We’re just a few weeks from September. The month when Fall officially begins. When the leaves start to die and the weather cools. Pumpkin spice aromas fill the air. Somewhere nearby, a Spirit Halloween crawls into the corpse of a retail space like a spooky shell crab finding a new home. It’s the calm before the feverish storm of excitement that is October. And for some, like me, September is also scarecrow season.
Scarecrows are the harbingers of Halloween. Straw men with faces carved like Jack-o’-lanterns, they usher us into the creepiest (i.e. greatest) time of the year. Standing tall and looming over us in their fields with devilish grins, they mark the transition point between Summer and Fall. Thus, there is no more perfect time to watch a good scarecrow film than in the coming weeks.
And to celebrate the immient release of Dread’s own brutal killer scarecrow release Die’ced: Reloaded, in theatres now, we’re running down the top 10 scariest straw stalkers in the history of horror cinema. Below you’ll find a list of some of the scariest scarecrows in horror worth cawing about (in no particular order).
“The Tale of the Silent Servant” – Are You Afraid of the Dark (1990-2000)
Is there any young-adult horror series more iconic than Are You Afraid of the Dark? There are countless episodes I could point to that terrified us 90s kids (and some that still do). One of those is “The Silent Servant”, in which a pair of farm kids discover a scarecrow that grants wishes, but with dangerous consequences. This monkey’s paw of a straw man isn’t much to look at, but it’s what we don’t see that makes him scary. That, and the fact that he breathes like Jason Vorhees, with footsteps just as thunderous. As is the case with every AYAOTD episode, this one also has a great lesson for kids: do your own damn chores or else.
Harold – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
When I was a kid, the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books were the scariest literature I could get my hands on without my parents giving me the side-eye. Anyone who read them will tell you, it was Stephen Gammell’s illustrations that they remember most. The creature designers of André Øvredal’s adaptation, Spectral Motion, managed to capture the terror of those monsters beautifully. That includes their design for Harold the scarecrow. Maybe it’s the gaping hole in his stomach that reminds us he shouldn’t be alive, or his “get off my lawn” old man grimace, but whatever the case, his is a frightening image that you won’t be able to uproot from your mind.
Sawtooth Jack – Dark Harvest (2023)
If you missed David Slade’s Dark Harvest back in October of 2023, I’d recommend fixing that. Based on Norman Partridge’s novel of the same name, Dark Harvest is a visually stunning tale of a deadly annual ritual in a small Midwestern town, where teenage boys are pit against an evil dubbed Sawtooth Jack, who rises from the cornfields every Halloween to wreak havoc. Like a cross between the towering terror of Pumpkinhead and Trick ‘r Treat’s Sam, Sawtooth Jack is the type of imposing creature that leaves you rooted in place as he tears you apart. They don’t call him Sawtooth for nothing.
“The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight” – Goosebumps (1995-1998)
Yes, another 90s anthology horror show for kids. Based on the books by R.L. Stine, the Goosebumps series was a silly, scary treat to go along with Are You Afraid of the Dark. While season 2’s adaptation of “The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight” isn’t what I would call the most memorable episode, it does feature some effective scarecrow moments. In it, a pair of city kids go to stay at their grandparents’ farm and discover the scarecrows in the cornfield may be alive. A play on the Twilight Zone episode, “It’s a Good Life”, this entry has a nightmare scene where grandma and grandpa transform into grotesque scarecrows, a Night of the Living Dead-style siege, and the dread of being served Corn Flakes instead of chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (the horror). Reader beware, you’re in for a scare…crow…
Bubba – Dark Night of the Scarecrow
Considered by many to be the crème de la crème of scarecrow horror, no list on the subject is complete without Frank De Felitta’s chilling made for TV movie, Dark Night of the Scarecrow. Wrongly believed to have killed a little girl, mentally challenged man Bubba (Larry Drake) is hunted down and murdered by a group of vigilantes. They believe they’ve gotten away with it…until a strange scarecrow appears outside one of their farms. What makes Dark Night of the Scarecrow the scariest film on this list is its less is more approach. It’s quiet. Atmospheric. And the filmmaker keeps the audience guessing as to whether Bubba has returned from beyond the grave until the very end. You can’t go wrong with this classic tale of revenge and reaping what you sow.
The Killer Scarecrows – Scarecrows (1988)
Right behind Dark Night of the Scarecrow on various lists of scary straw men is William Wesley’s Scarecrows. About a group of thieves who wind up at an abandoned farmhouse populated by a field full of killer scarecrows, the two films are on opposite sides of the tonal field. This is as 80s as it gets. Gory. Fun. And oh boy, is it corn-y. As for the straw men themselves, they’re gruesome ghouls made more eerie with their quiet malevolence. Scarecrows is the most fun you’ll have creeping through a dark field with these murderous harvesters.
The Kakashi – Scarecrow (2001)
Some of you may not be aware of the 2001 Japanese film, Scarecrow (aka Kakashi, the Japanese term for scarecrow), but if creepy scarecrows are what you’re looking for, then this is a must. Based on a story by master of horror Junji Ito (Uzumaki, Tomie), the film follows a woman whose search for her missing brother leads her to a small village in Japan’s backlands. While there, she discovers that the town has an unsettling affection for scarecrows. I won’t say more than that, but this bit of folk horror is a refreshing take on a genre that so often produces entries as bland and brittle as the straw men that terrorize them.
Nightmare Scarecrow – The Cursed (2022)
Writer/director Sean Ellis’ The Cursed (originally titled Eight for Silver), seems to have slipped under the radar these last few years. Too bad, because it’s one of the most original werewolf films in recent memory. Revolving around a gypsy curse placed on a murderous land baron, the film employs a good portion of werewolf tropes and twists them in new and fascinating ways. But it’s not just the fresh take on the hairy beasts that make it so interesting. It also happens to feature one menacing scarecrow that haunts the dreams of characters like a straw Freddy Krueger. This straw man may not be the main draw of The Cursed, but he sure does make an impression that could find him in your own nightmares.
“The Companion” – Creepshow (2019-)
In 2019, Shudder gifted fans a horror anthology series based on George R. Romero and Stephen King’s Creepshow. Creator Greg Nicotero (of KNB) made it a point to focus on practical effects creatures as much as possible. One of my favorites from the series is the scarecrow in Season 1, Episode 4, “The Companion”. Directed by David Bruckner (2022’s Hellraiser), this brief yet horrific tale of a boy who encounters a monstrous scarecrow on an old farm contains a straw man that only EC Comics could inspire. Unlike traditional scarecrows, this thing has the skeletal jaw of a boar, with sharp fangs that make it appear more monster than man. The fact that it’s done practically just makes it that much more impressive.
Benny – Die’ced: Reloaded
Just released this week, Jeremy Rudd’s Die’ced: Reloaded, a feature-length adaptation of his short film, Die’ced, probably isn’t on your radar yet. But if you’re a fan of the Terrifier films, you may want to consider it. That’s because the film’s masked maniac, Benny, feels a lot like Art the Clown in his scarecrow phase. Unlike the other entries on this list, Benny isn’t an inanimate object come to life like some twisted fairytale, he’s a psychopath who gets his kicks dressing like a scarecrow and slaughtering victims on Halloween night.
He’s also a total clown, goofy and mocking in his approach to his prey. Benny sticks out in the field of scarecrow movies as a madman who chooses to dress in what must be one truly itchy outfit, and that’s how you know he’s a man to be feared.
Start off the hellish harvest season right with some brand new killer scarecrow mayhem. Die’ced: Reloaded is in theaters now, and slashes its way onto VOD August 12 from Dread.
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