Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 12, 2022

Dark Night of the Scarecrow was just one of a regular batch of so-called "made for television movies" that dotted the broadcast landscape with some regularity starting in the sixties and then continuing apace thereafter. Kind of hilariously, writer J.D. Feigelson (who also wrote and directed this sequel) has been credited with launching the whole "killer scarecrow" subgenre with this enterprise, and while there have been a lot of copycats through the years, Feigelson never returned to his ostensible claim to fame until quite recently, which would seem to suggest that any "franchise" ambitions might be tentative at best.

This sequel's title card bears the subtitle Straw Eyes after Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2, which may itself suggest that there is indeed some fitful attempt at jump starting a franchise after decades between projects, but therein lies the rub, so to speak. Those with a fond memory of the original Dark Night of the Scarecrow may well wonder what this ostensible "follow up" really has to do with the original tale, other than the admittedly evocative use of "Bubba" (see my now long ago Dark Night of the Scarecrow Blu-ray review for more information in that regard, if needed). And similarly those without any knowledge of Dark Night of the Scarecrow may be just as confounded by a story that is kind of weirdly elided in any number of ways that seemingly could have been easily addressed with a more artful screenplay.

Without virtually any allusions to the events in the first film (other than a couple of passing comments about long distance "troubles"), this story introduces a woman named Chris Rhymer (Amber Wedding) and her son Jeremy (Aiden Shurr) having recently arrived in the cornfield filled environs where Bubba makes his home. Why exactly Chris and Jeremy are there is a supposedly "big mystery" which the story works overtime to exploit in its third act in particular, but one of the curious deficits in contextualizing comes courtesy of an elderly woman who turns out to be central to the plot, Mrs. Corvis (Carol Dines). She's simply plopped down as Jeremy's caretaker for no apparent reason other than some badly underdeveloped aspects revolving around Chris' roiling emotions which have to do with that "big mystery" mentioned a moment ago.

While it's almost implied that Chris' whispers to Bubba about her "top secret" predicament when she stumbles across him (it?) in a cornfield one day may spark his reanimation, in truth the character has already "come alive" in yet more unexplained phenomena which seem to have something to do with games played between Mrs. Corvis and Jeremy. In that regard, it's kind of ironic that I mentioned The Other in my Dark Night of the Scarecrow Blu-ray review, since there is a very similar plot device in that Robert Mulligan film based on Thomas Tryon's best selling novel. The whole dialectic between Chris, Jeremy and Mrs. Corvis would seem to be the linchpin around which everything in this film revolves, and yet there are probably more questions than answers about everything by the end of the story.

Despite some lapses in the narrative, this is often a rather stylish effort, with some fun directorial flourishes and at least a couple of pretty gruesomely graphic kill scenes. But there's really not much suspense here, and the ending in particular is just flat out bizarre, as if to suggest any traumas caused by a quasi-Witness Protection gone awry and a marauding scarecrow can be solved with a little singalong. If there's a Dark Night of the Scarecrow 3, I for one will probably be surprised.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists only a generic 16:9 HD in its technical specs, but kind of interestingly the closing credits state "Sony Super 35" which I'm assuming refers to the capture mode (you can find quite a bit of online information if you're interested), though perhaps it also refers to Sony cameras. Aside from just a couple of very brief moments of banding during abrupt lighting changes, this is overall a very sharp and pleasing looking presentation. Fine detail on things like Bubba's burlap head is typically excellent. A surplus of brightly lit outdoor material also helps to support both a well suffused palette and general detail levels. There are a few bells and whistles employed, including some desaturated flashback material (see screenshot 3), as well as a couple of day for night scenes that are pretty unconvincingly graded in blue tones.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 features only lossy Dolby Digital audio options, in either 5.1 or 2.0. While I have long been on record that Blu- ray releases really ought to offer at least one lossless option, the Dolby Digital tracks on this disc don't have any major issues. The sound design is often quite evocative, though there are some pretty hoary uses of things like LFE startle effects, both in the scoring and sound effects categories. The surround track does have a nice spaciousness in some of the outdoor material in particular, where a couple of chase scenes through the cornfields keep the side and rear channels nicely engaged. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bonus Trailers include Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 (HD; 1:43) and Dark Night of the Scarecrow (HD; 2:32), along with an assortment of other trailers promoting releases from VCI Entertainment.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The trailer for this outing which is included on this disc as a supplement states overtly that it was "fan demand" that finally brought this long delayed sequel to the screen. But that huge expanse of time between the original Dark Night of the Scarecrow and this ostensible follow up may be more of a hindrance than a help. The screenplay here is probably the biggest problem, though performances from at least some of the cast might be deemed to be in the "not ready for prime time" category as well. Fans of the original will probably be passingly curious about this film, but when all is said and done, it really has very little to do with the original story other than its continued use of Bubba, a character who's past and even name is never really even dealt with here, which is only one indication of just how little it actually does have to do with the original. J.D. Feigelson actually acquits himself quite nicely in the director's chair, and the film has some style and a couple of nicely spooky moments, though probably not enough for more gore minded horror fans. Technical merits range from very good (video) to improvable (only lossy audio), for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.