Childhood Horror Gem (What Movies Spooked You As A Child?)

While meandering about through Greenville a few weeks ago on one of my rare free days, I found myself perusing through the movie section of a local record store.  Most of the films were bizarre and their titles equally matched in their absurdity (Alien Zombie Killers, The Werewolf & The Yeti, Critters, Snuff, etc) and sadly I have to say that most of them all ready have a home on my dvd shelf.  Though it was when I finally made it to the "Just Released" section that I stumbled upon a lost relic of my childhood nightmares.  The title in question: "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow"

Creepier than stumbling upon your parents' "special" toys

There are few things that get under my skin.  In fact, I've made it a pastime to see nearly every banned, explotative, sadistic, nauseous rendering film out there that I can get my hands on (I've sat through Salo: 120 Days of Sodom without missing a bite of my food for a moment, in which several people I know wouldn't be so capable of doing), not really for the bragging rights but more so simply out of good ol' curiosity.  Why then would a movie such as "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow" disturb me so to the point of childhood flashbacks of hiding under my sheets and praying to whatever would protect me against such a relatively unfrightening thing as a goofy looking scarecrow?  Well, let me offer a brief synopsis of this delightfully frightening piece of cinema.

"Dark Night Of The Scarecrow" was a made-for-tv-movie directed by Frank De Felitta (who wrote oddly enough "Audrey Rose") that premiered in 1981.  The setting of the movie is a stereotypical farm town in what seems to be the South.  The story follows one Charles Elliot "Bubba" Ritter, a mentally challenged bear of a man with the mind and soul of a child, whom befriends a young girl by the name of Marylee.

  Marylee and Bubba

Bubba finds himself the target of harassment of a group of men in the small town led by the drunkard postman Otis (played by Charles Durning).  

 A disheveled postman with a tinge of good ol' small town ignorance

While walking home one day with Marylee, Bubba is convinced in helping her sneak into a neighbor's backyard, which subsequently gets the poor girl attacked by a guard dog.  While Bubba saves the girl, the townsfolk believe that it was actually Bubba who attacked her.  Otis and three other prominent men of the town take off to hunt down the innocent Bubba, who has by this point escaped with the help of his mother by hiding and disguising himself as a scarecrow in a local wheat field. 

Bubba and his Mother

By this point, you'll feel pretty crappy for poor Bubba

In short, Bubba is eventually caught and killed via a four men firing squad while strapped to a cross used in supporting a typical scarecrow in a field.  The vigilante group frames Bubba's corpse in such a way that the local judge believes that the group had to defend themselves against a crazed Bubba.  In ominous fashion Bubba's mother warns the four men that "There's other justice in this world, What you sow, so shall you reap...". 

This scarecrow gives me the screaming meemies

Soon the four men begin to see an eerily similar scarecrow that Bubba was dressed up as when he died popping up around their homes and farms.  As you may have guessed, the men begin to get picked off one by one in pretty brutal fashion, until Otis is left as the final victim of the mysterious scarecrow's wrath.

Man+Woodchipper=You Guessed It: Human Salsa

Buried to death by pig feed....Irony?

The most frightening thing about this film isn't the gore (in which there hardly is any save some blood here and there) or the manner in which Otis and the other men die.  In fact, the true terror honestly lies in the fact that the scarecrow itself has become this unbound spirit of vengeance born from the death of a gentle, mentally handicap man.  While the supernatural origins of the scarecrow are never explained (nor really important), the scarecrow proves to be an effective vessel for bringing justice for one (spoiler: two) innocent lives by the end of the film.  A fantastic point of the scarecrow is the fact how often you dont see the scarecrow on camera.  In spine tingling fashion, each of the four vigilantes never have a chance to see their assailent in the act of hunting them down, but only as the empty husk of a typical field scarecrow.

 An avenging specter without a physical body to stop

  The young Marylee helps to intensity the fright in the film through the fact that she both communicates with and helps the scarecrow (Bubba's) search for vengeance throughout the film.  Close examination of Otis brings the audience to wonder how depraved the character truly is, with subtle hints of sexual deviance and stark prejudice against those he deem "unfit" for the town.  By the close of the film, you will undoubtaly find yourself rooting for Otis' death.   The last few minutes from this 30 year old flick still gives me chills when I think about it.  It was a pleasure to finally be able to buy the movie on dvd.

Merciless Eyes Of Vengeance

So in the end, I managed to find a rare gem of horror that I remember (semi)fondly as a child watching for the first time with my father on one of his rare nights at home before retiring in my teens.  Now that you've (more than likely) sat through and read my rant, I now pose a question to you.  What movies frightened you as a child?  Any specific ones that you look back on and cringe a bit about to this day?  Comment below and let me know.  Its all about sharing the fear and such. Mu ha ha!