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| Release: October 24th, 1981 Rating: NR Run time: 96 min Starring: Charles Durning, Larry Drake Director: Frank De Felitta Official Trailer: Dark Night of the Scarecrow |
There are only a few select made for TV movies out there that I enjoy and most of them have the words, “Stephen King’s” in front of the title. That all changes tonight, Halloween to be precise, as I hunkered down on this cold, ghost filled night and watched for the first time, the made for TV movie, Dark Night of the Scarecrow. A tale about wrong doings, revenge and sweet, sweet justice.
Short nitty-gritty plot descprtion from IMDb is as follows: In a small town, a wrongfully killed man exacts revenge on those who murdered him beyond the grave.
Tatlock’s Quick ‘n Dirty Recap: Bubba, a grown man, with the mind of a child, loves hanging out with young girl Marylee, but the locals don’t really approve of this, especially the creepy and mean mailman, Otis P. Hazelrigg
and a few other older gentlemen. One day, while Bubba is playing with Marylee, she gets attacked by a dog and everyone thinks Bubba is at fault. So Otis and his posse gang up and shoot Bubba dead. However, it isn’t long before strange things start happening to the four guilty men and suspicions start rising, as to whether Bubba is truly dead or not.
Tatlock’s Opinion: This is one made for TV movie that ranks high on the quality scale. The acting from everyone is genuine, with Larry Drake doing a wonderful job as the poor doomed Bubba. Charles Durning as Otis, comes across as cruel and I just couldn’t wait for him to get his just desserts. The story is your typical revenge plot, with a slight supernatural twist, but it does a wonderful job invoking some spooky atmosphere, using corn fields, pumpkin patches and a small town in October.
The movie also manages to move along at a nice clip, never feeling stale or boring. It gives the viewer some imaginative and in my opinion awful ways to die, for a few of those cruel men. I can certainly see why at the time, this movie would’ve scared the pants off of plenty of people that tuned in that October night, in 1981.
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| However, I do wish we got to see more of the creepy scarecrow. |
Verdict: Dark Night of the Scarecrow tells you a spooky revenge story, with a satisfying ending. It can be creepy at times and quite impressive looking. Definitely give this movie a spin, as I’m sure you’ll end up loving it.
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