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NE OF THE GREAT CHARMS OF HORROR IN BOTH FILM AND LITERATURE IS THAT IT’S BROAD ENOUGH AND FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO SERVE AS A BACKDROP FOR TALES THAT MIGHT JUST AS EASILY BE TOLD OUTSIDE THE GENRE. In fact, no less an icon than John Carpenter has stated more
than once that, in spite of the pitfalls of being “typed” as a horror director, it has at least allowed him to dabble in comedy, drama, sci-fi, action-thrillers, modern-day westerns and even the odd love story while remaining within its framework. The 1980 made-for-TV cult favourite Dark Night of the Scarecrow, directed by
Frank De Felitta (The Entity) and scripted by J.D. Feigelson (One of the Missing), is another example of the genre’s thematic versatility, in that it occasionally brings to mind both To Kill a Mockingbird and Peyton Place. Both of those films (and the novels that spawned them) are miles away from horror, but a closer look reveals that they’ve mined the same territory; Scarecrow’s plot doesn’t specifically involve racism (Mock- ingbird) or repressive, hypocritical sexual politics (Peyton Place), but it is undeniably fuelled by a familiar and distinctly American cinematic preoccupation of the late 20th century: petty, mean-spirited small-town bigotry and the chaos it can wreak on the lives of the innocent. In this case, however, the victim of persecution doesn’t just fight back; he returns from the grave to mete out vengeance. Said victim is Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake: Darkman, Dr. Giggles), a mentally chal- lenged young man falsely accused of murdering a little girl (Tonya Crowe). Mere
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minutes after shooting him to death as he hides inside a scarecrow, his killers dis- cover that not only was Bubba innocent, but also that the child – Bubba’s best friend – is alive and well. The rednecks, led by evil postman Otis P. Hazelrigg (played with sneering relish by Charles Durning), manage to escape earthly justice but soon get their just desserts one by one in a series of gruesome “accidents,” each preceded by the appearance of a mysterious scarecrow. After all, as Bubba’s grieving mother warns, “There’s other justices in the world besides the law!” No one, except perhaps screenwriter Feigelson, was all that surprised when Scare-
crow drew a large and enthusiastic crowd to Toronto’s Bloor Cinema last winter for a screening at Rue Morgue’s monthly CineMacabre night. “Until we began the restoration process two years ago, I was personally un-
aware the interest existed,” he tells RM on the eve of the film’s DVD re-release. “As word leaked out that we were going to commit Scarecrow to DVD, I started getting invitations to horror conventions. At the first one, I was astounded at the size of the horror subculture, and even more at their universal and vocal love for Scarecrow. I have been guesting ever since and screening the restored version to the faithful.” It’s particularly noteworthy that long before the cameras rolled, Feigelson’s script
went through multiple drafts and radical revisions under the watchful eye of one Ray Bradbury.
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