This was not at all what I expected.
When my wife suggested Dark Night of the Scarecrow and I took a look at the poster, I assumed we were in for a classic 70s and 80s-style slasher. In fact, that poster made me immediately think of the 1976 thriller The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Surely it would be filled with gruesome mutilations and amputations, with bright red blood spewing all over the damn place. Seeming to confirm this was the rating listed on Roku: NC-17. (We actually almost didn’t watch the movie based on this rating, because our daughter was going back and forth through the living room at the time.)
Well, Dark Night of the Scarecrow is not a slasher. There is very little blood and certainly no amputations. No bare-breasted victims, no teens getting naked in the woods, and no wickedly absurd gore scenes, à la Herschell Gordon Lewis. No reason whatsoever for the NC-17 rating. In fact, upon further investigation, this film was of the made-for-TV variety for CBS.
All that being said—taking into account my love for gore and exploitation—this movie isn’t half bad. Indeed, it’s pretty damn good.
The plot revolves around four men who kill the town simpleton, whom they believe has recently murdered a little girl. This turns out not to be the case, and it doesn’t take long for the slaying of Bubba to have serious consequences for the four vigilantes.
These four guys are played by four well-travelled character actors, who you’ll probably recognize from multiple films, including Charles Durning and Lane Smith. The acting is great from all of them. Durning, as the postman and wicked leader of the pack, is particularly good. And, I shit you not, he wears that damn postal uniform throughout the entirety of the film. Whether it’s the middle of the night or early in the morning, or if he’s at a Halloween party or even in court, he’s wearing that goddamn postal uniform like it’s another layer of flesh.
Anyway, the movie is more thriller than horror, with a lurking mystery that isn’t too mysterious. It lacks blood and gore but is shot well enough that you almost forget that fact. And the ending is satisfying.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 1
Special Effects - 3
Nudity/Sexuality - 0
Wow Factor - 4
Acting - 7
Fear Factor - 5
Story/Plot/Originality - 6
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 6
Sound/Music - 5
Fun Factor - 6
Dark Night of the Scarecrow gets a total score of 43. It’s not superb and there is no exploitation goodness to speak of, but it’s a well-made, fun film. It’s a good one to watch as Halloween approaches, and one your kids can freely partake in viewing. You can currently find it on the Roku Channel and Tubi.