I have been a horror fan for almost my entire life. My first horror memory is from when I was very young. I was resisting going to sleep and doing that kid thing where I ask for a drink just to stay up a little longer. My parents were watching Magic (1978) on TV. I caught a glimpse of that creepy ventriloquist doll. I seem to recall that it had a pocketknife in its hand. Maybe a spot of blood on its face. I was morbidly curious! I was scared, but I still felt safe in my house with my parents. It was exciting. I still haven’t seen that movie beyond that brief glimpse. But that exposure set me on the path to horror fandom. Magic has almost nothing to do with the movie that I am reviewing in this post. Almost. I was trying to remember when that might have happened and narrowed it down to the early 80s. And I saw a few horror movies by the late 80s. But, despite that, I had not heard of 1988’s Scarecrows. I saw a few people recommend the movie online and decided to include it in my 31 horror movies to watch this October. Let’s get into it, shall we?
A small band of thieves rob Camp Pendleton of millions of dollars and escape via plane, taking the pilot and his teenage daughter hostage. They are described as “paramilitary mercenaries” and are kitted out with that type of soldier gear. One of their number betrays them by pushing the money out of the plane, tossing a grenade into the cargo bay, and jumping out with a parachute. The quick-thinking mercs grabbed and tossed the grenade before it went off and then forced the pilot to land so they could get their loot and revenge. Unfortunately for all of them, the cornfield they land in and the abandoned farmhouse they find are cursed or haunted or something and the scarecrows in the field aren’t just there to scare birds.
I admit that the synopsis above sounds very B-movie. And this definitely isn’t a prestige, elevated horror movie by any stretch of the imagination. It’s schlocky and cheesy and poorly acted at times. All recipes for a crappy write off of a movie, right? Well, somehow this movie pulled it off and it’s actually really enjoyable! There’s plenty of practical effects gore. Lots of comeuppance. Creepy zombie-like scarecrows wreaking havoc. Weird supernatural stuff. And in-fighting and distrust among the bad guys. Everything we could possibly want from a scarecrows vs asshole mercenaries 80s movie! It’s plain to see how this became something of a cult classic over the years as it has found its audience. I’m certainly going to put it into rotation!
The Final Cut: Scarecrows is greater than the sum of its corny B-movie parts. It’s exciting, gory and scary. What more could you ask for?!
