minimalistic, as opposed to the typical everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to many other slasher movies of the time. Something else that works in its favour is how the actors who played the four vigilantes really made their small roles into pretty well-rounded characters instead of just generic faceless bad guys. The fat squeaky-voiced fella's death is the most suspenseful sequence for me, and I find it hilarious when the scared rabbit of the group has a mental breakdown in the graveyard! But I think the overall best performance goes to Charles Durning who truly is the real monster of the movie and actually kills more people than the scarecrow! He may be a mailman, but he's such a relentless evil-spirited toad that you really grow to hate him and can't wait for him to get what he deserves. When it's subtly suggested what his real reason for wanting Bubba out of the picture is, I liked that because it added an extra depth to his creepiness. And the sequence that leads up to the demented Hazelrigg ironically impaling himself on the very pitchfork that he originally placed in the scarecrow's hands I love because the scene is so hectic and the pumpkins give things a surreal, almost fable-like quality for a moment, and especially with what follows and the poignant closing image of an ending that is both touching yet also a little bit 'off' and chilling somewhere. Bubba the scarecrow gives her the flower holding it by the stem, like she taught him to do in the opening scene. Sweet. There was something enigmatic and sometimes a little sinister about the girl's attitude regarding the ghostly nature of her friend and how she didn't seem to grasp or care about what death was, and how she just continued to play with him even after he was dead. She was cute as corn-on-the-cob but at times creepy as Children of the Corn.. Sweet little Marylee had a hit-list! Unlike many of its fans, I never saw this as a child, so it doesn't have that special nostalgic place in my heart, but the first time I watched it, I did really like and get into it right away and found it to be a compelling and satisfying viewing experience, one that deserves its praises as a mini classic that was once forgotten and rediscovered by word of mouth. Good old movie.

Bezenby Here's a blast from the past! I remember seeing this film as a kid (around eight or ten) and everyone talking about it the next day in school. Three memories of this film: Bubba getting rather nastily executed by firing squad, the scene in the grain silo, and the end shot (which I won't spoil for you). It was on television last night so I thought I'd give it a go again, and see if it's still as scary as it was back then. It wasn't, but then again about thirty years have passed. What you do have however is a fairly solid supernatural thriller with a few scarecrow chills thrown in for good measure (but it could have done with more to be honest). What makes it still enjoyable is Charles Durning's performance as the evil postman who'll do anything to cover for his crime, that crime being the killing of mentally handicapped Bubba, who was mistakingly blamed for the mauling of his child friend, Mary Lee. Durning and his three cronies get literally get away with murder (they shoot Bubba to death while he's hiding inside a scarecrow), but they all get warned by Bubba's mother that there are other types of justice. Soon, things get all creepy when Mary Lee starts claiming that Bubba isn't dead, and a scarecrow turns up in one of the guy's fields. You know what that means – Scarecrow vengeance!I'll say no more about the plot but after all these years I was still impressed by the whole mood of the film. Durning helps greatly as he generally lies, cheats, and even kills to protect himself while Bubba generally gets his own back. The film centres mostly on Durning, however, as we get to see him try and find out who's messing with his head. Although lacking in gore (being a TV film) and slightly slow to get going, there's plenty to recommend here. It certainly stuck in my head as an impressionable young kid. Good stuff.