The first and last time I watched Scarecrows was when it was released on DVD in 2007. I was pretty excited to jump into the movie, but I sadly came out disappointed, mainly because the DVD was so damn dark, I could hardly make out what was going on in the movie. Thankfully, Scream Factory has released Scarecrows on Blu-ray and I can tell you straight out, it’s way better than the DVD. However, does it make the movie any better? Honestly, yes, yes it does! I actually really like this damn little horror flick and I think you will too. Let’s stalk the fields together and read on for the full review…
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 83 min
ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
SUBTITLES: English
REGION: A
RATING: Unrated
PRODUCTION DATE: 1988
RELEASE DATE: June 2nd, 2015
PLOT SUMMARY
After a band of ex-military criminals pulls off a multi-million dollar heist, they hop aboard a plane headed for Mexico. But when one of their own betrays them, they suddenly find themselves on the ground and on the run through a field of scarecrows near an abandoned farmhouse. And as night sets in, the real nightmare begins. The men discover that there’s a reason the farmhouse is empty… and now those who thought they were the hunters are being hunted by an unimaginable and malevolent force!
MOVIE
When I first watched Scarecrows, I had no idea what the movie was about. I was picturing a bunch of teens getting stalked by some killer scarecrows and instead, I got a bunch of bad guys/gal, getting stalked by killer scarecrows. Okay, maybe that ain’t all what it’s about, but that’s the general gist of the story. There are a few interesting subplots, like one of the guys screwing over the team and trying to take the money for himself. There also is a possible hint at something more happening to this group of people and why they all ended up at this shack in the woods, being hunted by killer scarecrows. It’s only hinted at and never really expanded on, but I thought it was a neat idea. I guess that’s the one big issue I had with Scarecrows, the lack of explanation on the events that are transpiring. Nothing is ever really explained and you never get to find out exactly why all this is happening. A little bit of backstory is never a bad thing, so colour me disappointed that we never do get to find out why.
Scarecrows does have a nice helping of gore and special effects throughout it’s incredibly short run time of 83 minutes (counting credits.) Special Effects Artist Norman Cabrera did a wonderful job on creating these creepy scarecrows and the kills are fantastic to witness. That’s one nice thing about Scarecrows, there is plenty of death and mayhem happening and they don’t shy away from some lovely gore.
BLU-RAY
Scream Factory has done a wonderful job on brightening up the film so you can actually make out what is happening. The film isn’t going to win awards on being the cleanest and sharpest looking picture out there, but it does have it’s grain left intact and that to me is always a good thing. As for the audio side of things, I watched it in 5.1 surround sound, but I got to admit, the rear channels felt empty. The other option is to watch the movie in 2.0 and honestly, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference if you did.
Special features are plentiful in my opinion, as this release could’ve easily had nothing included. You get two new interviews, one is approx. 16-minute interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator Norman Cabrera. I got to admit, he mentions that as the movie progresses, the sacks on the scarecrows get torn away and the faces are slowly revealed. I didn’t see that when I watched the movie at all. In fact, I thought they always had their faces shown. Weird. The other interview is with Actor Ted Vernon, who plays the commando with a heart of gold in the movie. It’s an interesting interview and he sounds like he had a great time doing this low budget flick. It runs roughly 8 minutes. Rounding out the features are: a Still Gallery, Trailer, Storyboards and two commentaries, one with Co-screenwriter Richard Jefferies, Director Of Photography Peter Deming And Composer Terry Plumeri and the other with Director William Wesley And Producer Cami Winikoff. You’ll spend a good amount of time with this Blu-ray for sure.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
- New Audio Commentary With Co-screenwriter Richard Jefferies, Director Of Photography Peter Deming And Composer Terry Plumeri
- Audio Commentary With Director William Wesley And Producer Cami Winikoff
- The Last Straw – An Interview With Special Make-Up Effects Creator Norman Cabrera
- Cornfield Commando – An Interview With Actor Ted Vernon
- Original Storyboards
- Still Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
VERDICT
Scarecrows is a simple film with a simple plot, which sadly isn’t explained much. It takes a bit to get going, but when the shit hits the fan, it sprays everywhere and that my folks is a good thing. Okay, that’s probably not the best way to describe a movie, but screw it, I’m going with it. Scarecrows is your standard low budget 80s affair, with some gore, good acting and fun. What more can you ask for, well besides a kickass Blu-ray release from Scream Factory, which is exactly what you’re getting! Recommended!
RATING
