CBS premiered Dark Night of the Scarecrow on 24 October 1981.
Made-for-TV horror tends to be weak. There are notable exceptions. Night Gallery was generally excellent. And it wasn’t alone. Tobe Hooper made the excellent Salem’s Lot for TV. There were films like Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. And there is pretty much anything Dan Curtis did during the 1970s.
This last exception is probably most telling. Horror on TV generally sufferred from groupthink. Curtis had power because of the success of Dark Shadows. But how did a film as outstanding as Dark Night of the Scarecrow manage to make its way onto TV screens without being defanged?
Sadly, the commentary track on the excellent Blu-ray release is laser-focused on the production, so we don’t learn much about how it got to be made. But there are a couple of things that stand out. One is that JD Feigelson didn’t write it for TV. And Frank De Felitta was the perfect person to direct. He was fundamentally a writer. But he also had a good, unpretentious visual style.
Why the network heads at CBS didn’t make changes to destroy it is not clear. It’s not like the film lacked for resources. It does seem fairly low-budget but quite reasonable for TV. I guess we can put it down to incompetence. If the CBS managers had been more on the ball, they could have destroyed this film too!
A big reason I love the film is that it’s a very effective revenge story. It’s a very clear plot. There is one truly evil man and three followers who are sort of idiots but also pretty evil. And I enjoy seeing them get justice.
Additionally, the acting in the film is exceptional. I can well imagine that at that time, none of these pros cost much money. And only Charles Durning would go on to be anything like a star. But everyone in the cast does a great job. I think actors work harder when they have a great script, as they do here.
If you have never seen Dark Night of the Scarecrow, you really must. It’s so much fun — even after 46 years!
Other 24 October Birthdays & Releases
Filmmakers
- Merian C Cooper (1893-1973): Director and producer of King Kong and Mighty Joe Young.
- Sammy Petrillo (1934-2009): Jerry Lewis impersonator who starred in Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla and Doris Wishman’s Keyholes Are for Peeping.
- F Murray Abraham (1939-): Actor known for a bunch of stuff, but I especially like him in “The Autopsy” episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
- Martin Campbell (1943-): Director of many interesting films including the wonderful Cast a Deadly Spell and the entirely watchable James Bond film GoldenEye.
- Kevin Kline (1947-): Actor known for lots of interesting stuff including A Fish Called Wanda and The January Man.
- John Kassir (1957-): Voice of the Cryptkeeper in the long-running HBO TV show Tales from the Crypt.
- Brad Johnson (1959-2022): Actor who starred in a number of low-budget trash films including Philadelphia Experiment II, The Birds II: Land’s End, Supergator, Copperhead. He died too young of COVID-19.
Films
- The Magician (1926): Silent film about a man who tries to create life via the occult.
- Spooks Run Wild (1941): The East Side Kids meet Bela Lugosi.
- The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960): The usual story with a different title.
- Tower of London (1962): Richard III is haunted by the people he murdered.
- Motel Hell (1980): A crazy farmer makes fertilizer from tourists he kidnaps. Clear inspiration for Mad Jake.
- From Beyond (1986): Scientists find a way of seeing beyond normal reality. Bad idea!
- Trick or Treat (1986): A rock star’s fan tries to save his soul after he dies.
- Gattaca (1997): A dystopian future has a genetic caste system, and a menial caste guy disguises himself to get ahead.
- Killjoy (2000): Microbudget about kids and an evil clown.
- Bones (2001): A murdered man comes back as a ghost for revenge and to clean up his neighborhood.
- Scary Movie 3 (2003): Sure, why not?
- The Hollow (2004): Teens performing Halloween pranks disappear.
- Ju-Rei: The Uncanny (2004): School girls die after seeing a hooded man.
- Don’t Be Scared (2006): Master P slasher.
- Halloween Night (2006): Wrongly convicted murder turns insane and escapes to prove his innocence.
- John Wick (2014): A retired hitman gets revenge when thugs kill his puppy.
- Ouija (2014): Five friends release an evil force with a board game.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
