PLOT: Someone or something is taking vengeance against a vigilante group that wrongfully killed an innocent man.
This one was a nice surprise. I had actually never heard of it before until I found it on Youtube. This probably has to do with the fact that it was originally a TV movie. Despite that fact, it’s got Charles Durning in it and that one guy that plays that asshole guy in a bunch of different movies.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a pretty straightforward film. Bubba is a gentle giant, basically cribbed from Lenny from Of Mice and Men, and for some reason, postman Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning) doesn’t like the cut of his jib. He’s got it out for him real bad, so when it looks like Bubba kills a little girl named Marylee, Otis wastes no time in rounding up a posse and sending them out to kill Bubba. When they find out that the girl is fine and Bubba actually saved her, it’s too late and the deed has been done. Once Bubba is in the ground, however, the story is just beginning, as the vigilante group is picked off one by one.
Charles Durning is the focal point of this film and he’s pretty great in it. He plays an asshole that slowly starts to become unhinged as he feels the world closing in on him. We also get to see Lane Smith, that guy you’ve seen a billion times, usually as the prick antagonist (The Mighty Ducks, My Cousin Vinny). They all give fine performances in this little movie.
Not really that much gore. There’s some blood here and there, but coming from a TV movie from the early 80s, you shouldn’t really expect much. Most kills are done off screen anyway.
Gore Rating: 1 out of 5
I wouldn’t say this film is particularly scary, because the people that die in this are the ones you’re rooting against. It’s more thrilling to see bad people get their comeuppance than it is scary.
Scares Rating: 0 out of 5
Nope. Nothing. I don’t think there’s a woman between the ages of 8 and 50 in this film, which is actually quite odd now that I’m thinking about it. There’s some pedophile panic in this, but nothing that seems grounded in truth, even when Otis gets accused of it in passing.
Sex/Nudity Rating: 0 out of 5
OVERALL
Despite the low scores in the previous categories, I genuinely enjoyed this movie. I think there’s some hammy acting, specifically with slow-witted Bubba, but it tells a tight story and for a movie without a theatrical release, it has a pretty strong lead performance.
The Main Damie 