Il ritorno di Scarecrow

If I'd only known that this was the third in a series when I picked it up, I might have held back until I'd had the chance to study the first two instalments in some depth and subsequently come into Scarecrow Gone Wild fully prepared to appreciate all it had to offer. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson from the whole Kickboxer 4 farce (who is this feckless boy-child? Where's Jean-Claude? Why is Tong Po half his previous size?) - but no. Ah well, not to worry - at the end of the day I can safely say its charms weren't entirely lost on me.

In spite of several dull stretches as the film tries to make the lives of its mouth-breathing teenage sickle-fodder seem deep and involving, SGW is ultimately brimming over with so many top-quality "what the..." moments that it's impossible not to have fun with the damn thing. The Scarecrow drives! The Scarecrow hits the waves! The Scarecrow inexplicably gains the power of electrocution! The Scarecrow's head appears to be made of cast iron when someone clouts him with a fire extinguisher! It's all good stuff. And I'd never even heard of Ken Shamrock before this, but now I think he should be in every film ever made (alongside Christopher Lambert and Steven Seagal).

What's particularly endearing about Scarecrow Gone Wild is that everybody involved plays it as if they've been told it's some kind of intense art-house drama, although we do get the occasional flash of momentary self-awareness (the "watch out for the homicidal scarecrow" line near the end comes to mind). All in all, definitely one to remember, and roll on 10,001 Scarecrows... I think.

Wow! Here comes another straight-to-video scarecrow movie to keep the cinematic masochists happy. If the cheap-looking opening credits don't tell you you're in for quite a ride, then the diabolically tragic "writing" sure will.

A diabetic kid gets tied on to a legendary scarecrow as part of his initiation onto the baseball team. Then the scarecrow goes nuts and starts offing people. Need I say more? This movie consists greatly of cheap effects that makes it look like it was edited with iMovie (note that spooky color inversion) and actors who apparently weren't good enough to show up on some late-night Cinemax special. Actually, thats not fair, as the actors didn't have much room to work around the abysmal script. Parts of this movie really seem like parody, especially when one character picks up his guitar and starts playing the worst song ever conceived by humans, with the worst lip-synching ever performed to go along with it. The "gore" here is also a major disappointment. In most B-movies such as this, there is a thick layer of cheap gore FX to make up for what the story and acting lacks. Here, the stuff is so cheap that it's not even fun. This movie actually makes "Jack Frost 2" look like lots of fun in comparison.

If you think this movie is the "worst one you've ever seen" then you probably haven't gotten deep into the world of straight-to-video B-horror. Regardless, this movie will cause you a great deal of mental anguish, no matter what your background.

OK, when Ken Shamrock was in the UFC I was kind of a fan. Then he went to wresting and became a joke. Well boy did he just cement his place in the hall of Sham. This movie is as bad as it gets, with the sad new direction that horror is headed. Only one word comes to mind when I think of this movie, "Stupid". The acting is terrible, I never even got a jolt from a sudden surprise. It just kind of walks through the movie, with the actors talking out their lines with little or no emotion. I was so bored with this lifeless movie, I was begging for the scarecrow to kill them all. This movie suffers from the worse camera direction that all true horror fans hate. When the murder is about to happen they cut to another scene. That did it for me. Just think they have another one scheduled for release in Sept. Oh boy can't wait. Maybe I will just go watch "Scream" again, and do what the title suggests. Don't waste your time or money on this clunker.

The things I have learned from this movie are remarkable, things I never would have guessed otherwise. I do warn you though, there are spoilers.

1) Spring Break doesn't consist of many people on a beach, but instead a small group friends...

2) Daylight is a tricky thing and can disappear to night, then dawn, then night again within a period of five minutes.

3) Scarecrows can whistle.

4) Scarecrows can whistle under water.

5) Scarecrows can drive trucks.

6) Boom mikes are not obviously visible while shooting or editing, but very visible when watching the movie.

7) Mirrors don't show your outer appearance, but instead what you are on the inside.

8) Scarecrows are weak against defibrillators.

9) Scarecrows lose track of people very easily on an open beach.

10) A wrestler is no match for the mighty power of a scarecrow.

11) Being lightly slapped can knock you unconscious.

12) Drunk people like terrible guitar solos.

13) When a spear-like object stabs through someone, it sticks through them at a completely different angle.

14) If you are being dragged along a beach, screaming for help, no one will help you, despite there being two people on the same side of the beach as you.(Check the background beach around when the girl finds her dead boyfriend, where could those two people go to in a matter of minutes?)

15) When you spill your innards, they rest neatly on top of your skin.

16) Finally, people don't show any signs of worry when their friends disappear for many hours without explanation.

This movie is very informative, I hope you have learned something from it. So Yeah.

Scarecrow Gone Wild does not belong to the "Scarecrow" horror franchise, which started with Emmanuel Itier's film and continued with "Scarecrow Slayer". That said, Scarecrow Gone Wild is very much in the same vein as those films and will appeal to "Scarecrow" fans.

The biggest difference between this film and the other scarecrow movies is in its approach to the genre. The original "Scarecrow" was a dark, supernatural revenge film, while the sequel blended in a broader spectrum of victims but still remained true to the revenge philosophy. Scarecrow Gone Wild, on the other hand, follows a standard slasher film framework and is much closer to mainstream horror, with the requisite jolts, comedic quips and surprise moments. I'm not a big fan of most comedy/horror films but Scarecrow Gone Wild is made with such Z-movie spirit that I found it difficult to resist.

This interpretation of the story involves Sam being tied to the scarecrow during a hazing ritual. Unfortunately, Sam has diabetes and goes into insulin shock. In his comatose state, Sam's spirit merges with the Scarecrow and he promptly begins to slice and dice everyone in sight. The action comes thick and fast, with a series of increasingly unrealistic murders. This film uses every cheesy horror cliché in the book and yet that somehow just adds to its appeal. The humour generally misses the mark, but there are sufficient vaguely amusing scenarios and unintentionally funny moments to make the interludes between killings bearable.

The film benefits greatly from an enthusiastic cameo performance from the 'world's most dangerous man' himself, UFC wrestler Ken Shamrock. His hammy performance as the coach was the bad acting highlight for me, particularly during his beach side duel with the scarecrow. The main actors were competent, particularly Matthew Linhardt as Jack and David Zelina, who impresses as Mike. The special effects are reasonable but less impressive than the other "Scarecrow" films. I don't expect much from such a low budget movie but Scarecrow Gone Wild often takes the easy way out by having the murders take place off screen.

Scarecrow Gone Wild is stupid fun. The film never pretends to be anything other than trashy, low budget horror and for that I am thankful. I have my fingers crossed that the dumbest character in horror history will grace video stores with yet another ridiculous adventure in the not too distant future.