MartinHafer When the film begins, Bubba (Larry Drake) is playing with a neighbor girl. She's young and he's a mentally challenged adult. Well, for some odd reason, several of the locals hate Bubba and Otis (Charles Durning) enjoys stirring up hatred against the man. Soon after this little scene, the girl is attacked by a vicious dog and Bubba saves her and brings her home to her mother. He's hysterical and soon all sorts of crazy rumors start that HE attacked the kid and killed her. But she's only slightly hurt and before long, folks are running about town looking for Bubba. Otis' little group is primed for a hanging...all due to Otis' drumming it into their dumb minds that Bubba is a danger to them all! As for Bubba, he hides in a most unusual fashion...pretending to be the scarecrow on his mother's farm! The evil quartet soon find him and don't give him a chance to surrender and shoot him 21 times!! Amazingly, the local judge refuses to indict them for murder!! So, it seems that the four scum-bags have gotten away with it.Soon after this incident, a scarecrow appears on one of the four men's land...and within a short time, he's dead...supposedly by accident. And, soon after that, the same thing happens again. At this point, Otis isn't about to take any chances and begins killing off anyone who could possibly be behind the two deaths. What's next? See this cool made for TV horror movie.Overall, this is a very well made and highly entertaining film...far better than the norm for such a picture. The acting, writing and scare factor are all there...and the film is well worth your time.Interestingly, a few years after this film was made, Larry Drake went on to become a regular on "LA Law" playing another mentally challenged man. I am pretty sure this film must have helped him land this role.

Mr_Ectoplasma A quartet of backwoods vigilante buffoons chase a mentally disabled man, Bubba, through town after they believe him to have kidnapped a young girl. They find him disguised as a scarecrow in a field, and execute him, only to receive immediate news that the girl is alive and well, and that he actually saved her life. Oops. After being acquitted of the murder, all four men are plagued by a bullet-ridden scarecrow appearing on their property, and talk that Bubba is somehow stalking them beyond the grave.There is truly something special about the television horror films of the late 1970s and early 1980s— "Home for the Holidays," "Trilogy of Terror," "Race with the Devil," just to name a few— for whatever reasons, the horror films that made it to the small screen during this era were consistently well made and legitimately suspenseful. In fact, a lot of them have the production values and feel of a major studio picture, and "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" is no exception here. Directed by Frank De Felitta, who also brought us 1977's "Audrey Rose," the film boasts impressive cinematography and some playful and inventive terror sequences as the redneck geezers/wannabe vigilantes get their just desserts. Since it is a television film, the violence is obviously minimized, but the implications during each of these payback scenes are grim, and mostly revolve around farm machinery— ouch.Charles Durning's turn as the reprehensible small town postman and cold-blooded bigot is effective in that his character is truly reprehensible, and Jocelyn Brando (yep, Marlon's sister), is wonderful as the spiteful mother of Bubba. An understated and spooky synth score accentuates the eerier moments here, particularly the wide shots of the ominous scarecrow (or Bubba...?) hanging in the distant fields.While the overall premise may not be particularly original ("Les diaboliques" comes to mind), this is a remarkably well put-together thriller that is miles about standard television fare as we've come to know it. Sophisticated production values and De Felitta's attention to detail are impressive; in fact, had I not known it was a made-for-TV movie beforehand, I may have not guessed it at all. A truly worthy genre entry, and quite frankly much more elegant than half of what the eighties had to offer in terms of slasher films. 8/10.

Bezenby Here's a blast from the past! I remember seeing this film as a kid (around eight or ten) and everyone talking about it the next day in school. Three memories of this film: Bubba getting rather nastily executed by firing squad, the scene in the grain silo, and the end shot (which I won't spoil for you). It was on television last night so I thought I'd give it a go again, and see if it's still as scary as it was back then. It wasn't, but then again about thirty years have passed. What you do have however is a fairly solid supernatural thriller with a few scarecrow chills thrown in for good measure (but it could have done with more to be honest). What makes it still enjoyable is Charles Durning's performance as the evil postman who'll do anything to cover for his crime, that crime being the killing of mentally handicapped Bubba, who was mistakingly blamed for the mauling of his child friend, Mary Lee. Durning and his three cronies get literally get away with murder (they shoot Bubba to death while he's hiding inside a scarecrow), but they all get warned by Bubba's mother that there are other types of justice. Soon, things get all creepy when Mary Lee starts claiming that Bubba isn't dead, and a scarecrow turns up in one of the guy's fields. You know what that means – Scarecrow vengeance!I'll say no more about the plot but after all these years I was still impressed by the whole mood of the film. Durning helps greatly as he generally lies, cheats, and even kills to protect himself while Bubba generally gets his own back. The film centres mostly on Durning, however, as we get to see him try and find out who's messing with his head. Although lacking in gore (being a TV film) and slightly slow to get going, there's plenty to recommend here. It certainly stuck in my head as an impressionable young kid. Good stuff.

Scott LeBrun In a small town, two gentle souls have a friendship going: young Marylee Williams (Tonya Crowe) and mentally impaired adult "Bubba" Ritter (Larry Drake). However, the postmaster, Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning) doesn't like what he sees; he believes that Bubba is a blight on their fair town. When Marylee is attacked by a dog, and (erroneously) assumed dead, Otis is all too ready to believe that Bubba was responsible (when, in fact, he saved Marylee's life) and collects his friends (played by Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, and Lane Smith). They hunt Bubba down, find him hiding inside a scarecrow, and pump a good number of bullets into him. However, there's no evidence the district attorney can provide to suggest that the murder was anything other than self defense.Have no fear, however, as these four men will soon start to be psychologically terrorized and ultimately killed.To start with, this is an exceptionally good looking film, even more so now that the movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray and has been restored. The rural atmosphere is vividly realized, right from beginning to end. The story allows for some genuine scares and suspense - more to be found than in a good number of theatrical productions - and 'Dark Night of the Scarecrow' gets high marks for its potency; while its horrors are mostly implicit rather than explicit, they still pack a punch. Even the extreme violence that the movie suggests is intense for anything made for prime time network TV; one of the deaths may well have inspired a similar sequence in "Witness" approximately four years later.Give credit to writers J.D. Feigelson & Butler Handcock and director Frank De Felitta for keeping things ambiguous right up until near the very end. They merely present a few possibilities as to who could be doing the killing, and leave it at that. Memorable images include the sight of Bubba's terrified eyes behind the scarecrow's eye holes, and the big finish in the pumpkin patch is incredibly spooky.The cast couldn't be better. The always rock solid Durning is compelling in a rare lead role. As the story progresses, we learn his ulterior motive for wanting Bubba away from Marylee, and we can see what a stone cold creepy s.o.b. he is. Young Crowe is appealing, as is Drake in a role that will automatically have TV viewers thinking of the similar role that propelled him to fame years later on 'L.A. Law'. Lyons, Jones, and Smith are no less than believable as a worthless trio of jerks who understandably start coming unglued as their own guilt adds to their terror. And Jocelyn Brando (Marlon's older sister) is wonderful as Bubba's loving mother, who reminds us all that the law isn't the only form of justice that exists.This is great stuff that could be enjoyed at any time of the year, not just Halloween. I unfortunately missed the original TV airings, but this is why it's so nice to finally have it on the digital format for many people to discover or visit again. Top notch.Eight out of 10.