A Maldição dos Espantalhos

I just rented it on the strength of some online reviews, and because it did look & sound creepy. Misleadingly, it seems that some people give it more credit than it deserves, taking into account its small budget and placing it in some "genre" that allows for it to be bad, or something. That is a schooled take of the movie that is removed from the natural context of a regular viewer sitting down and wanting to see a good scary movie.

The legitimate gripes you'll hear about this one are the standard criticisms you'll hear of any bad film, coming from anyone-- the acting is bad, the characters are stupid, the script is awful, it doesn't make any sense, and if the scarecrows are so supernatural, then why do they use big knives to kill everyone? Kind of for keeping with the slasher-movie trend, I guess.

So much potential was wasted, in this movie. It's the kind of movie that you don't need a big budget to turn into a classic. These people are stranded in this creepy old house in the woods one night (for meaningless reasons), and these really scary-looking scarecrows are surrounding the place, for no reason. I like the fact that it never explains who put the scarecrows there, and why the scarecrows come to life, or who owns the place in the first place. It makes for good atmosphere. Really good premise. You're not even supposed to ask "why," which, for a horror film, is a good thing-- it means anything goes. However what could be a straight-forward and barebones horror story is weighed down by a tendency toward fast-paced action; wise-cracking criminals, guns and explosions, a crime subplot that drains the supernatural mood.

A group of criminals with no charisma or brains, who you remain typically indifferent to, are on the run and as they hide from the law, they find their selves in the backwoods, hunted down by these freaky scarecrows. These are not characters who you get to know, empathize with, or understand. They bicker unintelligently, swear a lot, shoot guns and recite corny lines. No one's really heroic, you don't know who to root for-- basically the scarecrows end up the most endearing characters, though it's not intended that way. It's just that- with each person the scarecrows kill, you know the movie is sooner to being finished. It's not really suspenseful, and other than the appearance of the scarecrows (which you kinda get used to), it's not really scary, unless you're young or watching it alone out in the country, late at night.

What really spoils it, seriously, very badly, is the terrible acting. You can't even overlook it. And the dialogue. Everyone is constantly talking, in their stupid voices, making stupid jokes all the time, saying stupid things. You can't get around it. If the movie had dropped at least half the dialogue, it could be viewable. And if it had lost, ideally, about 95% of the dialogue ('cause so much of the drama and conversations is so stupid and annoying and pointless) the film itself could be worth repeated watches with no other alterations. Unless you're into bad movies, and that's cool, too-- some people are.

The scarecrows are pretty frightening-looking. I live out in the country. If I saw a scarecrow like that, it would make me say yikes and run away. I think that, in this movie, the scarecrows have a dialogue going back and forth, sharing corny one-liners, but you can't tell if they're talking or if the main characters are the ones talking, because they all sound the same and talk the same way, and they're just always talking. Maybe this movie would be better if you watched it with the volume all the way down.

Rating: Worse than fair, but not bad enough to be bad.

The plot in Scarecrows is extremely generic, cardboard, and simple. If you want a movie that will have you thinking for hours on end, the Scarecrows will not suite you fine at all, period. However, if you are a person who would rather watch a movie for the sheer atmosphere, then you have found a nice little gem.

Scarecrows is far from perfect, the plot is extended out to nothing, which takes away any chance of this movie being gripping at all. The characters are also paper-thin, and have no personality whatsoever. The actors were also pretty bland. The script was poorly written, and extremely forgettable.

The only redeeming aspect is the fact that this movie has a great amount of sheer atmosphere, and the fact that the scarecrows are extremely creepy. If it wern't for the terror in the atmosphere of the film, then this movie would resemble a 1980s House of the Dead.

If you want a creepy movie with a plot that you don't really have to get into, then Scarecrows will fit you.

Recommended to B-Movie enthusiast only.

For a low budget suspense flick this isn't half bad. It has a lot of good atmosphere, decent gore(I've seen gorier though.), and pretty likeable characters. This one's about a military gang that steals money from their own base and hide out in the cornfeilds where they are killed of by zombie scarecrows. Good story, and effects. *** out of *****. Good for a Friday or Saturday night.

Man, what a horror movie! The idea about killer scarecrows may turn a lot of people off by sounding cheezy, but this is talented filmmaking by people who knew what to do, and, best of all, what NOT to do. The dark, quiet, breezy cornfields of a deserted-looking rural area, with no one around for who knows how many miles, is served with some great creepy atmosphere. The music helps, with a lot of the soundtrack's more sedated moments being the creepiest of all. The gore and visual shocks are very detailed and well-done, but they are kept to a minimum for a lot of the running time. Still, as they say, when it rains, it pours! The acting is great, and the writers did the right thing when they knew NOT to try to give any explanation for how the killer scarecrows came to be other than as much as the characters can figure out (a cleverly vague theory about a family that had been living on the farm who were probably in league with Satan). A lot of great powers are wielded by the scarecrows, including the exact imitation of victims' voices and the ability to reanimate their victims for use to their own fiendish means. There is some humor, but it's character-to-character banter rather than any type of comedy. This is no goofy movie by any means. It really also creeped me out about how the scarecrows move with a sort of stealth, and silently run right up behind a character and off them in seconds, without warning. I had some serious trouble sleeping after this one, but that is a compliment. Not many movies have been able to do that with me, and even fewer are ones I still found enjoyable enough to search down in a used video store and shell out ten bucks to buy. I would only recommend the unrated version, but this is one of those movies that is hard to find in its rated version, so if you come across it, it will probably be unrated. Creepy, creepy stuff, the best way to describe this sadly overlooked masterpiece of horror cinema.

After a brazen robbery at Camp Pendleton, a gang of crooks force a pilot and his daughter to fly them to Mexico. Unfortunately for the bad guys, one of their number takes the money and parachutes out of the plane! Not wanting to let him get away with the loot, the rest of the team soon follows him. Landing near an old farm, the hunt is on.

Unbeknownst to these miscreants, something about this particular farm just isn't right. There's a small army of real "stuffed shirts" in the cornfield who have been waiting for a few visitors to drop in, so they can "stalk" them. Within a short time, the criminal crew is up against a seemingly unstoppable force of eeevil. A gore-drenched attrition problem soon follows. Will anyone escape, or will they all become "husks" of their former selves?

SCARECROWS is one of the better late-80's horror films, that would have been the perfect addition to any Saturday night, creep fiesta! Owing much to a multitude of zombie epics, the story is simple, but eerily effective. The title entities are suitably mysterious and gruesome. The woo-woo music fits the grisly action, and overall, the low-budget is well-spent.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR: Many horrifically hilarious lines of dialogue!

EXTRA-EXTRA CREDIT FOR: The grimmest of finales!...