Scarecrows

Scarecrows shows what you can do with a very flimsy plot line and a low budget. Rather than concentrate on characters or story, the film leans more towards aesthetics; as the tale is portrayed within a very creepy atmosphere, and the central monsters of the title capitalise well on their natural scare factor. Like clowns, scarecrows are eerie creations and it's clear that director William Wesley knows that, as their dark and foreboding image makes up the backbone of this tale of terror. The only real theme that is put on display in this film comes from the idea of greed, as it is that very thing that gets all the central protagonists into life-threatening danger. The film follows a bunch of soldiers that have stolen a lot of money. They take a pilot and his daughter hostage and force the pair to take them to Mexico; but the ride has a hitch when one of the crooks decides that he doesn't want to share the money, and parachutes out of the plane with the loot. His partners in crime are soon on his tail, but the story has another twist when it turns out that the field they've jumped into is infested with scarecrows that want to do more than keep the birds off the crops!

This film isn't very well known and it's not hard to see why. Scarecrows is very short, running at about seventy minutes when you don't include the credit sequences. The film also feels very low-key, as the focus is more on the atmosphere than anything else, which can leave the film lacking at several intervals. Scarecrows is basically a glorified zombie movie, and pretty much plays out like one as the characters are picked off by their unworldly adversaries. The fact that the entire film takes place in what appears to be real time and in only one location ensures that it benefits from a claustrophobic tension, which benefits a film like this greatly. There isn't a lot of gore here, as the killings don't tend to be very bloodthirsty, and most of the violence takes place off-screen. The killings aren't bad, however, and I was impressed with the way that the film handled the scarecrows' victims after they had been savaged. Overall, this film certainly won't win any awards, and you won't really be missing much by not seeing it; but any horror fan that gets the chance to see Scarecrows probably won't be disappointed.

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!...

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.

Scarecrows (1988)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fairly entertaining horror film has a group of robbers forcing a father and his daughter to fly them to Mexico but along the way the gang leader jumps out of the plane with the money. Soon his "co-workers" go after him and they all find themselves in a strange field with countless scarecrows that come to life. SCARECROWS isn't exactly going to win any major awards but I think horror fans who enjoy some gore should find it of interest. In its uncut form the picture actually offers up some very memorable death scenes ranging from decapitations to bodies being sliced in half and there are some even more memorable ones where the gore factor is pretty over-the-top. It's certainly easy to see why two versions of this was released as the uncut one features enough red stuff where there was no way the studio could have gotten it past the MPAA. These effects certainly help the film move along as do the great looking villains. The scarecrows are pretty much what you'd expect them to look like but I really loved them. I thought each of them in their own way looked terrific and really gave the film some much needed atmosphere. The performances were also above average for this type of picture and there's no question that director William Wesley managed to build up some good atmosphere. The biggest problem is that between the fifty and sixty minute marks there's really nothing going on and the film grows a little boring before finally picking up in the final act. The various shots of the airplane flying was also annoying and especially when they just used the same shot over and over again. Still, with the memorable death scenes and great looking monsters, SCARECROWS offers up enough to make it worth watching.