Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981, USA) C-92m. **½ D: Frank De Felitta. Starring Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith, Tonya Crowe, Larry Drake. Fairly good made-for-TV chiller about retarded, harmless Drake, who's best friends with girl Crowe. When a dog attacks her, everyone thinks he did it, especially those redneck farmer brigade led by Durning. They kill him vigilante-style, but he, or his spirit, returns and takes his revenge. Well-acted (especially by Durning) and well-scored, this could have been even better with a less predictable plot.



© Ron Altman