DVD Review: SCARECROW (2013)

SCARECROW
Directed by:  Sheldon Wilson
Distributed by:  Cinedigm

  I have to admit, when I saw this was a SyFy movie, I kinda cringed a little bit.  I had not seen any trailer or anything for this movie, so I didn't know what to expect, but I honestly didn't expect much.  Most of the SyFy movies lately have been pretty bad.   Some of the crazy shark movies have been fun, but most of the SyFy films are nothing to get too excited about.  I am happy to say that is not the case with SCARECROW.  SyFy has really stepped it up with what I think is one of the most original creature features made in years.   Here is the plot of the film from the movie's imdb page:

For generations, it was an urban legend that lived in the nightmares of children. Now, the season to rejuvenate the tale will revive a town's darkest fears. With the Scarecrow Festival on the horizon, school teacher Aaron Harris is doling out punishment for six students serving detention, including the moody Tyler, Goth girl Nikki, wrestling team captain Daevon, and straight-A student Jun. Their task: help Aaron's ex-girlfriend Kristen fix her family farm before it's sold. But the cornfields circling the farm come with a legend-and Tyler takes macabre delight in recounting the tale: It never sleeps, it never dies, it can't be stopped, hear their cries. The Scarecrow lives to kill us all. Keep it buried in the fall... When the kids play a terrifying game of cat and mouse in the cornfield with what they believe is a wild animal, Kristen tries to convince them that the Scarecrow is a very real creature of fierce strength and power, rejuvenated by the blood of its prey

 At first the film seems like any other horror film, and the premise is not really that original, but the actual scarecrow creature was the best part of the film and was a very original concept design. At least it was to me. I had never seen anything like it.  I was expecting a guy in a dumb scarecrow costume and was not expecting much out of it.  Instead, the scarecrow in this film is a much darker, creepier, supernatural creature.  This was something I was not expecting and upon first seeing this creature, immediately made me sit up and give this film my full attention. Even with the scarecrow being completely computer generated,  it still looked good and it worked for me.

 The acting in the film was good, most everyone in the film did a great job.  The film also has some good gore, although being a made for TV movie, they had to hold back a little bit with the kill scenes.  I would have loved if this was  not a TV movie where the filmmakers could have gone all out, but even so, this film still served it's purpose as a very entertaining horror film.  This is one I will be watching again very soon.  I highly recommend SCARECROW to any fans of creature features.

SCARECROW will be released on DVD February 25th


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to pre-order the DVD