Label: VCI Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Director: J.D. Feigelson
Cast: Amber Wedding, Aiden Shurr, Carol Dines, Adam Snyder, Tim Gooch, Richard Seng
Dark Night of the Scarecrow originally aired on CBS on October 24th, 1981 when I was eight, I consider it a seminal slice of TV terror that frightened me good back then and holds up pretty dang well today. It stands as the flick that ignited the scarecrow horror sub-genre, followed by Scarecrows (1988), Dark Harvest (1992), Night of the Scarecrow (1995) and many others after, but few have maintained the nostalgic kindertrauma that the original instilled within me. This four-decades later sequel is both written and directed by J.D. Feigelson, the writer of the original film, but I am saddened to say that it falls far short when compared to the original.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow originally aired on CBS on October 24th, 1981 when I was eight, I consider it a seminal slice of TV terror that frightened me good back then and holds up pretty dang well today. It stands as the flick that ignited the scarecrow horror sub-genre, followed by Scarecrows (1988), Dark Harvest (1992), Night of the Scarecrow (1995) and many others after, but few have maintained the nostalgic kindertrauma that the original instilled within me. This four-decades later sequel is both written and directed by J.D. Feigelson, the writer of the original film, but I am saddened to say that it falls far short when compared to the original.
Set in the same sleepy little town forty years later we have single mother Chris (Amber Wedding) and her son Jeremy (Aiden Shurr) who have recently moved into the small community while she tries to escape her past, which comes back to haunt her 'natch. She takes up a job at a local store, and while she's working her seemingly emotionally troubled son Jeremy is babysat by a kindly older lady named Mrs. Corvis (Carol Dines, Spider-Man: No Way Home). She notices that the old lady and the boy have grown abnormally attached, but doesn;t think too much about it, but we come to see that the spirit of Bubba from the first film is still animating the sack headed scarecrow, and he has a connection to the young boy that Mrs. Clovis will use for her own mysterious purposes.
As where the original film was a made-for-TV film the gore was non-existent, it still worked because of the deft direction, the acting, and oodles of atmosphere it offered. What this sequel offers is pretty much zero gore as well, and the kills, which happen mostly just-off screen, are poorly executed. What we do see features cheap digital effects that fail to deliver any real threat, dread or gore, so that's disappointing. Also not a fan that forty-years later the spirit of poor Bubba is still trapped in that raggedy scarecrow, his soul still not at rest, poor guy.
On top of that the original film featured the talents of Larry Drake, Robert F. Lyons, and Lane Smith, as where this no-budget cheapie can only offer an amateur cast that is flat at best and just bad at worst. The script itself feels like a first draft that never got a second look before it went into production as well, there's an outside elements that comes into play that I didn't care for, I feel like they should have kept it small-town centric, and where it goes feels shoehorned. Now, the look of the scarecrow is not half bad, but not half as as good as the first film, but passable. The biggest change in the look is that the eye holes glow yellow at times, which looks super cheesy. The original film was written by Feigelson but also had the talents of author-turned-director Frank De Felitta (Audrey Rose) behind the camera. The original had a much higher budget, so it's not exactly a level playing field, and it's not a fair comparison, but when you make a sequel you're gonna be judged by the original, that's the way it goes, for better or worse. On one hand this feels like a group of friends making a no-budget flick, which I can appreciate, getting any movie made and distributed is a minor miracle, but when it's a sequel to a beloved cult-classic that sort of thing carries a different expectation with it, and this ill-conceived sequel fails to deliver on all fronts in my opinion. If you're a die-hard scarecrow-horror completest who needs to see 'em all go ahead and give this a watch I suppose, but if you're looking for a sequel to the original that delivers on that film's promise I would have to say skip it, you will be disappointed.
The film arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of distributor VCI Entertainment in 1080p HD widescreen with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio options. The only extras on the disc are a selection of VCI trailers.
