I believe that Scarecrow was the first made-for-TV movie that I've actually ever seen, so before-hand I wasn't 100% sure what to expect. Right off the bat any concerns I may have had were answered and made redundant and I find myself enjoying the movie right away.The budget, the acting (deserves huge praise) and the quality of production were all very good and made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The pacing of the movie was excellent and made sure that there was never a dull moment for me to lose interest.The story itself was not perfect and without spoiling anything there were a couple of inconsistencies, mainly regarding how/if the scarecrow could be killed, but these do not lessen the overall experience.I'd recommend this strongly to any horror lover, especially those who enjoy younger casts.

This movie should have been called "Black CGI Glob Of Smoke", or "Burnt Halloween Spider Decoration", because that's what looks like attacks this group of so-called high schoolers cleaning up a farmhouse on a Saturday detention. The farm, we find out in a convenient explanatory scene, which raises as many questions as it answers, has a curse on it, and this CG scarecrow is determined to kill everybody that sets foot on the property. The set designs have a certain degree of mood and atmosphere, the acting is tolerable, but the film has a huge void where the killer scarecrow is, or should be, and its death scene is contrived, unsatisfying, and takes place off-camera. If they had a real actor in the role of the scarecrow, instead of third rate CGI, the movie might have had a bit more tension and suspense, but even then, it would still be formulaic and predictable. I've always found scarecrows to be creepy, but rarely are they this boring. I kept thinking that it might just simply blow away in a strong gust of wind.

Scarecrow (2013)** 1/2 (out of 4) Better than average SyFy flick about three adults and six teens who travel to an abandoned farmhouse to tear down a scarecrow so that it can be used in a town event. Before long there's a scarecrow killing them off one by one. You know, scarecrows can be rather creepy and we've gotten several horror films about them but most have been rather unsuccessful with the exception being DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW. I really wasn't expecting too much from this film but it actually delivered as long as you don't take it too serious and don't expect any scares. I thought the story itself from writer Rick Suvalle was pretty good as it seems he has a knowledge of the genre and knows how to milk certain scenes. One fine example of this is the opening sequence with a couple teens sneaking into a barn for some sex but you know what happens. I really liked how the story took place at this farmhouse and barn and I think the film only really started to suffer when they moved off these locations. The performances were actually better than you'd expect for this type of film with Lacey Chabert, Julia Maxwell, Nicole Munoz and Richard Harmon all doing fine work. The scarecrow itself is a CGI creation and it's certainly not as horrid as I was expecting. If you watch these SyFy movies then you know the monsters are usually horrid looking but I thought for the most part that this one looked okay. The scarecrow in the field that we see early on is much more effective though. The blood/violence level isn't all that high but we get a couple nice scenes. SCARECROW eventually runs out of gas around the hour mark and gets slowed down but fans of the sub-genre should find enough here to enjoy.

THE GOOD: This is a great-looking film. The cool creepy farm house, vast fields of corn, the huge strange barn, & the unexpected ending. Great lighting & moody, alluring photography - most of the shots look great.You might think that the kids will be stuck in the farm house for the whole film, but they aren't, which helps keep the film moving and unpredictable in a sense.The acting isn't too bad, although Sheldon Wilson's direction of the acting can fail (like Aaron oddly laying in the bathroom after an attack, when he would have gotten up more quickly). Robin Dunne "Aaron" is good here & a solid actor, too, but the writing for his character was always way serious and one-note. Britteny Wilson ("Beth")'s character takes an unexpected turn, and the boiling Wilson is by far the most interesting, intense performer who BLOWS AWAY the more seasoned Lacey Chabert.A few gory shots can be intense, like the discovery of the first girl's death - little kids should not watch this. Some of the creepy scenes between victims and the scarecrow are scary. And it should be noted that if you get to hear this through a home theater in surround sound, the swirling audio sounds pretty awesome.THE BAD: The guy from the first young couple said that his friends come to the property's barn lots of times -and he knew right where to go...and the scarecrow never killed his buddies? The terrorized kids could have departed in Kristin's car (unless I missed something). Why didn't the scarecrow kill others during the prior Halloween party events held on the property? The scarecrow's CGI is...well, it's inventive, supernatural and creepy to a degree, but its movements are so smooth, that it often looks computer generated. For the record, parts of the scarecrow interaction looked real. One wonders that instead, if the scarecrow had been played by a human in costume, if it would have felt more threatening and nightmarish with more realistic interaction.Participants exclaim that to kill the scarecrow, it must be buried. Two problems: 1) the scarecrow repeatedly attacks coming up from under the ground, defeating that theory. 2) by the end it doesn't get buried. Some of the reviews said the film was a little like "Jeepers Creepers" and that is kind of true. "Scarecrow" could have been better, but isn't a total loss. It's obvious this film was a lot of work and they try to keep the action fairly constant. Clarification to reviewer "SanteeFats" Why does the cop car work and not the truck? The guy ("Eddie" I think) arrived with the truck barely running, and said that the truck constantly overheats.The film generally looks terrific with a strong production, but don't expect an air-tight plot, & it could have used more levity in places. As some of the other IMDb.com user reviews note, some people might like the film, and some might not.