Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Dark Night of the Scarecrow, a 1981 made-for-TV movie, has finally been released on DVD! This film has been called one of the best made-for-TV movies, so I set out to see how it has held up over the years. I was also excited to check it out since it takes place around Halloween!

The film is about harmless simpleton Bubba (played by the recognizable Larry Drake), whose closest friend is a young girl named Marylee (Tonya Crowe). Though Bubba is in his 30′s, he still has the mind of a child. Though he is perfectly harmless, a few local yokels, including mailman Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning), perceive him as a threat. When Marylee is attacked by a dog, the men assume Bubba harmed her and form a lynch mob to hunt him down. Bubba hides in a field dressed and trussed up like a scarecrow. The ignorant men find him anyway and shoot him. Soon after, they find out Bubba didn’t hurt Marylee but actually saved her life from the dog. They go to trial, but are acquitted of all murder charges when they plead self-defense.

Soon after, all four of the men see a scarecrow that looks eerily similar to the one Bubba was dressed up as when they killed him. At first, they believe that Bubba’s mother or the District Attorney or even Marylee is out to avenge Bubba’s death. But as they each begin suffering unfortunate “accidents”, they start to believe Bubba is back from the grave.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a very well-done film, especially considering since it was made for television! This release has been cleaned up and looks stunning – thanks VCI Entertainment! I really wasn’t expecting much going into this film, but I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the “revenge” aspect of the film. No matter who was doing the avenging, whether it be the District Attorney, Bubba’s mama, Marylee or Bubba himself, it was just satisfying to see the four hateful men get what they deserved!

I suppose I was expecting a slasher-esque storyline with a killer scarecrow slicing its way through a small rural town, but thankfully Dark Night of the Scarecrow avoided this. Instead, it really focused on the unlikable, greedy and ignorant murderers. As mentioned above, it sure was nice to see them become paranoid, then scared, then eventually meet their end!

Since the film was made-for-TV (and aired on the CBS channel, no less!) there really isn’t any blood or gore to speak of. Those looking for a bloody slasher had better look elsewhere! However, it doesn’t need gore to be a good movie and therefore succeeds in other areas. For one, I loved the Southern Gothic feel of the film. The scarecrow costume was definitely creepy and the scenes where it is stalking the local yokels were appropriately tense. I also loved that it was set during Halloween. A few scenes are set at a Halloween party with revelers in costumes and the climax is set in a pumpkin patch, making this movie perfect to watch this time of year!

The story, written by J.D. Feigelson, was engaging and I was enthralled the whole way through. There wasn’t a minute where I was bored, despite the slightly slower pace of the film. In addition, the characters were well fleshed out (every single one of the actors did a fantastic job with their characters) and I liked the variety of characters Feigelson gave us. The direction was also well done by Frank De Felitta (best well-known for being the author of Audrey Rose) and never once did it feel like I was watching just a made-for-TV movie. Instead, the film had a very cinematic feel and no doubt could have been released in theaters and made a pretty penny!

Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a Southern-fried creep-fest that’s a fun treat this autumn! It is one of the few “killer scarecrow” movies I’ve seen that is actually GOOD and worth seeing more than once. This film will definitely become a Halloween staple in my house and I look forward to the tradition of watching it every fall.

Available on Amazon!

SyFy's Alice miniseries (2009)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have always fascinated me and I’ve always wanted to take the tumble through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole to explore Wonderland. So when I heard an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classics was being done by the SyFy Channel, I was excited…as well as a little nervous. We are all familiar with SyFy’s uneven record when it comes to their films, but trailers for Alice actually looked pretty interesting and promising. And you know what? After catching the miniseries on SyFy the past two nights I was left pleasantly surprised! Alice has a great vision and gives the Alice in Wonderland story a marvelous modern twist!

Writer/director Nick Willing has modernized Alice, making the titular character a woman who chases after her mysterious love interest, Jack, after he gives her a mysterious ring and is shortly thereafter kidnapped by the sinister White Rabbit organization. She ends up falling through the looking glass and ending up in the strange world of Wonderland. Here, The Queen of Hearts rules with an iron fist and is kidnapping humans so they might be drained of their emotions, which are then used as liquid currency among the populace. The Queen uses the humans’ bottled emotions to control her populace and make them complacent. As Alice tries to hunt down the man she loves and return home, she encounters many different personalities that try to help or hinder her quest. On her side are Hatter and The White Knight, as well as “The Resistance” that wish to stop the Queen. Against her are The Queen of Hearts, her minions called “Suites”, evil Doctors Dee and Dum and many others who seek the ring that Alice possesses. Can Alice find Jack and return to her own world or will she lose her head in the process?

This was a delightful adaptation of a classic! I especially enjoyed the clever placement of characters from the original book and how they were updated for this modern take. For example, The Caterpillar is actually an old man (wearing a green coat that closely resembles the original Caterpillar’s skin) who is a leader of The Resistance against the Queen. We even get the flamingos from the book, but this time they are mechanical flying machines that look like a flying Vespa. The infamous Jabberwocky even makes a memorable appearance in its full glory! I loved the modern take on all the characters and appreciated how Willing kept them in the story while still twisting their appearances and characters.

The world that Willing has created is absolutely stunning – from the Queen’s casino where humans are being drained of their emotions to The White Knight’s fallen kingdom and everything in between, Alice is a visual treat! Sure, the CGI is a bit hokey-pokey when Alice is falling towards Wonderland or when they are riding the motorized flamingos, but none of it really affected my overall enjoyment of the miniseries and overall, I think they did a pretty decent job with all the special effects. I thought the Jabberwocky was especially impressive!

The story has a lot more going for it than one would think, too. With corrupt corporations, a wicked Queen, refugees and humans being basically milked of their emotions, not to mention all of the emotional turmoil Alice goes through with her family history and her long-lost love betraying her, this is one story that has quite a bit going on. Yet, it never once feels convoluted or weighed down. On the contrary, all of these different aspects make it feel more cohesive and seamless. Willing did a fantastic job updating the story for modern audiences and adding many pertinent, modern-day issues to it. Plus, he also kept the original humor and absurdity that laced Carroll’s original work.

Of course, the acting assisted in getting me invested in the story. Caterina Scorsone was fantastic as a modern-day Alice, kicking butt and taking names. She also showed the perfect amount of vulnerability without ever losing her edge. Kathy Bates was perfectly cast as the hot-headed Queen of Hearts, Andrew Lee Potts was adorable as Hatter (and a bit more helpful and even-keeled than Carroll’s Mad Hatter), Matt Frewer was entertaining as the cavalier yet confused White Knight and all the other actors did equally amazing!

I had my hesitations about watching SyFy’s Alice, but Willing has created a delightful yet dangerous Wonderland that’s all grown up. I dare say it might even turn out to be better than the wildly overblown look Tim Burton is going for in his adaptation (I still love you, Burton!). So have your own tea party and try to catch a repeat of the miniseries when it plays again on SyFy or when it is released on DVD!

Check it out on Amazon!

Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009)

When cult TV show Dead Like Me was unceremoniously yanked off the air after only getting through two seasons, fans were understandably upset. Questions were left unanswered and it just felt as if the show was somehow unfinished. Five years later we get Dead Like Me: Life After Death, a direct-to-DVD movie that revisits our favorite characters from the show and will hopefully bring some closure to the series.

After a brief recap of the show (a young woman named Georgia [George for short] Lass dies an untimely death at the hands of a toilet seat from space and becomes a Grim Reaper. She must never see or communicate with her old family again or make any human connections, just do her job taking souls as a Reaper) that is told in weird comic book format (perhaps trying to cash in on Heroes’ popularity, though they are a little late for that), we fast forward five years to pick up with the Reaper’s beloved meeting spot, Der Waffle House, burning to the ground. George (Ellen Muth) is joined by fellow Reaper’s Roxy (Jasmine Guy), Mason (Callum Blue) and Daisy (Sarah Wynter replacing Laura Harris). Their “boss” Rube (played on the series by the great Mandy Patinkin) is missing and taking his place is the rich and debonair Cameron Kane (Henry Ian Cusick). Things start going astray as the Reapers begin neglecting their duties under Kane’s care and all of Death’s secrets threaten to come unraveled after George’s sister Reggie (Britt McKillip) discovers George is a Reaper.

I was really hoping this would be the “series finale” that the show ultimately deserved, but now I think I would have rather have the open-ended season 2 finale as the absolute end of the show instead of this afterthought of a film. The film really wasn’t that bad, but it just felt like another (rather ho-hum) episode of the original show. There wasn’t any real conflict going on and I felt the script was much weaker than the script from the show’s best episodes. Plus, one of the many charms of the show were the eccentric characters, but not very much time is spent on any of them. I know those familiar with the show will miss seeing Mason’s zany antics or Roxy’s bad ass attitude, which seem to be missing from this film.

Also missing are Mandy Patinkin as Rube and Laura Harris as Daisy. Their presence and the dynamic they brought to the show are sorely missed. Sarah Wynter is horrible as Daisy and those that are familiar with Harris’ stellar performance in the show will cringe at Wynter’s portrayal of her character. Also, Henry Ian Cusick is a poor excuse for Mandy Patinkin, no matter how charming or handsome he may be. Bottom line, the filmmakers should have done more to reunite the entire cast for this film, because those missing would have definitely made this a far more enjoyable film to sit through.

Most of all, though, I think the film’s tone was off. The show always focused on death, but I feel like the movie focuses far too much on life. George is constantly building relationships with humans (her sister, her “reaps,” her boss at Happy Time – yup Dolores Herbig [Christine Willes] returns!) and dealing with “life” issues (like her sister’s secret-boyfriend’s coma) instead of “death” issues.  Also, the show always featured some pretty cool deaths (George and her band of merry Reaper’s specialties include accidents, natural disasters, suicides, etc.) but the movie feels very much lacking in that department. With the exception of the first reap by George (a suicidal contraption that reminded me of both The Goonies and Saw), the deaths flat-out suck. I mean a guy choking on some candy and dying two seconds later? C’mon!!

The only real fun I had with the film was seeing the people from the original show again. It was fun to see Muth, Blue, Guy, McKillip, Willes, and even Cynthia Stevenson return as George and Reggie’s mom. There is some luster of the original series left in this film, but it is dull in comparison with the series. The film doesn’t really add much and fails to wrap up any loose ends. In fact, I think the film created more loose ends than it actually wrapped up!

If you are a fan of the original series, stick with the series finale. It might be slightly unsatisfying, but at least it’s better than this messy film that asks more questions than it answers. If you are a newbie to Dead Like Me, for the love of Grim Reapers don’t start with the film! Do yourself a favor and watch the wonderful series, but don’t rush out to watch this film.

Available from Amazon!

Masters of Horror - Sounds Like (2006)

Director Brad Anderson made his debut in the horror genre with his brilliant and subtly creepy Session 9 (if you haven’t seen it, go get it NOW)  and followed that with the mind-bending The Machinist. Both were solid films, focusing on character development and storyline as opposed to splashing the screen with blood. Anderson’s subtle horror streak continues with his Masters of Horror episode Sounds Like.

In the film, Larry (Chris Bauer), a call monitor at a large tech firm, is still mourning the loss of his young son. He isolates himself from his wife, his coworkers and the rest of the world, treasuring silence. That is, until he notices that his already precise hearing is becoming more and more sensitive. Soon, a fly crawling on a window or rain falling on his car become deafening noises. Larry begins to lose it, eventually turning to murder and other drastic measures to achieve silence.

Out of all the episodes I’ve seen this season, Sounds Like is the best one so far. Anderson really takes his time to develop his characters and his films are all the better for it. Anderson puts us in Larry’s shoes and seems to ask us, “well, what would YOU do?” Larry is not an entirely likable character, by any means, but when we are privy to all the noise he hears, we can definitely sympathize.

Speaking of the noise, the sound design is one of the best aspects of the film. At one point, Larry runs into a public library to gain some solitude but finds all the page turning, pencil chewing and keyboard tapping unbearable. There is also a great scene when rain starts falling on his windshield, only instead of rain drops it sounds like bombs are being dropped!

Another thing I enjoyed about the episode was the social commentary on technology running our lives these days. People are constantly surrounded by cell phones, TV, the Internet, texting and so on…we are always in communication with each other, but very rarely do we take the time to reflect on ourselves. Still, Anderson also shows us that we need to communicate and interact with each other and not become isolated, either from ourselves or from other people.

As for the red stuff, this episode isn’t too heavy on the grue for you gorehounds out there. There are quite a few nasty scenes, especially one towards the end involving a wriggling horde of maggots. The ending is expected, but it still doesn’t lessen its impact!

Sounds Like is one of the (much) better Masters of Horror episodes out there and I highly recommend checking it out. I can’t wait to see what director Brad Anderson has up his sleeve next…

Available from Amazon!

Masters of Horror - We All Scream for Ice Cream (2007)

Remember the sweet days of summer as a kid? Endless days with no school, spent running through the neighborhood sprinklers, getting into trouble with your group of friends and harassing the nice ice cream man? Ya, those were the days…until they come back to haunt you.

Layne, his wife and his young son and daughter have just moved back to his old hometown. Everything is sweet suburban bliss until his childhood friends start disappearing/dying in suspicious and strange ways. They are seemingly melting, leaving behind only their clothes and a big gooey mess. Children in town are behaving oddly as well, including Layne’s own son and daughter. They wander around at night, waiting for the ice cream man to show up. It seems that when Layne and his buddies were kids, they caused the death of the local ice cream man. Now he’s back…for sweet revenge.

Now, I could go on and on about the disappointing Masters of Horror series, but we’ve been down that road one too many times. Sure, the Masters of Horror haven’t really lived up to their namesakes, but there have been a few episodes that were fairly impressive (sidenote: my personal favorites have been Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns, Coscarelli’s Incident On and Off a Mountain Road and Argento’s Pelts.). Sadly, Tom Holland’s (Fright Night, Child’s Play) We All Scream for Ice Cream just ain’t one of ‘em.

Let me tell ya, if I was still a kid, I wouldn’t come anywhere near a man selling ice cream dressed in a clown suit. Clowns just freak me out and no matter what sweet serenade his ice cream truck played, he would not be able to lure me out from behind the safety of my mom’s apron. The premise of the clown ice cream man was a freakishly frightful idea in my mind, and I really hoped the creepiness factor would be bumped up.

Unfortunately, the clown looks more like a rejected member of the Insane Clown Posse that a scary spook.

Adding to the definitively un-scary atmosphere is the inclusion of voodoo as a means to an end for the all-grown-up gang that accidentally killed the clown. Voodoo can definitely be frightening, mind you, but not when it’s dispatched via a tasty cold treat in the shape of a man.

The acting is subpar, even for a Masters of Horror episode. The only real standout was William Forsythe as the clown. The character might not come off as scary (he’s more of a sympathetic character in my mind), but Forsythe completely envelopes himself in the role. He does such a fine job that he was unrecognizable to me until I saw his name in the credits. The rest of the cast, though, is mediocre to downright awful to watch.

There is little gore in this episode, though one backwoods bathtub scene stands out. The rest of the gore scenes show people rapidly melting into a rainbow-sherbet of slop. Nothing too impressive and the finale is just “meh.”

Tom Holland may have made some great films back in the day, like Child’s Play and Fright Night, but this Masters of Horror episode just goes to show why he hasn’t had a directing gig in quite some time. We All Scream for Ice Cream is a tired, boring entry into the series that you’ll forget about two seconds after watching.

It just goes to show that revenge isn’t always a dish best served cold…

Available from Amazon!

Masters of Horror - Pro-Life (2006)

In the second season of Masters of Horror, John Carpenter returns with Pro-Life, wielding mixed results. Carpenter has chosen to tackle the controversial issue of abortion, but the story of Pro-Life is mildly entertaining at best.

Fifteen-year-old Angelique is running from something in the woods when she suddenly emerges onto the road and is nearly hit by two abortion clinic doctors. They want to make sure she is ok, so they take her into the guarded clinic. Little do they know Angelique is the daughter of pro-life supporter Dwayne Burcell, who shows up just a few minutes after Angelique is taken into the clinic. The doctors soon find out that Angelique is pregnant and that she desperately wants an abortion. Beyond the guarded clinic gates, Dwayne impatiently waits, demanding his daughter be taken out of their slaughterhouse. The pressure mounts when the doctors discover that Angelique’s baby is developing at an accelerated rate and is violent. Dwayne and his three sons storm the clinic with guns to retrieve Angelique and protect the baby on what they believe is a mission from God. Everyone might have bigger problems to deal with, though, as Angelique goes into labor and delivers a baby spawned in hell…

I was expecting a lot on the social commentary front, but Pro-Life seemed to be on the fence with the whole abortion issue. Its focus was more on presenting specific characters than presenting a fully formed opinion on abortion. Those interested in more of a socially conscious movie won’t get much here, though they could read deeper into it than I have. I was hoping for another creepy Carpenter Masters of Horror episode like last season’s Cigarette Burns, which I thought was one of the best, but was sadly disappointed.

The story doesn’t hold much tension or scares, but instead focuses on the siege aspect of the Burcell’s breaking into the clinic. I found this a little boring and the gunfire got old fast. You can only see so many heads blown off before it becomes dull. The torture sequence with one of the doctors was pretty cringe-inducing, but the rest of the movie just got silly from there. Everything seemed to go downhill with the birth of the demon baby and I lost interest fast.

The acting was ok, but there were no great performances. Ron Perlman’s performance as Dwayne Burcell came off as flat and uninteresting, which was a pity. Caitlin Wachs did a good job as the scared and desperate Angelique Burcell, but she overacted in some parts. Mark Feuerstein as one of more familiar faces in the cast did a competent job, but he quickly got lost towards the end. No one performance really stood out in this episode. In defense of the actors, the dialogue really wasn’t that great and the story was pretty forgettable.

What really killed the episode for me was the ending. It seemed overly hokey and while the monster effects were passable, I think they could have been much better. It was also anticlimactic and resolved a little too quickly for my taste.

All in all, Pro-Life was a pretty unremarkable episode in the Masters of Horror series that suffers greatly from its lack of tension and suspense. I’d pass on this one…

Available on Amazon!

Masters of Horror - Sick Girl (2006)

Last night I watched the Masters of Horror episode Sick Girl, by Lucky McKee. Having just watched The Woods, I was pretty excited to see more of Lucky's work (especially since I love May!).

Angela Bettis (who played May in May) stars as Ida Teeter, an entomologist. This girl loves bugs! Seems she is also having trouble getting a date, as all the girls she's into (yes, she's lesbian) think her pet bugs are icky. She perks up after receiving a strange specimen from Brazil. The aggressive insect is one she has never seen before, and she names it Mick. Before she can examine it at the lab, it escapes. Ida also has to deal with her uptight landlord, Lana Beasley, who hates her bugs and lifestyle.

Things finally start to go right when Ida meets Misty, a doe-eyed, pixie drawing artist. The two move quickly, and Misty moves in with Ida after only a few days of knowing one another. Unfortunately, it seems as though Mick has been living in the pillow that Misty sleeps on and has taken a liking to biting Misty's ear.

Misty starts behaving very oddly, finally culminating in getting her and Ida kicked out of their apartment by Lana when Misty taunts her. Misty is mean and unfeeling; a completely different person than when Ida first met her. Misty goes on to kill Lana (in a scene where I actually jumped) and acts even meaner to Ida. A truly chilling scene is when Misty starts screaming at a weeping Ida. Anyone who has ever been in a relationship where the other person dramatically changed after moving in together will be freaked out by this scene.

Ida figures out that her buggy pet Mick is a special insect that eats mammals and can change the DNA of those he infects...is she too late to save her love Misty?

This episode is a little slow and spends half the time developing Ida and Misty's relationship. Yet, as a director, this is how Lucky works. He likes to focus on his oddly charming characters. This is definitely a plus in my book! Angela Bettis does a great job playing a nerdy scientist and I enjoyed Jesse Hlubik as her friend and co-worker, Max. The rest of the cast does a fine job as well.

I enjoyed this episode for all its charming qualities. It's a fun commentary on moving too fast in a relationship and just fun all around! If you are a fan of May or other films by Lucky McKee, you must check this episode out.

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Summer of Fear (1978)

Summer of Fear was worth watching just to see Linda Blair with a huge 'fro! This 1978 made-for-TV movie (I wish they had movies like this on TV nowadays!) concerns a cousin who comes to live with Rachel's (Blair) family on their ranch due to a family tragedy. Soon, Rachel comes to suspect that her cousin Julia is an evil witch! This is a fun movie to watch that has no real scares. Nonetheless, it did keep me entertained! Pure fluff...

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