I’m a sucker for scarecrow films, but even I can admit that there aren’t many worth crowing about. Outside of the consensus “best” within the crop, Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981), the sub-genre hasn’t harvested much success. Still, there are a good handful of enjoyable entries. Husk, Hallowed Ground, and Dark Harvest all come to mind.
Ask around, though, and there’s one cult favorite you’ll often see referred to as second on “best of” lists regarding the genre. That film is Scarecrows (1988), a grisly 80s gore fest with an eerie atmosphere that roots itself deep in the bones. With what I like to refer to as “scarecrow season” (aka September) here and fall almost upon us, now is a great time to dig up Scarecrows, currently streaming on Tubi.
What’s Scarecrows (1988) About?
Equipped with heavy artillery and a pair of hostages, a group of thieves flee on a stolen plane. But when one of them decides to take the money and jump, the others are forced to make an unscheduled stop. Turns out, they’ve landed at an isolated farmhouse populated by a trio of unsettling scarecrows. Only these scarecrows aren’t your average sacks of straw. They’re living, breathing creatures, and they aren’t too keen on the “crows” that have just landed in their field.
The Template for the Average Killer Scarecrow Film
One of only two films directed by William Wesley—the other being Route 666—Scarecrows likely won’t wow more skeptical viewers. The characters might as well be body bags. The script feels like a short story that has been begrudgingly stretched into a full feature. The same three shots of each scarecrow are used frequently. I could go on. Scarecrows isn’t what the average person would call a “good” movie. But it is a good scarecrow movie.
For Dread, Giallo Julian wrote that Scarecrows is, “an old-school type of horror story, accentuated with a decent amount of gore”, adding that it’s, “in line with Tales from the Crypt”.
You could argue that Scarecrows set the template for most of the straw men films that have followed. Nearly all center around a hapless group of meat sacks who stumble into a field full of the deadly harvesters. Wesley’s film may not be on the level of Dark Night of the Scarecrow, but that doesn’t stop it from being a memorable and nasty little morsel of cinematic corn.
Scarecrows embodies the best and worst of 80s horror. Sure, the plot is nowhere to be found, and the characters are emptier than the villains they face. Yet there’s an edge to it all that has kept fans coming back all these years later. These scarecrows are downright creepy, mimicking the voices of everyone they encounter like the Predator. Blend that with a few explosive thrills and a shocking image or three, and you have a grim little scarecrow movie ripe for ringing in the spooky season.
Here’s the trailer, in case you need more convincing:
Stream Scarecrows on Tubi now and discover the film that set the standard for average straw man movies. Looking to dig deeper into the sub-genre? Check out my list of favorite scarecrows in horror.
Happy scarecrow season!
Categorized:News
