Scarecrows

I have to admit that when I first started this, I figured I was in for a terrible film. This one was surprisingly good and pretty much well acted. The kill scenes were fun as well. Definitely a good one to watch.

If you haven't seen this film you've certainly seen one like it: two guys and two gals go down to the woods, or in this case a cornfield and a lake, and...Obviously the guys have the girls on their minds while something nasty is out there intent on turning them into toast, or in this case literal scarecrows.

The film is more scatalogical than most of the genre, if you can believe that, but the innuendo and sexual adventures don't last long as they are kidnapped by the faceless psychopath and dragged off to his lair. There is a bit more to it than that, but not a lot, the usual wanton sadism and the sadly predictable ending. Give this one a miss.

The movie is by no means great, but it has some reasonable acting a few laughs. But the story is still all the same old same old. There was something i just liked about the movie. I thought it was reasonably made, with descent acting. Not your high class horror, but this was a fun watch on a sunday afternoon.

This is just a typical low budget slasher, but it's not as bad as you'd think. Ok so the main four characters - four horny college kids on a road trip - are a pretty unlikeable bunch, you honestly don't care what happens to them. But they're not bad actors and they carry the movie along pretty well. The movie doesn't actually pick up until halfway through, the first half is just teens skinny dipping, having sex and cheating on one another, then getting lost in a cornfield owned by a psycho farmhand - it's pretty boring (except for a rogue dismembered thumb and a body stashed in a scarecrow).

Second half is standard run and hide from the psycho. It's predictable, not particularly scary or suspenseful and it seems to have 'borrowed' a few ideas from other more successful horror movies. But I didn't hate it. It's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes.

"Scarecrows" is a straightforward story that incorporates recognizable tropes. The young, dumb kids on a quest, and the psycho killer. Add to it the macabre fascination of a creepy, yet familiar rural mainstay - the scarecrow. It lacks originality but that doesn't stop it from being entertainment.

The cast is great at creating likeable characters that add both canon fodder for the killer and protagonists that you root for. The acting is acceptable, although there is some recognized moments of inconsistencies in scene delivery. But still, the quality is good and the suspense is captivating.

The special effects are equally quality work. Practical, visceral moments of blood and horror create an almost "Wolf Creek" atmosphere. My only complaint is that the violence and horror seemed restrained a bit too much. I would have liked a little more gruesome and gore. Still the film does more than enough to entertain on that level as well.

Overall, "Scarecrows" is a cool, entertaining horror movie with slasher level thrills. The cinematography is excellent, the antagonist is dominating and intimidating. There are a few minor flaws, but nothing that hurts the experience that Stone offers up to horror fans. Check it out.