Dark Night of the Scarecrow

Bubba Didnt Do it

Dark Night of the Scarecrow is directed by Frank De Felitta and written by J.D. Feigelson and Butler Handcock. It stars Charles Durning, Larry Drake, Tonya Crowe, Jocelyn Brando, Lane Smith and Claude Earl Jones. Music is by Glenn Paxton and cinematography by Vincent Martinelli.

Small town Americana and Bubba Ritter (Drake), a friendly but mentally challenged man, is falsely accused of attacking and severely injuring young Marylee Williams (Crowe). Four of the town residents, with hate and ignorance driving them on, hunt down Bubba and find him hiding as a scarecrow in a field. Murdering him, they claim self defence and walk free from court. Its not long afterwards, though, that the men start to see a scarecrow in th...

Of Scarecrows and Men

Something horrible happens in a rural community and four yokels are haunted by their part in the tragic event. Their torment increases when mysterious things start occurring. Charles Durning stars as the lead hick, a mailman, while Larry Drake plays the mentally challenged Bubba. Jocelyn Brando is on hand as his mother.

"Dark Night of the Scarecrow" (1981) is a thriller/horror with good Halloween ambiance that mixes in Of Mice and Men (1939) and To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962). You could tell Stephen King was influenced by it for his The Green Mile (1999), but dont expect a prison flick.

Theres an effective sense of small town good ol boys, albeit misled by one of their own, along with some powerful subt...