Jeff Burr's NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1995) from Olive Films 4/30

Hot on the heels of TICKS and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 2, Olive Films attempt to prove not all '90s horror flicks were nigh unwatchable with their release of Jeff Burr's NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1995). A few hundred years after being crucified and torched by religious zealots, a warlock's spirit inhabits a scarecrow and seeks appropriately straw and corn-themed revenge against their descendants, all the while attempting to retrieve a magic book that'll enable him to return to fleshy form. [/run-on-sentence] While certainly not some unheralded classic, the film (which I probably haven't watched since, well... 1995) manages to rise above the majority of dreck from that horrible decade with some imaginative bloodshed and fun casting, including '70s fave Bruce Glover, 2001's Gary Lockwood and Hammer gal Martine Beswick. No word yet on extras, if any.

DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...eASIN=B00BN2JWY4&linkCode=as2&tag=cinema09-20
Blu: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...eASIN=B00BN2JWBM&linkCode=as2&tag=cinema09-20

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/gA1RYe__Svs

 

Supplement producer Daniel Griffith got in touch on Facebook:

"Hey Bruce, I produced and moderated the audio commentary with Jeff for the release, as well as put together an extensive gallery of stills, rare photographs, script pages, storyboards, etc. Should be a nice package..."

 

Sweet. I always liked this film.

 

I’ve never seen this as I am not really big into 90’s films in general…especially if they look like a product of their time.

I haven’t seen anyone say anything negative about it yet, so I might have to just check this one out.

 

I never saw the film, but I used to see the VHS cover for this all the time on Blockbuster rental shelves in the mid-late 90's. It was one of those films (Jack-O springs to mind) that they only ever had but one copy in the store and it was always available.

 

Saw this on TV I think. Surprisingly good for the mid 90s.

 

This was(might still be?) on NetFlix instant streaming about 6 months ago. I thought it was ok, better than I thought it would be. Probably wont ever feel the need to watch it again however.

 

This movie was a product of the very lowest point for horror in the 90's, when everything was straight to video crap and the 2 horror movies coming out in theaters that year were thrillers like Hidaway. Scream would come out the next year and bring the genre back to life. Night of the Scarecrow was one of those very rare straight to video films that was worth the $3 rental. You had to really dig for you gold in those days kids. I am very curious to watch it again after all these years and see if it holds up or if it was the era it was released in that made it so good. Either way it's a day 1 purchase for me.

 

I rented it back in the day and thought it was a piece of shit. And the trailer just made it all come back to me. This period of the 90:s was truly hell on earth when it came to movies of any genre. And people who complain about horror today, must have lived under a rock during that part of the decade, or was too young to remember it

Compared to the decades before it, nothing has aged as badly as 90:s movies. *shudders*

 

I really enjoy Night Of The Scarecrow, and I love a lot of the genre films from the early-to-mid 90s. Yes, they were goofy, but they were also fun, something that is sorely lacking in today's indie-genre fare. Everything now is just grim and overly serious.

That said, those who are saying that they hated the mid-90s might want to approach this with caution. I still have the VHS, and it definitely feels like a product of its time. A decent comparison in terms of tone and feel would be Jeff Burr's Pumpkinhead 2 from the previous year. So if you've seen that, it might give you an idea of what to expect.

I definitely don't want to deter anyone from picking this up, because I love that Olive has been releasing films like this, Night Of The Demons 2, and Ticks on blu-ray. I'm just saying to keep your expectations in check. It's not a lost masterpiece, and it doesn't even measure up to NOTD2 or Ticks, but it's simply a fun little '90s genre flick.

 

I rented this back in the mid-90's and enjoyed it a great deal. I haven't seen it since, but I remember some of the creative death scenes like I'd just seen it yesterday. Another win for Olive. Definitely grabbing this.

 

"Ticks" and "Night of the Demons 2" was some of the last direct to video horror movies that was actually entertaining, and I really enjoy those two. But they felt more like late 80:s in a way, since that style continued into the first few years of the 90:s. But by 1995 the 90:s had really killed of the last remains of the 80:s style. It was a dark time...

 

Hope it's the unrated cut, (sorry if I missed where it said)...Fango reported that it was cut to shit back in the day, and an unrated cut was due from New Republic at the time of video release. It was pretty gruesome on it's own, but more of that good 'ol red stuff is always Appreciated. I actually didn't hate this one.

 

Cover art:

 

no reviews yet online???

 

first review I seen I got this today http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_59/night_of_the_scarecrow_blu-ray.htm

 

I got a shipping notice yesterday.

 

Same here. I originally had the Blu-ray on pre-order at Amazon, but cancelled that and ordered it from Deep Discount on the recent sale at $14.94

 

DVDBeaver review: Three posts up!

 

Whoops. My bad.