Scarecrows (1988)

After a big heist, five criminals board a plane with two hostages. When one of their own betrays them, they end up in a cornfield near a deserted farmhouse. They soon find this is the least of their troubles when an evil force awakens. In a decade of multiple sequels and films featuring masked killers and zombies, Scarecrows was kind of a breath of fresh air. Made on an estimated budget of $425,000, the film eschews most genre cliches and offers up something a bit different.

This film marked the debut for director/co-producer/co-writer Williams Wesley and it's pretty impressive. There are some great shots of the setting and the scarecrows themselves, which are foreboding. He also does a fine job of creating suspense. The scenes involving a possessed corpse are especially effective. He's also credited for coming up with the story, which is quite good as well.

Performance-wise, everyone in the cast gives it their all. Michael David Simms as Curry is especially strong and the most sympathetic. Another real strong point is the score, which is quite eerie at times. Speaking of sound, the moments where characters hear voices calling for help are chilling. It helps that the setting is so spooky and bathed in darkness. In fact, apart from the closing moments, most of the film takes place at night.

So many low budget Horror films are lacking in good special effects, but not so here. The look of the titular villains and all the nasty wounds are well done and have held up. Though not overly bloody or gory, there are still some pretty memorable nasty moments. The filmmakers actually put more emphasis on chills, of which there are many. They also keep things moving at a slow, but steady pace to allow us to take this all in.

There aren't too many things wrong with the film, but I found a few issues. For one, there are quite a few cheesy lines. Ones like, "God to Bert - your birthday has been cancelled!" sound kind of silly coming out of the actor's mouths. Also, some of the characters like the father could have used more development. This applies to the plot as well, which could have used some more layers.

Certainly not the first of it's kind, Scarecrows is none-the-less one of the best. There is a lot more imagination and heart in it than we see in a lot of current Horror films. It was a standout then and would make a nice alternative to much of the fare today. It's a shame William Wesley only made one more film after this, because we need more talented filmmakers like him who also have an interest in the genre.

8/10