Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

October 12, 2022 11:54 AM

In a small Southern town, four vigilantes wrongfully execute a mentally-challenged man, but after the court sets them free mysterious "accidents" begin to kill them off one by one.

I thought this was surprisingly effective- for something that was made to air on CBS in 1981 it's a pretty tense thing, and I don't think the lack of gore hurts it at all. It reminded me a bit of Night of the Living Dead insofar as despite the supernatural threat, the real villain is still human beings who just can't find it in themselves to not be terrible to each other.

This made-for-TV movie is streaming on several services both paid and free.

posted by Pope Guilty (2 comments total)

I feel like I read something recently about how this movie is hard to find (or maybe it was hard to find, and now has come out on streaming?). Anyways - I think I caught this when it first aired, with no clue about it - it was just a scary movie that was on TV. I loved it, it was great - lots of scary moments that have stuck with me, like the terribly tense moment that Bubba is discovered hiding by the four vigilantes - and how fucked up is the town that Bubba and his mom had that plan for hiding him?

I think the lack of gore not only doesn't hurt the film, it makes it stronger - the film can't rely on gross-out shock horror, and has to both build and release tension in other ways.
posted by nubs at 1:48 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

This aired an hour ago on The Last Drive-In. I admittedly was distracted, bu, I didn't find it all that compelling. I'll have to try again.
posted by heteronym at 9:07 PM on June 30, 2023