15th Anniversary Retro-Review #14: DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981)

In the second to last of the look back the first fifteen reviews I first wrote for the blog is the classic made-for-TV terror Dark Night of the Scarecrow, which aired on October 24th 1981 on CBS television. I was still in the single-digits when it first aired, I remember watching it on the tube with my mom and grandmother, and being scared shitless by it, truly a slice of kindertrauma. I grew up in a rural area surrounded by cornfields, and this arrived a week before Halloween and the spooky vibes were heavy in the crisp fall air. This was a review of a VHS tape I found at Goodwill, and it debuted on DVD a short time later from VCI Ent. and has since been re-released on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. This is still one of my favorite made-for-TV flicks. It was the first review I wrote to generate a response from someone involved with the film, via an email I received from the screenwriter J.D. Feigelson, which was pretty exciting for me, you can read it below: 

"Dear Mac, I just wanted to thank you so very much for taking the time to view and review "Dark Night of the Scarecrow." You are very observant of the time and love put into the restoration of the original movie. What a lot of people surmise, but wrongly, is that the lack of on-screen violence was because of television. Actually, I wrote to original to be an atmospheric morality tale. That the script had so little on-screen violence is WHY CBS bought it not the other way around. So, there you have an inside insight. But above all it was a labor of love and a gift to the revelers of Halloween." - email from writer J.D. Feigelson 

DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981)

RUN TIME: 100 Min.

DIRECTOR: Frank De Felitta

CAST: Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Lane Smith, Tonya Crowe, Larry Drake

SUMMARY: In a rural town a man with the mind of a child is wrongfully accused of a child’s death. After his demise at the hands of a lynch mob, it is realized he is innocent, and in fact, saved the girls life. Afterwards, the men responsible for his death start dying under mysterious circumstances.

THE FILM: DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW was a made-for-television horror film that aired on the CBS network the week before Halloween 1981, what great timing, truly a classic Halloween film. I was 8 at the time, and the film affected me deeply. Much like in the film, I grew up a rural area that was blanketed in fields of corn and agriculture. Afterwards I had quite a few nightmares about scarecrows and cornfields, and I hadn’t even seen THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984), yet. The film is directed by Frank De Felitta, the author/screenwriter of AUDREY ROSE (1977), also reviewed on the blog.

The film opens with Bubba (Larry Drake, DR. GIGGLES), a 36 year old man with the mind of a child, as he plays with Mary-Lee (Tonya Crowe), an adolescent girl and his only friend. They are watched by Otis (Charles Durning, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?), a mean-spirited mailman who disapproves of their relationship despite its innocent nature. Soon thereafter Mary-Lee is attacked by a vicious dog. Otis takes the child’s seemingly lifeless body to her mother, trying to explain the situation, and she panics and accuses Bubba of murdering her child. A lynch mob is formed by Otis, armed with rifles; track Bubba with bloodhounds to his mother’s home. She sends them away, but the hounds are onto his scent, which leads them to a scarecrow on a post in a field. Otis walks-up to the scarecrow to investigate, it’s a chilling sight. Bubba’s eyes stare out of the eerie burlap mask, his eyes tearing up and trembling with fear. The men open fire, executing him in a hail of gunfire. Right on cue the truck radio gurgles to life, informing the men that the search for Bubba has been called off, the girl is all right, and Bubba may have saved her life. Otis, acting quickly, takes a pitchfork from the track and places it in Bubba’s hands, thereby claiming self defense. There’s a short trial afterwards and the men are cleared of murder charges. Soon thereafter the men are dispatched one by one in a series of chilling revenge killings, each preceded by the sight of a scarecrow in a field outside their homes.

I don’t want to spoil the film so I won’t go into much detail about the murders. This is a TV film, as such it is absent of gore, but high on chills and atmosphere. The pace can be a tad slow, but with that we get some decent character development. The culprit is not visually revealed until the end and it works fantastically. I love the entire film, but the last 10 minutes are above and beyond amazing. The cinematography is pretty standard for an 80’s made-for-TV-film, not too imaginative, but it works and has few moments of inspiration. The score is eerie, tense and really enhanced my viewing experience. As TV films go, this is heads and shoulders above KILLDOZER (1974), and a good bit better than another childhood favorite GARGOYLES (1972).

DVD: Dark Night of the Scarecrow is set to be released on DVD for the first time by VCI Entertainment on September 10th, 2010. The film will be presented in its original 1.33:1 broadcast aspect ratio with a newly created 5.1 surround sound audio. Special features will include Director & Writer Commentary, Original World Premiere Trailer, Rebroadcast Trailer and World Premiere Promo. Sounds great, can’t wait to check it out.

VERDICT: I can’t say enough great things about Dark Night of the Scarecrow, it’s pretty awesome, and any fan of horror should seek this out. ****1/2 (4.5 out of 5 stars)

THE CONJURING (2013) Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 4K Ultra HD Review

THE CONJURING (2013) 

Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 

Region Code: Region-Free 

Rating: R

Duration: 111 Minutes 55 Seconds 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.39:1) 

Director: James Wan

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver 

The Conjuring (2013), directed by James Wan (Insidious),  tells the tale of how world-renowned paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson, Watchmen)  and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel) were called upon to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. The film proper actually opens three years before the main story with the Warrens investigating a haunted a creepy doll named Annabelle which has been terrorizing a group of roommates, securing the doll in their private reliquary of cursed objects. Three years later in 1971  the Warrens are contacted by the Perron  in Harrisville, RI who have moved into an old farmhouse and have been experiencing terrifying paranormal activity. We have parents Carolyn (Lili Taylor, The Addiction) and Roger (Ron Livingston, Office Space) and their five daughters: Andrea (Shanley Caswell, Detention), Nancy (Hayley McFarland, TV's Lie To Me), Christine (Joey King, Independence Day: Resurgence), Cindy (Mackenzie Foy, Interstellar), and April (Kyla Deaver). Arriving to investigate the Warrens suspect demonic possession is afoot, discovering that Carolyn has been possessed by an accused witch and Satanist named Bathsheba Sherman who once lived at the farmhouse!

I have real fond memories of seeing this at the cinema with my kiddos who were twelve and thirteen at the time. The film is pretty much a masterclass in building suspense, eerie atmosphere and some truly startling and well-crafted scares, that repeatedly sent my kids into a frenzy at the theater. This might have been my first real experience taking my kids to a theatrical horror film, they'd been seeing some beginner horror at home for a few year by then, but seeing a new R-rated fright flick at the theater with a full audience is something else all together, they were feeding off the energy of the crowd, and I in turn was experiencing the film vicariously through their first theatrical experience, ad the nervous energy they were feeling at the time. There's scene where the witch eaps off an armoire onto the Carolyn, it's a taught a well-staged scare moments, to this day, I still talk about seeing at at the theater when my son, terrified and an ineed of release screamed "oh shit!", it's treasured memory. I am not coming into this review with much re-evaluation, this is a modern classic, if anything I loved it more this go around, loving the slow-burn build-up, the creepy elements (including that terrific hand-clap seen in the trailers), and the more terrifying possession and exorcism scenes with Lili Taylor that channel The Exorcist and Evil Dead. The fact that this was made using so many practical effects versus rampan digital trickery makes a huge difference.   

Audio/Video: The Conjuring (2013) debuts on4K UHD from WB in 2160p Ultra HD, sourced from a 2K DI, framed in 2.39:1 widescreen, with HDR1- color-grade. Being an upscale this didn;t wow me in terms of resolution and texture when compared to the previous Blu-ray, but certainly a notch above. The most notable improvement comes from the HDR color-grade, colors are richer and more nuanced, those fall RI colors look terrific, the blacks are deeper and inker, and the scenes of candlelight and  flame look wonderful. No Dolby Atmos for it's 4K UHD debut, but we do get the original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track, which is no slouch by any means,. The track is terrific, the haunted house ausio soundscape excels, disembodied children's voices laughing and whispering, creaky floorboards, Lili Taylor's affected possession voice and screams, it's just a solid mix all the way around.  

Onto the extras, we get the archival featurettes fromt he Blu-ray by way of the 7-min The Conjuring: Face-to-Face with Terror, 15-min A Life in Demonology, and the 8-min Scaring the “@$*%” Out of You.​ We also get two new featurettes by way of 8-min Scariest of Them All, with the cast and creators looking back at some of their favorite scares from the film, and the 7-min Reflections on the Conjuring with the cast and crew recalling their time on-set making it. the new featurettes include Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, Mackenzie Foy, director James Wan, producer Peter Safran and more. Sadly, no trailer is included for the film, which I thought was quite strange. 

The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring that iconic scene of Taylor in the basement holding a match in the dark, the ghostly hands clapping just behind her head. Inside there's a redemption code for a Digital Copy, and we get a matte finish Slipcover.

Special Features:

- NEW! Scariest of Them All - The cast and creators of The Conjuring take a look back at some of the greatest scares of the series, uncovering what made these films so iconic.​ (7:47) 

- NEW! Reflections on the Conjuring More than a decade after the release of the original film, the cast and crew of The Conjuring reflect on their experiences creating one of the most legendary horror series in history.​ (6:45) 

- The Conjuring: Face-to-Face with Terror​: Relive the real-life horror as the Perron family comes together to reflect back on the farmhouse they shared with diabolical spirits for nearly a decade. (6:37) 

- A Life in Demonology​: The real demonologist and paranormal experts from The Conjuring take you inside their life’s work and into their personal occult cellar, where they keep haunted and unholy relics from their many cases.​ (15:37) 

- Scaring the “@$*%” Out of You: Director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) welcomes you into his world and gives an inside look at the at the scenes that scare the “@$*%” out of moviegoers time and time again.​(8:02) 

Buy it!

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CAFE FLESH (1982) Mondo Macabro Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

CAFE FLESH (1982) 

Label: Mondo Macabro 

Region Code: Region-Free 

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 75 Minutes 38 Seconds 

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with English subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director:  Stephen Sayadian

Cast: Andy Nichols, Paul McGibboney, Michelle Bauer, Marie Sharp, Tantala Ray

Cafe Flesh (1982) is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic porno-offering directed by Stephen Sayadian (Dr. Caligari) under the amazing  pseudonym "Rinse Dream". Opening text crawl establishes that this takes place five years after a nuclear war where 99% of the survivors of the fallout not only cannot experience sexual pleasure, but physical contact makes them physically an violently ill, they are called “Sex Negatives”, those who have been affected by "The Touch". Oh, they want to make love, but cannot. The remaining 1% who can be turned on and get it on are known as “Sex Positives,” and are forced to sexually perform in a weirdo cabaret for the pleasure of the Sex Negatives, at the Cafe Flesh, emceed by provocateur Max Melodramatic (Andy Nichols, Nightdreams) who regularly taunts Cafe Flesh regulars Lana (Michelle Bauer, credited as Pia Snow, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama), a secret sex positive and her sex-negative husband Nick (Paul McGibboney), who at the start of the film is unaware that his wife is not like him. When a famous  sex positive performer named Johnny Rico (Kevin James, Taboo II, Droid) shows up at Cafe Flesh Lana;s hidden sex -drive presents itself, causing marital strife, as does her association with a recently discovered sex-positive performer Angel (Marie Sharp, Electric Blue 8). 

A porno unlike any other Cafe Flesh is both scintillating and  thought-provoking, it has a keen visual style, a synth score and a story that itself could be seen as a dissection and send-up of the pornophraghy industry itself. The erotic entanglements are presented as entertainment, like some horny Busby Berkeley performance, that are both unsettling and nitrifying, if not exactly masturbation material. Do not get me wrong, this is hardcore porn with all the penetration, cock, twat and cum-shots you would expect, but it's just so fucking weird. That said, I was turned on, I'm a weirdo, sure, but I also love it for the garish lighting and set design, and bizarre performances, including men dressed up as infants in highchairs in the background, a bizarre office hook-up wherein the boss has a giant pencil head (Eraserhead?), and a bored housewife hooking up with a guy in a rat costume! Cafe Flesh is just a wild, weirdo-erotic time, that it gives you procatove material that activates both your mind and libido, and is just visually cool to look outside of watching characters fuck. I would say this is a pretty essential slice of thought-provoking smut, if that's your thing, get at it!

Audio/Video: Cafe Flesh arrives on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD framed in both 1.33:1 open matte and 1.85:1 widescreen versions. This is sourced from 4K scans from a pair of 35mm film prints, and some brief "analog sources".  Film grain is nicely resolved, texturing looks terrific, especially in the close-ups, colors are solid, and black levels are good and deep, yeah baby. As this is a composite source there are some minor transitional things you will notice, but overall the restoration is absolutely lovely. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The audio was pulled from the 35mm optical tracks, and while it's flat and narrow in range, and has some light clicks and pops from time to time, like the video presentation it's pretty great all things considered. 

Extras are plentiful, starting off with a terrific Audio commentary with director/ co-writer Stephen Sayadian who talks about the era in which the film was made, the many pseudonyms used in the credits, the hardscore sex scenes, and the themes explored in the film. Next up is a 58-min Interview with Stephen Sayadian, it regurgitates some of the commentary talking points, but also expands on a few things, he talks about working with scream queen Michelle Bauer, shooting the film illegally in Los Angeles, and expanding on the possibility of considering an R-rated non-porn cut of the film. Then into the 15-min Interview with co-writer Jerry Stahl who talks about his career, where he was at at the time, and how it wa sintended an an anti-pornporn flick. In the 16-min Interview with Jacob Smith, an academic from from Northwestern University tackles the film from a more academic approach, discussing it's themes and execution, which sets it apart from porno of the era. The 10-min Interview with Jessica Stoya, a former porn star turned author, notes how the film serves as a cpommentary on porno filmmaking. Disc extras are end with the 3-min Theatrical Trailer and three-minutes of On-set Footage. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork which if I recall was the VHS original artwork. 

Special Features:

- Brand new 4k transfer from 35mm materials, digitally restored.

- Full frame and 1.85:1 theatrical versions, selectable via Set-Up menu.

- Audio commentary with director/ co-writer Stephen Sayadian.

- Interview with Stephen Sayadian (57:48) 

- Interview with co-writer Jerry Stahl (15:22) 

- Interview with Jacob Smith (15:40) 

- Interview with Jessica Stoya (9:40) 

- Theatrical Trailer (2:59) 

- On-set Footage (3:09) 

Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

Buy it!

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