Chiller Tuesday VHS Movie Review; Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Welcome back to the VHS crypt where today, Bubba didn’t do it!! Up next, we have “Dark Night of the Scarecrow”! Filmed in 17 days in Piru, California and released in October of 1981, this is a made-for-television horror film directed by Frank De Felitta. The film opens with a young girl (Marylee Williams) and Charles Elliot Ritter (Bubba) playing together, establishing their friendship. Bubba is a developmentally disabled man, who the people of the town don’t take much of a liking to and often harass him. When the young girl wanders into a yard and is attacked by a dog, Bubba rushes her home. Initially they believe she is dead but she ends up making a full recovery. This is the last straw for the town folk who accuse him of being the one to have hurt her, as they form a mob led by the postman and three recruits to hunt him. They track him to an empty field, where he is hiding inside of a scarecrow, and then proceed to shoot him. After a call comes through calling them off because the girl is alive and relaying his innocence, they decide to portray the scene as Bubba meant to attack them to defend their actions. After a pitiful trial, all men are deemed innocent of all charges and immediately released.
But…. Are they truly free of their actions? A mysterious scarecrow begins to show up, one by one attacking each party involved. Could this be someone who seeks justice, their growing paranoia, or Bubba himself back from beyond the grave?
Being a made for tv film, don’t expect gore or any T&A here. This is a very slow burn movie, that plays out as more suspense. This one does fall into the category of slasher, and is widely praised as the best made-for-tv horror film.
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