Welcome to the Movie Club! This week’s movie is Frank De Felitta’s made for TV horror film Dark Night of the Scarecrow!
Dark Night of the Scarecrow is set in a small American town, where after a mentally challenged man, Bubba, is murdered by a group of four townsfolk while disguised as a scarecrow, his spirit returns to get revenge on those who killed him.
While originally intended to be an independent film, CBS purchased the rights from its writer, J.D. Feigelson, and released it as a made for TV film on October 24, 1981. While there doesn’t appear to be much on its viewing numbers, it was released on VHS in the 80s and again on DVD and Blu-Ray in the 2010s. While reviews from critics are not great; it only has a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film does have a cult following and is noteworthy in part for being the first killer scarecrow horror movie.1
- The scarecrow seen in the film was also designed and built by Fiegelson.
- One of the first good reviews of the film came from Vincent Price, found by Fiegelson in the 90s in a book with interviews of horror icons.
- The distribution rights were held by Warner Bros TV on a 27 year contract before being released back to its original creators, who then decided to restore it and release it on DVD.
Up Next: Our next movie is big switch up: Michael Powell’s epic war drama The 49th Parallel. We will meet to discuss it on November 13th at 12PM EST. Check out the trailer and where it’s playing below:
USA
- Stream:Tubi, Criterion Channel, Darkroom, Flixhouse, Plex, Xumo Play, YouTube Free (with ads), Shout TV, Watch TCM, HBO Max
- Rent or Buy: Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Prime Video
Canada
- Stream: Criterion Channel, Plex, Tubi
- Rent or Buy: Apple TV
UK
- Stream: Prime Video, itvX, Plex
- Rent or Buy: Prime Video, Apple TV (purchase only)