Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

TRAILER

What’s it About: Considered by many to be one of the best made-for-TV horror movies ever, Dark Night of the Scarecrow is the tale of Bubba, a simple-minded simpleton who simply loves to play with local girl Marylee. Unfortunately for Bubba, a few of the townfolk don’t care for that one bit, especially Otis P. Hazelrigg, the town mailman, who also thinks he’s the mayor and executioner. Otis HATES Bubba, although for no real reason. Bubba doesn’t seem to even leave his property except to pick wildflowers with the girl. If Otis wasn’t the mailman, he may not even know Bubba existed. But Otis is full of rage for poor Bubba, proclaiming that, “Somethin’s GOTTA be done… but it has to be permanent.” but giving no actual concrete reason why somethin’s gotta be done. If the girl’s parents don’t have a problem with it, why do the four guys who end up killing Bubba? I guess they just don’t have anything better to do. That’s the Midwest for you.

Anyway, Marylee gets attacked by a dog, Bubba gets the blame, he hides inside a scarecrow on his mom’s farm, Otis and the boys kill him, and then three seconds later find out over the CB Marylee isn’t really dead. They all share an “Oops!” Then the Bubba Scarecrow kills them all good, one by one (except for the one Otis kills with a shovel to the head, for no real reason, once again).

Is it Actually Scary: Ehh, it’s more creepy than scary. I think it’s just the thought of a scarecrow coming alive and silently picking people off in gruesome ways. But people claim the movie is frightening, and that’s not really the case, most likely you’ll just get the willies. Maybe Bubba would find it terrifying.

Gore Level: Very little, which is why a lot of people hold this movie in such high regard, because it doesn’t have to rely on blood and guts to deliver good chills. All of the kills basically cut away before the actual death or dismemberment. Bubba’s violent shooting is a little bloody, as being shot multiple times by multiple people tends to be. Also, when The Scarecrow stabs Otis in the gut with a pitchfork, we do see some blood, although there should be a lot more, since he just got stabbed in the gut with a pitchfork and all.

Dumbest Moments: I suppose the dumbest moment would be murdering a mentally challenged man just because he was in the area when a girl got bit by a dog. One of the rednecks tells Otis that she’s dead, although she’s clearly not, and there’s no way that information could have been that off base.

Also, the title is a little dumb. I understand that “dark night” sounds ominous, but is dark night opposed to fully lit night? Is this so people in Alaska wouldn’t get confused for half the year?

Nudity: Bubba full-frontal. Just kidding. No nudity, this being made for CBS and all. But there are creepy sexual overtones, since the reason Otis hated Bubba so badly is seemingly because Otis wants to molest Marylee. This comes pretty much without surprise, but it adds to the overall creepiness of the movie.

Overall: Not a bad watch, but a bit overhyped by some who proclaim this to be one of the scariest movies of all time. It’s really not. Bubba’s a really sad figure and you feel for him, but it’s very hard to understand the murderous motivations of Otis and his crew. We’ve gotten a lot of comedy mileage out of the line, “Bubba didn’t do it!!” spoken by Bubba as he holds the lifeless (but very much alive, despite what the town physician would have the townsfolk believe) body of Marylee in front of her mother after she was attacked by the dog. And more memorable to me than any kill or creepy part of the movie is that every male character seems to wear some godawful hat at all times.

See?