Spine Chilling Review: Dark Night Of the Scarecrow (1981)
Dark Night Of The Scarecrow is a 1981 TV movie taking place in a nondescript Southern Rural Town. It is very well done and the tension is quite good, I am invested in the characters and from the first scene, it's world-building.
Dramatis Personae
Tonya Crowe as Marylee Williams. She is better known for her role as Olivia Cunningham in Knots Landing
Larry Drake as Charles Elliot "Bubba" Ritter. I recognized him as the main antagonist Durant in Darkman 1 and 2
Jocelyn Brando as Mrs. Ritter, the mother of Bubba Ritter
Charles Dunning as Otis P Hazelrig. He is the mailman of the town
Lane Smith as Harless Hocker. He is known to me as the Prosecutor in My Cousin Vinny
Claude Earle Jones as Philby. Owner of the town grainery
Robert F Lyons as Skeeter Norris. He works at the local auto shop and gas station
Tom Taylor as DA Sam Willock.He doesn't have a lot of screen time, but he shines in the time he is given 
Our story opens up in a small nondescript Southern town with Charles Ellis "Bubba" Ritter and Marylee singing and teaching Bubba the "The Flower Song" while picking some together. Marylee has made a lei of flowers for Bubba, he accepts."Everyone wears these in Hawaii, now I have to give you a kiss. It's custom" Bubba refuses until she says he has to give it back. He relents
Bubba gives Marylee a flower
Both of them with Hawaiian leis
Off some distance away is our mailman Hazelrig spying on Marylee and Bubba. He bounds towards the Hocker residence (Harless is Hocker's first name) and expresses concern that Bubba will hurt the little girl. Harless says he will kick him around but won't seriously hurt him and wonders why Hazelrig says he'll do nothing. It was HIS idea that Bubba is dangerous after all.
Introduction of Otis P Hazelrig, mailman in the town
HZ=Hazelrig HR=Harless
HZ: It has to be permanent.
HR: No way
HZ: And if something happens to that girl?
HR: Then you know what I'd do, there'd be a reason
HR: No way
HZ: And if something happens to that girl?
HR: Then you know what I'd do, there'd be a reason
Marylee and Bubba are walking by the Renfro house when Marylee notices they have a new fountain in their yard. She wants to have a look and gets access through widely spaced out fence posts. Bubba warns her not to go after showing reluctance to do the same. She goes in the yard and looks around innocently until she's confronted with the Renfros' Dog. Scared, Marylee freezes then calls out for Bubba who in a moment of badassery busts through the fence like it was nothing to save Marylee from the Refros' Dog
The look on her face definitely sells the scene
Bubba watches helplessly from the fence. These two in Act I really set the bar high for this film
Bubba crashes through the fence to save Marylee
Minutes later, Bubba goes to the Williams residence holding Marylee saying "Bubba didn't do it" to a horrified Mrs Williams
Having the excuse they need, Harless runs to the Post Office where Hazelrig works "He's done it, just like you said--The Williams girl., she's dead The Sheriff's called for volunteers to the courthouse" Hazelrig wants to do this one his own. For Hazelrig, it's time to do exactly what he's always wanted to do. He rounds up Philby, owner of the local grainery and Skeeter Norris a local mechanic who brings himself and a pair of hunting dogs with him. The group is now complete.
As Bubba runs home the search party is on his tail. He goes home to his Mama Mrs Ritter hysterical, knowing they will hurt him regardless. Mrs Ritter tells him to play the hiding game and that no one will hurt him as long as Mama has anything to do with it
Hazelrig confronts Mrs Ritter saying Bubba's wanted for injuring Marylee. Mrs Ritter defends him saying he would never hurt a child. He plays with children because he's no older than them in his head. Hazelrig counters that Bubba is physically grown (as if that matters more than his mental age) threatens her with obstruction, to which she replies in no uncertain to get the hell off of her property.
The dogs Skeeter brought start tugging in another direction and they give chase to an empty field they previously lost track of Bubba in. The dogs have definitely found something but there is nothing to see. As Hazelrig stares at the Scarecrow in the field he realizes that the Scarecrow is in fact Bubba. Bubba, with terror in his eyes, voice quivering in what is a heartbreaking scene to watch "Bubba didn't do it" before being shot 21 times
After the execution, Harless gets a radio call, the Williams girl is actually alive relays what really happened. Ol' Bubba actually saved her life, the operator quips. Faced with the fact that they killed an innocent man Hazelrig grabs a pitchfork from the truck and places it on Bubba's newly killed corpse to claim self defense. After this, a strong wind sets in causing all the men to grab their hats
The court scene is a nightmare of assertions objections and small town politics playing out. DA Sam will hear none of the quartet's excuses and knows they executed Bubba Ritter in cold blood. Hazelrig answers a question that he and the search party gave Bubba ample time to surrender himself. In light of having no evidence against the Defendants, Judge Henry must let them go.
 |
| Hazelrig commits perjury saying that the men gave Bubba the chance to surrender himself |
Mrs Ritter, wearing black in the courtroom is beside herself with grief and warns the four Defendants
Outside of the courtroom, DA Sam says to them "I know you executed that man, and if I find a shred of evidence I'll see you on death row". Hazelrig looks at his watch and when Sam replies if he's keeping him Hazelrig replies: I was noting the time. It's Tuesday brunch and they're serving fried chicken at the boarding house (where he lives)"
Hazelrig is more concerned about fried chicken than the life of the man he killed. I don't know if he's a psycopath or sociopath and I can google it but I don't care to, he's one of the paths that I don't want to walk! I'm sure he's a sadist too, we're not even halfway through and I'm finding out the mouthpiece of the group is all kind of fucked up!
Now vindicated in the eyes of the law, the quartet go to the local bar to celebrate, that night a strong wind blows again. We pick back up the story at The Williams' house, Mrs Williams has been frightened lately and didn't know that she was so attached to Bubba citing "He was the firs tting she asked about 'Where's Bubba? What happened to Bubba?' I had to keep her from jumping out of bed to go see him" She says she can't bring herself to let her know that Bubba's dead. Mr Williams thinks it's best not to tell her anything
That night, Marylee hears something out her window and thinks it's Bubba. She then sneaks out and makes her way to the Ritter house, She calls to Bubba "olly Olly oxen free" but he doesn't show himself. Figuring he must be in the house being the late hour, she goes in and finds the lei she gave him when she hears a noise upstairs. "Bubba?" To find Mrs Ritter understandably concerned and questioning why she's there so late at night in her nightgown.
Mrs Ritter breaks the bad news to Marylee by saying he's gone where no one can hurt him.
"He can't sing The Flower Song by himself and he only knows his alphabet up to G, I know where he likes to hide, I can show you" She runs to one of Bubba's favorite places to hide "He's not missing Mrs Ritter, he's playing the hiding game"
Things settle back to normal until Mrs Hocker says to her husband "If you're not plaintin' why's a Scarecrow out there" Upon closer inspection, the scarecrow has the same 21 bullet holes that they riddled Bubba with not that long ago.
Harless goes to confront Philby and Skeeter about the scarecrow only to realize they truly didn't know anything about it. They figure Hazelrig knows but he's as puzzled as they are and worries over the optics of guilt by them all being in the same place. Hazelrig surmises that Sam the DA is the culprit, using this to break them
Upon returning home, Harless is about to go into his house when sees a scarecrow cross in his field. He knocks it over only to hear something in the barn and goes to investigate. His brush machine activates so he turns it off, warning Sam (the DA) to come out because he has to close up the place. After some hay or related substance falls on Harless from above he goes up to see nothing out of place. He grabs a sickle for defense and as he's close to the edge, he is startled when the brush machine reactivates. After stumbling and grabbing onto a light fixture, after it gives way, Harless falls into his own brush machine.
The next morning, everyone at the Boarding House are having breakfast when Mr. Looomis recounts that at 5:58 am The Sheriff went by, 6:00 am when the ambulance went past and 6:09 am when the District Attorney came out. This guy has a better memory than me and this was BEFORE smartphones!. After noting Harless Hocker was over there yesterday, he lets out that Hocker ground himself up in his brush machine. Hazelrig is stunned upon hearing the information and goes to the Hocker house. When he arrives Mrs Hocker is leaving with the DA, who gives Hazelrig a look and continues on his way
Later that night, Philby and Skeeter are at the Post Office and something doesn't add up. How was he grinding brush in his barn? You said the machine was off when they found him but who turned it off? How do you know it ran out of gas? The DA doesn't know about the scarecrow right? Hazelrig counters that he didn't see a scarecrow when he went to the Hocker plot. Phlby is not convinced and the quartet now down to a trio, head to the Hocker residence
Now at the Hocker residence, the three go into the barn to find out if what Hazelrig suggested was true in fact is. They find out that it was more wishful thinking, the thing is nearly full. Skeeter: Who turned it off?
Hazelrig: The same one that turned it on
The next scene takes place at the Ritter House because Hazelrig has to deliver a package there. As he leaves his truck, he sees Marylee is staring daggers at him and runs off when he calls out to her. Mrs Ritter understandably wanting him to GTFO and do a no contact delivery before it was popular has to sign for her package and instructs him to leave it in the mailbox. Hazelrig informs Mrs Ritter that Harless Hocker was killed last night and reminds her of what she said at Court. He believes she killed him and calls it even.
Mrs Ritter: "Ain't ten of you worth my boy's life, now get!" Hazelrig warns her to stop, and Mrs Ritter has a warning of her own to throw down and exposes him as a pedophile despite his good guy act
Philby then finds a scarecrow in the field behind his grainery
At the Halloween Party, Hazelrig makes it his business to find out if Mrs Ritter is behing what happened to Harless, he beckons her to tell him in his ear if it's a secret. Resolutely, Marylee tells him "I know what you did to Bubba. You lied about him to everyone. Bubba told me" She runs off and Hazelrig tries to catch her until a cop tells him "The party's up front"
A short while later, Philby crashes the Halloween Party, visibly distraught and flustered because of the scarecrow he found in his field earlier that day. When Philby, Skeeter and Hazelrig all go out to the spot the scarecrow was it's gone. Philby states bluntly "You got me into this, now you'd better find a way out of this or the Sheriff is going to find out what REALLY happened" Hazelrig, concerned with optics wants to get out of plain sight but Philby has bigger fish to fry. He'd rather end up in jail for life than dying horribly
Hazelrig, convinced that Mrs Ritter is behind all of this, drops by and surprises her by holding her mouth from behind. He says this is over, and it's even so she needs to stop this. She screams at the first opportunity once his hand is removed so he covers her mouth again reassuing her that he won't hurt her if she quits this nonsense. When he uncovers his hand from her mouth again Mrs. Ritter is unresponsive. She had a heart attack from the episode and as Hazelrig is about to leave he is startled by a tea kettle's whistle.
Mrs Ritter dies 
As he turns off the stove, he decides that Mrs Ritter isn't gonna miss the place so he turns the gas on ever so slightly to let the fireplace take care of the rest as he high tails it out of there. Unsurprisingly, Mrs Ritter gets blowed up
The next morning, Marylee is on her way to the Ritter house picking flowers, she looks up astonished to see the remains of the house. DA Sam and an arson investigator are going through the wreckage and the Arson Investigator hypothesizes that Mrs Ritter may have left the gas on or a thinned out hose caused the leak. Sam wants to be sure of the cause of the explosion wanting "one shred" showing his vendetta has not gone anywhere
That night, Philby's hogs are restless and having found nothing a noise startles him so he picks up a bat. No worries, it's just a chain knocking against a nearby metal surface. As Philby tries to get back to his office, and as it's no Motel 6 the light goes out, prompting him to make a B line to his car which is out of gas.
Afterward he runs into the grain silo where he shuts himself in and waits. Nearby, the grain belt starts moving. Philby aghast, tries to exit only to find himself locked in as the grain pours down from up above. He dies being covered in grain but also of a heart attack.
Hearing the news, Hazelrig goes to Skeeter and lets him know what happened. Skeeter is dismayed at the news and falls to pieces because he knows something's up, Hazelrig believes Bubba is alive and has a trip in mind, one that shovel in mind. They go to Bubba's grave and we find out his full name is Charles Elliot Ritter, time to dig and see if he is still inside.
Once the contents of the casket are confirmed, Skeeter just wants out and will will do anything to get out. He pontificates going to Arkansas way out in the mountains, going fishing and hiking. The only trip Skeeter is taking has an abundance of Zs in it...eternally
Leaving the scene of his third crime of the movie and committing his fourth by driving drunk , Hazelrig sees Marylee in the middle of the street and pursues her exclaiming that she's the one killing everyone. When he grabs Marylee, a nearly truck's lights go on, he yells "Sam, it's not what it looks like, it's her! it's been her all the time!"
The truck chases Hazelrig through the field until he's face to face with a Scarecrow. He pulls back and reveals he's been stabbed with a pitchfork the scarecrow was holding. Hazelrig's eyes go wide and points to the scarecrow in shock, falling down
The scarecrow turns to Marylee and hands her a flower "Thank you Bubba you know what? Tomorrow I'll teach you the chasing game, it's fun it's sort of like tag"
That has been Dark Night of the Scarecrow from 1981. After watching it I truly loved this movie.
Tonya Crowe was perfectly cast as Marylee Williams. Crowe seemed a natural for this role and owned it. When she's onscreen I am truly focused on her and her character, I feel for her when she's attacked and later wakes up and finds out about what Hazelrig did to Bubba.
Larry Drake did an amazing job as Bubba and I think he definitely did his homework with this role. It felt like Bubba was a real person, reminiscent of Lennie from Of Mice and Men
Charles Dunning as Otis Hazelrig definitely carried the film. This pedophile wanting to seem normal postman was definitely a great role that was truly fascinating to watch as he spiraled. His classic projection hurt an innocent man and in essence he was running form himself. In the end, it was his own hand that rose against him with the pitchfork he handed Bubba. This could be seen as Hazelrig and his lust toward Marylee physically handing it off to Bubba as he did in life.
His desire to have good optics was shown a few times throughout the film. In the scene when the men come to see Hazelrig. He is seen in his bedroom drinking, when he said he was napping. At the Halloween party a woman remarked that he didn't drink..at least around people, and of course the scene with Philby and Skeeter in the field when he said "Let's go inside, someone will see us", the boarding house scene when he told them never to come there as well shows this. Mrs Ritter was the only one that called him out about his see through facade.
Another theme I noticed in an interesting way was of outcast vs in crowd. Bubba, Mrs Ritter and Marylee are outsiders and much more decent than Hazelrig especially. The other men got roped into this with Hazelrig and ended up suffering alongsdie him. I think it shows how those who are in most peoples eyes good men can be lead astray by someone SEEMING to be a good man. The quartet were even lauded as members of the community, not criminals in the words of Judge Henry. However, when it came right down to it Bubba, Mrs. Ritters and Marylee were the most upstanding, and they got hurt the worst in all of this.
I would really recommend this movie and I haven't seen too many TV horror movies I've recommended so highly. . I don't see many problems with the film and whatever ones there are doesn't take away from the well crafted, slow burn that plays sensibly and propels us forward
I give this a strong 5 Bubba Scarecrows out of 5
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