Scarecrow Gone Wild

release year: 2004
genre: horror
viewing setting: home DVD, 6/11/05

synopsis: A hazing incident causes a scarecrow to animate and go after some fun-loving kids.

impressions: It was terrible. Where can I begin? The plot was full of holes, enough to make fun of for quite a while. Examples: a beach within walking distance of a cornfield...a hospital that's abandoned yet has plenty of functional equipment...aqua-scarecrow, who stalks his victim from underwater...people walking a short distance away from their friends and screaming and not being heard...college baseball jocks who haze new members of the team...one jock bringing his baseball bag to the beach weekend...a scarecrow who suddenly knows how to drive...a total geek who for some reason is a chick magnet...a completely unneccesary 15-minute anti-climax tacked onto the end of the movie...a scarecrow who suddenly develops lightning-touch powers! Let's see, what else did I notice? This movie has Ken Shamrock, arguably the world's toughest fighter, in a strange role as an advice-giving coach who can't out-fight a scarecrow. It also has an English subtitle (or so the DVD says) that is actually in Spanish. There is absolutely no excuse for this sort of thing.

body count: 14

something this movie has that no other movie has: A scarecrow that whistles as it stalks its victims. In fact, it even whistles while underwater.

acting: The "main" guy and girl turned in decent performances, considering the material. Most of the other male actors' roles were obnoxious, irresponsible jocks, and very grating on the viewer. These characters are the sort who get into major arguments during a friendly volleyball game, or who urinate on their sleeping friend's face - and then it's all okay five minutes later.

final word: A good candidate for drunken-movie night.

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