Scarecrows (1988) Reviews

• Low key, but creepy little horror flick

  The_Void2006-04-19

  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.

• Creepy, Atmospheric, great special effects, and one hell of a horror movie!!

  jeff-81999-02-22

  SCARECROWS is one of those films that never seemed to get much recognition when it came out, yet it is one of the best horror movies ever made!! A group of bank-robbers must land their hijacked cargo plane in a deserted cornfield out in the middle of nowhere when one member of their group (Burt) greedily parachutes out of the plane with the stolen money. Unfortunately Burt must find where the money landed amidst the giant cornfield and get away before the rest of his angry group track him down...but that's only half the problem! The other problem is that unbeknownst to Burt and the rest of the robbers is that somewhere lurking around in the fields are some of the scariest looking scarecrows in motion picture history and they're not just hanging around! They're out for Blood! But with so many scarecrows hanging around throughout the fields, how do you know which ones are alive and which ones are not? As Burt and the rest of the robbers begin to discover that something supernatural is possessing these cornfields, they're in for the Fright of their lives (and deaths) as they become hunted throught the dark night fields! This film is incredible! The scarecrows are some of the scariest looking Movie Monsters ever created! The special effects are both Gruesome, realistic, and amazing! The movie is very suspenseful and atmospheric. The haunted cornfield sets for one hell of a creepy mood and the supernatural story will keep you on the edge of your seat. If You are looking for a truly frightening and wonderful horror film that you may have missed the first time around, Look No Further...SCARECROWS is one hell of a ride!!!

• Slightly overrated

  Tikkin2006-04-24

  A lot of horror fans seem to love Scarecrows, so I won't be very popular in saying that I found it to be rather boring. The idea behind it was interesting, but it seems to drag so much. I think the main problem is that it is all set in darkness. Sometimes horror films set in darkness can work (such as Humongous), but Scarecrows is in darkness for the whole film. A lot of the time it's hard to figure out what's actually happening, and although some shots of the scarecrows were creepy, most were hard to even see. If a little more lighting had been used, perhaps it could've been better. There's not many films involving killer scarecrows to my knowledge, apart from Dark Night Of The Scarecrow, which is much better. I would recommend that over Scarecrows any day.

• The best non-zombie horror discovery I've ever made

  frobrousa2000-10-27

  "Scarecrows" is great. The action starts immediately and doesn't let up; the atmosphere is dark and creepy; the special effects are good. But best of all is the fact that the plot retains a sense of mystery. The only people on the farm are the bandits trying to retrieve their money. There aren't any crotchety old crones who relate the supernatural history of the farm via soft-focus flashback, the way so many movies do. No. Instead we are given a few clues as the bandits explore the farmhouse, and that's it. We see a photo of the farmers. We wonder where are they now; what happened to them. But that's all. There's too much creepiness going on to worry about the past. There's too much creepiness going on to remain on the farm. Forget the money. And that's part of the fun too--shouting at the television screen, trying to convince the characters to get the hell out of there. This movie is fun, bizarre, and the supernaturally inexplicable unfoldings will freak you out.

• Scarecrows a real straw dog.

  DevastationBob-32010-08-02

  SPOILER! This movie is terrible. It was unavailable on DVD for a long time for this very reason. However some people, (I'm looking at YOU Internet), kept talking it up and ascribing to it some cult status. I hope the cult for this one drinks the kool-aid. We're dumped into the action with no character introduction or explanation except for what we hear over the radio on WXPO, All exposition, All the time. Somebody double crosses somebody else and we find ourselves at a spooky farmhouse surrounded by spooky scarecrows, who are stood up in a forest with no crops in sight. I waited most of the movie for a hero or even a protagonist to show up, but no luck there. A lot of the dialogue seems to have been reintroduced in post production so a lot of times, people that are talking aren't even in the scene. Characters change depending on scene convenience, the one guy that poses the idea that evil scarecrows have come to life and want to kill us is the one who, when hearing a voice over the radio that nobody else hears, insists it's his friend and turns a gun on the only other survivors. The girl who was kidnapped and is being kept alive only because her pilot father is dead risks her life to save her kidnappers. Oh, and the plane has a wooden floor. Since, i'm a sadomasochist and I watched this til the end, the credits are finished out by dedicating this movie to the director's sister and mother. I wonder if he liked them. And the worst thing about it is, all things considered, it's a fairly original idea. Scarecrows haven't been given much limelight. Anyone with a modicum of talent could remake this and just realize all the unrealized potential and have a neat little horror flick. Until that happens, I'd give this one a miss.