Scarecrows (1988)

Directed by William Wesley [Other horror films: Route 666 (2001)]

So I have two things to say about Scarecrows before writing this review out: for one, Scarecrows is perhaps one of my favorite scarecrow horror films, and two, I am highly intoxicated at the moment.

This is the 155th movie I’ve seen in October of 2021, which is when this is being written. It’s been a long month, and I thought I might celebrate with some Jack Daniels whiskey that I had in my freezer for over a year. I don’t drink often, but I thought tonight might make a good occasion, and so I did.

I’ll say that Scarecrows is a decent movie, though it does possess some elements I can’t say I care for that much, such as how the scarecrows can somehow mimic other people that their victims know. It reminds me of the plants in The Ruins that mimicked cell phones – I didn’t mind it too much in The Ruins, but here, it felt sort of strange giving scarecrows some type of psychic power.

Even with that minor complaint in mind, I always appreciated the gore of this film. It’s not an overly gory film, but there are some solid moments, such as a scarecrow cutting a character;s hand off, and then stabbing his face after covering it with a burlap sack. That as perhaps the best scene, but you also someone who had their organs removed and replaced with only straw and money, which was relatively gruesome, along with someone who was stabbed through the hand with a pitchfork.

Only a couple performances really stand out here, being Michael David Simms, Ted Vernon (Zombie Infection and Bikini Swamp Girl Massacre), and Victoria Christian. Truth be told, Christian was somewhat generic, but I really liked Vernon here, as he was someone who actively partook in abducting people, but seemed to have a decent moral compass (as he took time to bury someone, and tried his hardest to help Christian’s character). Michael David Simms over-acted horribly at times, and I absolutely loved it.

Richard Vidan (also in the obscure Zombie Infection) is somewhat like Vernon’s character, only he doesn’t last near as long. Others, such as Kristina Sanborn and B.J. Turner, had their moments, but overall, it’s hard to say they really stood out all that well.

To be honest, Scarecrows isn’t a great movie. I talk a bit in my Scarecrow County review about the sad state of scarecrow horror films, so I won’t repeat it here, but there’s so few decent scarecrow horror films that a movie like Scarecrows, which definitely has some holes in it’s plot, can stand out positively.

And I think that stands true. Dark Night of the Scarecrow is perhaps a better example of the suspense that can be created within the framework of a scarecrow movie, but Scarecrows demonstrates the type of gore that could make the topic one worth exploring with a more serious attitude.

7.5/10