Scarecrow (2013) – Film Review
Scarecrow is a made-for-TV horror film first shown on Syfy on October 19, 2013. The following February, Scarecrow was released on DVD and has since become available to view via various streaming platforms.
The film is set in a small US town, where there’s an urban legend about a killer scarecrow, along with a poem that’s been passed down through the years:
“It never sleeps, it never dies, it can’t be stopped, hear their cries. The scarecrow lives to kill us all, keep it buried in the fall.”
After such a long time, nobody appears to take the legend seriously but the town still holds an annual scarecrow festival from October 26 until October 30, a tradition that has endured for 100 years.
The legend relates to a local farm where the scarecrow allegedly killed 30 people and ate their bodies. The farm is the original site of the scarecrow festival but it’s just gone up for sale and high school teacher Aaron Harris (Robin Dunne) is taking a group of students (Calvin, Daevon, Nikki, Tyler, Maria and Beth) out there during a Saturday detention. Their unusual punishment is to dismantle the large, creepy scarecrow in the nearby cornfield so that it can be relocated to the centre of town as part of the festival.
Aaron and his six-member detention gang arrive at the farm in a school bus and are soon joined by Kristen Miller (Lacey Chabert), the farm owner, who has fallen on hard times and is trying to convert the unholy asset into some much-needed cash.
Kristen was Aaron’s girlfriend until she moved to the city wanting to better her life, breaking Aaron’s heart in the process. Now she’s back, Kristen is hoping for a second chance, but it took Aaron two years to get over the breakup and he isn’t keen to allow Kristen to drag his emotions through the wringer again.
Kristen has also invited local truck driver Eddie (Carlo Marks) as an extra pair of hands. Eddie and Aaron used to be good friends. He and Kristen were more than friends but after they split she took up with Aaron, driving a wedge between the two men. Neither one is keen to work together and Eddie tells Kristen he’s leaving but the engine of his truck has overheated, forcing him to stick around.
Seeking reassurance, Calvin (Iain Belcher) asks Kristen to confirm none of the bad stuff associated with the farm really happened. She tells him the farm has been in her family for 150 years and she doesn’t even know how the legend started. Kristen may not know how it started but she quickly learns there’s more to the legend than she thought when something starts dragging people into the corn. Most of the group manage to reach the farmhouse and barricade themselves inside but bad-boy Tyler (Richard Harmon) and his girlfriend Nikki (Julia Maxwell) do not
Aaron initially tries to rationalize the attack, saying it must have been an animal but, when something throws Tyler through the window, slashing his jugular in the process, Beth (Brittney Wilson) asks what kind of animal could do that.
At this point, Aaron has only lost two students—Tyler and Nikki. However, nobody feels safe in the farmhouse and it’s eventually agreed to make a run for Eddie’s truck. The rest of the film is a game of cat and mouse where the scarecrow picks off members of the group one by one along with anyone else who crosses its path.
Scarecrow is an okay movie that could be a good choice to watch over Halloween. The acting is good and most of the characters are likeable. Tyler and Nicky are possible exceptions but they are taken out of the picture quite quickly and are not nearly as unlikeable as Beth who is very manipulative and 100% out for herself. Unlike Tyler and Nicky, she manages to survive a good way into the movie and although her death is horrible, she is the instrument of her own demise and deserves everything she gets.
It’s clear throughout the film that Aaron and Kristen still have feelings for each other, and the possible rekindling of their romance helps keep the film interesting. As does the situation between Aaron and Eddie, who ultimately put their differences behind them and work together for the greater good.
With the obvious exception of Beth, most of the characters in the film look out for each other and show admirable qualities in the face of danger. This makes them characters viewers can root for. If all of them were like Beth, Scarecrow would be a hard film to stick with to the end.
Although there’s a lot right with the film, it’s not perfect, and the legend about the scarecrow presents a big plot hole. According to the poem, the only way to stop the scarecrow is to bury it, yet throughout the film, the scarecrow demonstrates its ability to move through the ground, meaning it can sneak up on its victims easily without them seeing it. At one point, it shoots tendrils from the ground, next to a farmer’s feet, wraps around his ankles, rendering him immobile, then enters his body (I dread to think where) and exits via his mouth.
Some of the death scenes in Scarecrow are pretty nasty and may make some viewers uncomfortable, but they are not as bad as the death scenes that are typical of most slasher films. Beth’s exit has the potential to be the goriest but the camera cuts away at the last moment showing the reaction of the other survivors instead.
If you can accept it warts and all and forgive the plot inconsistencies made obvious by the poem, there’s a good chance you will enjoy Scarecrow. Especially if you prefer to watch horror films that pit mere mortals against supernatural foes. The ending isn’t great but it works, providing a satisfactory outcome if not a happy ending.