Scarecrow Slayer is the sequel to Emmanuel Itier's cult horror movie "Scarecrow". This time around Itier has given the reigns to a new director and the result is not too bad at all. Forget the low IMDb rating, if you liked the first film or low budget horror movies in general, then Scarecrow Slayer is worth hiring.
Fans of the original film may be somewhat disappointed that this is a sequel in name only. Scarecrow Slayer does not follow the events of the first movie, so there is a new scarecrow victim and most upsettingly, no return appearance from scream queen, Tiffany Shepis. In fact, the only real link to the original is Todd Rex, who reprises his role as the scarecrow. Despite the new cast and storyline, this is not an awful sequel. Scarecrow Slayer definitely lacks the tastelessness and grim humour that made Itier's film a video favourite but it is 90 minutes of stupid, gory fun.
This time around a college student, Dave, is accidentally shot while trying to steal the scarecrow during a hazing dare. This results in Dave's soul entering the scarecrow with the intention of avenging his death and being reunited with his girlfriend, Mary. Dave even builds Mary a female scarecrow, so they can be possessed together after he kills her. Who says romance is dead. The plot of the movie basically involves the scarecrow chasing Mary around town, killing anyone who comes between them. The murders begin rather tamely but as the film progresses the gore factor increases significantly. I particularly liked the head squashing, which was very reminiscent of early Troma. The special effects are the work of Anthony C. Ferrante, who recently directed the atrocious ghost movie "Boo". Thankfully, his special effects are far better than his directing skills.
In addition to some decent low budget gore, the film also boasts a cameo appearance from Tony Todd - the "Candyman" himself! Tony gives a great performance as Caleb, the scarecrow's keeper. The other standout performance is given by Jessica Mattson, who plays the requisite big breasted bimbo with style. I'm surprised that her career has stalled, she definitely has the assets to be a scream queen. The rest of the cast is pretty ordinary but good enough for this kind of material.
Scarecrow Slayer is definitely only for fans of low budget gore. This is not high art, but you should know that from the DVD cover. I can't believe that people hire a movie about a killer bundle of hay and have the nerve to go online and write reviews lamenting the poor production values as if it were some kind of surprise.
