I like to purposely go out and hunt through the stores discount or used DVD bins hoping and praying to find a bad movie gem. This would be one that is fun to watch and rare. The more obscure the find and the stranger the film then the better I say. A few days ago I stumbled upon a used version of Scarecrow and Scarecrow Slayer. Yes it was a double feature! With cool cover art before me I reached down into my pocket, smiled, and proceeded to the checkout.

My friend and I eagerly popped the DVD in (ok I was the only eager one). Lester Dwervick played by Tim Young plays a convincing teenaged outcast. Yet not as depressed, brooding and violent enough to go on a killing spree with his newborn Scarecrow strength and confidence. But not by much. I believed it. You’d probably guess that Lester feels wronged and overlooked with a low self esteem because he lives in a cramped trailer with a whoring drunk of a mother that brings men to the house every other day. And you would be right! He vents by drawing pictures in his corner until he finds other, more satisfying ways, maybe something like... a murder revenge spree as a supernatural scarecrow.

But alas, he does find a kind friend in a cool punk girl that stuck up for him and treats him fair. But Lester wants more than friendship. So when he sees her kissing another guy at a party he is badly hurt. When he gets home a fellow his mom brought over gets into a scuffle with Lester and chokes him to death in a cornfield later making it look like he hanged himself. Lester’s soul somehow (only God knows) moves up into a life-size scarecrow and the thing is animated. Now the payback begins.

Todd Rex does a fantastic job as the Scarecrow. He flips and jumps around swinging and killing with Kama blade in each hand. The face of the scarecrow looks great. The mask is nicely stitched and looks fearsome enough for the films budget. The death scenes are done right as well. In one death a man is stabbed through the ear with a corncob. Later the monster produces Freddy Krueger like claws and pokes them through someone’s gut. The Scarecrow throws in some (Krueger like) comic remarks as well, making it a truly pleasurable Direct to Video experience. So we come to our end where the predictable close is welcome. A group of friends in a cornfield are telling the events transcribed above and guess who drops in to say hi.

I am looking forward to seeing the follow-up with high enough hopes. Emmanuel Itier, director and co- writer dedicates this film to Dario Argento. Now a lot of people criticize this. This movie was shot in eight days, go ahead and try to shoot a better feature in similar fashion. It is very difficult to do.

- Jorge Antonio Lopez