This effort from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" and "From a Whisper to a Scream" director Jeff Burr follows a small farming community in Northern California, where the spirit of a warlock is unleashed and possesses a scarecrow, wreaking havoc on the townspeople. The mayor's daughter, who has recently returned, finds herself a prime figure at the center of the madness.
Not to be confused with the 1981 TV movie "Dark Night of the Scarecrow", this 1995 film does very much have the look and feel of a TV movie at times, or rather, a direct-to-video comportment (which it was). It very much resembles a number of other films of this era that lined video store shelves (think the numerous "Children of the Corn" sequels, for example) which, while not high art, were often schlocky fun--and this is certainly true of "Night of the Scarecrow."
The film suffers from some clunky dialogue and at times lifeless performances, as well as a number of special effects that even would have looked a bit hokey in 1995, but it's not all bad. There is a decent atmosphere established here, and the classic "town secret being unearthed" subplot is decently played, even featuring a stagey Satanic orgy sequence shot in sepia (and with what appears to be occult symbols on the floor with duct tape!). There are a number of fairly showy gross-out murder sequences here that are marginally effective, and the film is largely well-shot.
The finale plays out as to be expected, but again, it is all in good fun. While it is not an exceptional film by any means, "Night of the Scarecrow" will have a fair appeal to genre fans who grew up in the 1990s with films of this type. If your parents let you rent any number of "Children of the Corn" sequels from Blockbuster (and they made an impression on you), "Night of the Scarecrow" serves as a nice throwback to video store-era horror done on the cheap. 6/10.
Not to be confused with the 1981 TV movie "Dark Night of the Scarecrow", this 1995 film does very much have the look and feel of a TV movie at times, or rather, a direct-to-video comportment (which it was). It very much resembles a number of other films of this era that lined video store shelves (think the numerous "Children of the Corn" sequels, for example) which, while not high art, were often schlocky fun--and this is certainly true of "Night of the Scarecrow."
The film suffers from some clunky dialogue and at times lifeless performances, as well as a number of special effects that even would have looked a bit hokey in 1995, but it's not all bad. There is a decent atmosphere established here, and the classic "town secret being unearthed" subplot is decently played, even featuring a stagey Satanic orgy sequence shot in sepia (and with what appears to be occult symbols on the floor with duct tape!). There are a number of fairly showy gross-out murder sequences here that are marginally effective, and the film is largely well-shot.
The finale plays out as to be expected, but again, it is all in good fun. While it is not an exceptional film by any means, "Night of the Scarecrow" will have a fair appeal to genre fans who grew up in the 1990s with films of this type. If your parents let you rent any number of "Children of the Corn" sequels from Blockbuster (and they made an impression on you), "Night of the Scarecrow" serves as a nice throwback to video store-era horror done on the cheap. 6/10.