MovieChat Forums > Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) Discussion > I don't *want * to nitpick, but 'The do...

I don't want to nitpick, but 'The dogs say different'

posted 10 years ago by Moondrop_C
9 replies | jump to latest

When the armed mob arrives at Bubba's house, his mother tells Durning's character that Bubba's not there. Durning's reply is, "The dogs say different." The dogs, at this point, are fixated on a spot on the ground, acting as if they're excited by something.

What I want to know is, how were these dogs "tracking" Bubba, and only Bubba, when they were never given anything with his scent. And I don't buy the "it happened off-camera" explanation. They brought those dogs out, got them up in the truck and took off, without a clue which way he'd headed, other than he'd most likely run home.

The scent the dogs picked up could have belonged to anyone who'd been there recently. Could have belonged to Bubba's own mother. Or the mailman, who would be the one person to leave his scent absolutely *everywhere* in that town, especially as obsessed with Bubba and the little girl as he seemed to be.

Buncha idiots proceed to follow the dogs, who are following a mystery scent. They could have been following the scent of another animal. Of course, they "weren't" 'cause we know whose scent they were "tracking", right?

Dang it, I've already watched one movie today with a plot hole big enough to fly a 747 through. I wasn't in the mood for another.

It's a mistake, and an important one, if the dogs were going to lead the armed morons to Bubba and set in motion actions that would lead to revenge.

</venting>

[–] YankeeDood 10 years ago

Not everything has to be explained or seen to be valid. The redneck vigilantes could have given the dogs a scent to go on before they started the hunt, easily.
You over-analyze too much. This isn't a news story, it's a horror movie, so kick back and chill.

Bruce Lee was real. Batman was never real.

[–] gymkata4u 10 years ago

Well they brought the dogs since Bubba hid from them "the last time" so I wouldn't put it past Hazelrig to have some of Bubba's clothes for that very reason

[–] grrrdevin 8 years ago

You over-analyze too much.

I like how making the most basic logical observation is "over-analizing."

[–] ginger-51 9 years ago

haha, I had the same reaction. I just watched that scene and came here to see if anyone could offer a reasonable explanation. Those dogs weren't tracking Bubba at all. They were just excited to get out and run around with the mob of drunken rednecks and sniff around, and as dogs do, they followed a scent that they found interesting...which just happened to lead to Bubba. Unfortunate coincidence. Whenever I take my dog for a hike she does the same thing--gets all excited and runs around sniffing until eventually she comes up on some hiker who happens to have a peanut butter sandwich in his backpack, and then she jumps all over him like he's carrying the last peanut butter sandwich in the world. Thank goodness I'm not carrying a pitchfork and a gun when she does it.

[–] Eratrosceles 8 years ago

These are all good points, one I would like to add is that we come to find out Bubba lives at home (which makes sense given his mental capacity) anyway, so really, wouldn't his scent be all over that place to begin with?
Let me be clear--I love this film through and through, and I'm not trying to pick it apart by any means. I watch it every Halloween night, partially because I'm a nerd, and partially because the film's climax takes place at least near Halloween. But the dogs continuing on Bubba's scent in his own yard always makes me chuckle:)

[–] andreaweibley 8 years ago

I never really thought of it as a mistake, but more like they WANTED Bubba to be the bad guy, so they didn't use any of his clothes or his scent. They just went to Bubbas house and accused him using the dogs as eveidence of his wrongdoing. The dogs weren't really tracking anything, just being noisy. The vigilantes didn't care, they had their minds made up. They told Bubbas mamma that the dogs tracked the scent there-they were lying.

[–] Eratrosceles 8 years ago

That's an excellent point, wherever his scent was-or wasn't-Hazelrigg and his cronies had their minds set on Bubba.

[–] andreaweibley 8 years ago

Man I loved this movie! I haven't seen it in probably 30 years. I miss the days tv networks played spooky movies during Halloween! I was so creeped out by this movie! I have a terrible memory,yet I remember this movie pretty well. "Bubba didn't do it!" haunted me forever. This movie kept me awake the night I saw it. I was only about 10-12 years old at the time. I was staying overnight at my grandmas house and my aunt lived there, she let me see way too many spooky movies, but I'm glad! I wasn't allowed to go see Halloween 2 when it came out in theaters. She snuck and took me and I remember screaming in the theater every time Micheal Myers appeared. The whole theater screamed. On the way out of the movie, guess who we run into coming out of another movie? Yeah, my parents. Somehow I didn't get into trouble. I miss the days, before we became so desensitized to horror, that we actually had a physical reaction like screaming, when we saw something horrible about to happen. Those were the fun days. Now there are no movies that truly put a fear into me. Well the Exorcist does. I feel extremely creepy when I watch that.

[–] andreaweibley 8 years ago

**evidence-I should proofread before I post. I just noticed my dumb misspelling. I'm a nerd, it bugs me.

I don't *want * to nitpick, but 'The dogs say different'

I don't want to nitpick, but 'The dogs say different'