Rent Scarecrow Rising (2018)

Mild spoilers follow ... - Scarecrow Rising review by NP

The idea of a malevolent scarecrow is such an appealing one, it’s a constant surprise to me that every film based on that premise I have seen is so mixed. This, sadly, is no exception. I have no problem with a low budget. Some of my favourite films are chronically under-funded. Stilted acting is not a huge issue for me. Sound problems synonymous with such projects is a minor irritant. Yet these things, alongside listless characters (with a strange collection of mangled accents), repetitive dialogue, a thin story-line with no originality, a running time that seems to last a lot longer than it actually does, ensure things become very dull very quickly.

Years ago, June’s parents were murdered by a scarecrow who rises every 20 years. This time, he’s seeking a bride, bless him. We get a quickly told backstory, involving curses and a murdered man having his eyes pecked out, and that’s about it. Claire-Maria Fox plays May, a faded radio host, who inherits a large Welsh farm house. With a motley group of friends, she sets about solving the mystery of the scarecrow. Before the opening credits have rolled, we have three attacks. Each victim reacts in exactly the same way: sensing ‘something’ behind them, they turn around ever-so-slowly to confront the hooded horror.

Director Louise Warren and writer Shannon Holiday mix some effective flourishes (especially towards the rather touching finale) to what is otherwise a drawn-out and unengaging story-line. There are some excruciating moments too, to be honest: in a séance scene for example, the camera pans round slowly across to the four characters taking part, which leads to a long pause between lines of dialogue as each actor waits for the camera to fall on them, leaving the others gesticulating wildly as they await a response. Possibly May’s boyfriend Darren (Manny Jai Montana) emerges as my favourite – it’s a good, unforced performance that manages to escape the dialogue issues infecting the others.