how are we going to get to Mexico...we're dead
like most, i first saw SCARECROWS in the late 80s when i was about 7 or 8 and like many other films i saw as a child, this one stuck in my mind. i thought it was terrifying. in the late 90s i was lucky to come across an ex-rental VHS copy for only £1.50. without hesitating i bought it. watching Scarecrows again and again (yes, i love it) i came to understand that this movie isnt really strictly a horror movie in the same league as the crappy Friday 13th's, hence the reason why i like it as i, although dont mind the occasional gore flicks, i am not a true horror fan.
Sure, it has nasty things in the dark killing people, but scarecrows isnt an excuse to butcher people in a variety of colourful ways. i think the majority of ppl who hear about this movie think that it is going to be a slasher/horror/gore movie and they are disappointed when they watch it.
i watched it the other day with my friends and they were all expecting gore by the bucket loads and then i thought that they might be disappointed as there isnt really that much. yes, one or two of the deaths are quite graphic but the rest are just stabbings and they are over quite quickly.
why i love scarecrows is because i think it is a moral tale as well as a horror film. a group of people who have succumb to greed, have done something terrible and are now damned, doomed, etc. as the character Curry says, they 'got away too clean'. and i think its cool the idea that Curry suspects they are already dead and are in hell or something. but basically, they are all going to die.
Each character's fate is individual and has meaning. Bert double-crosses the robbers and is killed first. it is after he is killed the windmill, generator, etc all fire-up and things begin to kick into action, so to speak. Bert is the catalyst (hope thats the right word!)
Kelly's father, the pilot is obviously innocent in the robbery, but he himself gives in to greed and steals a bag of cash from the robbers and it is this that seals his fate and is the reason he is killed by the scarecrows.
Jack it seems is just killed, but it is his relationship to Curry (they are good buddies) that is interesting after his death. After seeing Jack being butchered Curry cracks up, in a similar vein to the marines in the movie Predator. Curry cracks and becomes aware what is going on and that they cannot escape alive. And its perfect that it is in fact Jack, as a zombie (or whatever) who kills Curry at the end.
Curry is the brains and Jack is made out to be a slow thinker (although Jack is the first one to realise that something is not quite right) so you could say it was Curry's idea to do the robbery and he convinced Jack to help out with promises of paradise, albeit in Mexico. But Jack is killed and in a sense it is Curry's fault, so Jack is going to bring Curry down with him.
Roxanne makes it quite clear she is not leaving without the money. When Roxanne, Kelly and Corbin make a run for it at the end, Roxanne decides to break away from the others and collect more money which leads her straight into a blood thirsty scarecrow. she is done away with and we see her blood drip on her dice which i think symbolises her greed. she knew there was danger but wanted more money and decided to take a gamble. she lost. its quite tragic when we see her lying dead on the ground with bloodstained money around her with Corbins voice on the radio saying 'leave the money its just not worth it.'
Corbin is the only one who appears to have morals and this is made clear when he buries kellys father. He tells Roxanne to leave the money and says 'its just not worth it'. he helps kelly escape and tells her to leave him and escape when he is attacked by the scarecrows. but Corbin was involved in the robbery therefore his death was innevitable. his death is perfect for his character as he sacrifises himself to save kelly.
and so, Kelly is the only innocent person in the movie and is the only survivor.
its obvious that Scarecrows was made on a shoe string budget. plus the acting is pretty poor in places, mainly at the beginning of the movie although Michael Simms (Curry) is very impressvie as he slowly goes insane! and the editing is far from perfect. but scarecrows is filled with clever, cool little touches that make the film.
my favourite scene is near the end when zombie Jack approaches the house to get Curry. We see only Jacks POV through night vision. the music is perfect. i think its a drum beat giving us the sense of an execution, and of course, Jack is coming to 'execute' Curry. and then we finally see Jack, his face mutilated, teeth showing, wearing the night vision goggles and he has some kind of roar - it is bloody freaky but so, so cool! after seeing Jack, Curry locks himself in a room which he and we have seen before and there is what appears to be an altar in the center and the knife we saw earlier is no longer there. eventually Curry opens the door and Jack stabs and kills Curry with what i imagine is the missing knife. as Curry falls dead on the altar Jack mutters the immortal words 'Hey Curry, how are we going to get to Mexico? We're dead.'
after everyone is dead and kelly escapes, the windmill, generator, etc all stop. and i guess the scarecrows return to their crosses.
a great film, far from perfect production/acting wise, but a really great film. well, i think so anyway!