Scarecrow Gone Wild (2004)

A bunch of sadistic college frat jerks tie fragile diabetic Sam (scrawny Caleb Roehrig) to a cross in a corn field. Sam nearly dies and subsequently resurrects a lethal evil scarecrow (hulking Steve Worley) who proceeds to brutally butcher a handful of party hearty kids frolicking on the beach during spring break. It's up to token nice guy Jack (affable Matthew Linhart) and his sweet girlfriend Beth (luscious Samantha Aisling) to stop the scarecrow before it's too late. Writer/director Brian Katlin concocts one uproariously ludicrous excuse for a horror flick: we've got crummy acting from a lame no-name cast (Ken Shamrock is especially terrible as ramrod Coach Ramsey), a roaring soundtrack of silly rock songs, a few dumb false scares, largely obnoxious and unlikable characters, glaring day-for-night continuity errors aplenty, one dude belts out a horrendous acoustic ballad around a campfire, a protracted volleyball game, a handy helping of tasty gore (an impalement on a bamboo pole rates as the definite gruesome highlight), and a ham-fisted ending that tries for tragic pathos (!). The scarecrow makes for a truly laughable monster: he lumbers about in broad daylight, whistles off-key, and even runs over a hapless lass with a pick-up truck. Zoran Popovic's bright, sunny, shaky cinematography, Collin Simon's generic ooga-booga spooky score, and several hot chicks in skimpy bikinis further enhance the campy fun. As an added bonus, both busty blonde Lisa Robert and cute brunette Tara Platt bare their breasts. An enjoyably tacky kitsch hoot.

Scarecrow Gone Wild starts as high school teenager Mike (David Zelina) & his mates decide to to give a 'hazing' to wimpish diabetic Sam (Caleb Roehrig) as an initiation of some sort. Mike & his mate decide to take Sam to a corn field, tie him to a cross next to a freaky looking scarecrow & leave him there all night, sounds like fun right? Well, things backfire when Sam goes into a diabetic coma after suffering from a hypo & the vengeful spirit of Sam passes into the scarecrow which comes to life & starts to hunt down the kids responsible for Sam's unfortunate life-threatening predicament. Can Sam's best mate Jack (Matthew Linhardt) & his girlfriend Beth (Samantha Aisling) save the day & Sam's life?Written & directed by Brian Katkin Scarecrow Gone Wild is the third straight-to-video entry in the Scarecrow series & while I haven't seen either of the previous two after seeing Scarecrow Gone Wild I'm certainly in no hurry to change that situation that's for sure. The script actually has an almost decent premise as the wronged soul of Sam seeks revenge & his friends have to keep the real Sam alive somehow but the way it is told is poor & I suppose that basically it's just an irrelevance to the fact that this is a film about a killer scarecrow running around killing people in not very gory or imaginative ways. Having said that there are one or two scenes here which save it from a one star rating, the fart gag in the corn field is funny & something a lot of immature blokes might do (like me), the bit when two guys bury their mate in the sand & then stand over him & pee on him is also rather funny in a laddish juvenile way & a cool bit when some guy starts singing an awful song so the scarecrow throws a pole which impales him! However these OK bits are few & far between & as a whole it's a silly, boring, poorly written teen slasher film with highly annoying character's who irritate. It' also very predictable & has a stupid twist ending which doesn't really feature the scarecrow at all which is a problem as when you watch a film called Scarecrow Gone Wild you expect to see a scarecrow go wild & I have to admit he looks quite cool as horror character's go.Director Katkin does a reasonable job here actually although what on Earth is up with that hospital at the end & all that neon lighting everywhere & the fact there is only one patient there & two members of staff? The cinematography is much better than the usual straight-to-video low budget horror film of late & there's some nice, if totally unrealistic, lighting. The film lacks any real scares or tension & some of the medical terminology used throughout is a bit iffy to say the least & I say that as an insulin dependant diabetic myself. There's not much gore here, there's a couple of scenes where some actor has some fake guts placed on their stomach to represent them being gutted but it looks pretty fake, there's also a burned face & a couple of impalement's but little else. There's a fair amount of naked female breasts on show if that's your thing.Technically Scarecrow Gone Wild is pretty good considering some of the low budget abominations I've sat through recently, unfortunately it's still a poor film overall. The least said about the acting the better.Scarecrow Gone Wild isn't as bad as some of the straight-to-video horror crap that's been turning up recently but having said that it's not that much better & it's still a bad film when all said & done. Not recommended, the two previous entries are Scarecrow (2002) & Scarecrow Slayer (2003) both of which also went straight-to-video.

The things I have learned from this movie are remarkable, things I never would have guessed otherwise. I do warn you though, there are spoilers.1) Spring Break doesn't consist of many people on a beach, but instead a small group friends...2) Daylight is a tricky thing and can disappear to night, then dawn, then night again within a period of five minutes.3) Scarecrows can whistle.4) Scarecrows can whistle under water.5) Scarecrows can drive trucks.6) Boom mikes are not obviously visible while shooting or editing, but very visible when watching the movie.7) Mirrors don't show your outer appearance, but instead what you are on the inside.8) Scarecrows are weak against defibrillators.9) Scarecrows lose track of people very easily on an open beach.10) A wrestler is no match for the mighty power of a scarecrow.11) Being lightly slapped can knock you unconscious.12) Drunk people like terrible guitar solos.13) When a spear-like object stabs through someone, it sticks through them at a completely different angle.14) If you are being dragged along a beach, screaming for help, no one will help you, despite there being two people on the same side of the beach as you.(Check the background beach around when the girl finds her dead boyfriend, where could those two people go to in a matter of minutes?) 15) When you spill your innards, they rest neatly on top of your skin.16) Finally, people don't show any signs of worry when their friends disappear for many hours without explanation.This movie is very informative, I hope you have learned something from it. So Yeah.

The initiation to the local sport team involves taking the newbies out to the corn fields and guess what? There is a scarecrow murdering people there. Only one of the newbies survive but falls into a coma due to diabetes. Meanwhile the scarecrow starts to kill all of the involved people, one by one. Whats the scarecrows secret? Will they find it out before the scarecrow gets them all? This is a low budget movie and it shows. Sound is OK but picture is really corny. The plot/script really sucks and is quite pathetic and non logical. The acting is really bad and sometimes just laughable. Cant really say much about the special effects cause there aren't that many but the few there is ranges from bad to OK(for a low budget that is). There is some nudity and thats probably the only thing worth to watch in the movie(that is if your a horny teenager, if not, skip the movie all together). Another complete waste of time and money so don't see it. Goes for hack'n'slash fans too.