This originally aired on CBS back in 1981 and I think it may be the most entertaining Made-for-TV movie I've seen. Oh sure there are other candidates like "Gargoyles" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" both of which are creepier and "Duel" which is masterfully suspenseful but none of these had me smiling or left me as wide-eyed as "Dark Night of the Scarecrow".
There is nothing about this movie that will have you claiming it is a masterpiece of horror. However it draws its characters with a broad brush. Good and evil are established early. There's an initial misjustice done to Larry "Darkman" Drake's challenged adult named Bubba. Bubba and a little girl named Marylee are in a field of flowers singing and are observed by an over-the-top villan named Otis P. Hazelrigg played by the phenomenal Charles Durning. Hazelrigg the town postman brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "going postal". He spots Bubba and Marylee through binoculars and then promptly goes about forming a lynch mob complete with barking bloodhounds to hunt Bubba down. Hazelrigg is void of any redeeming qualities whatsoever and is so evil it made it all the sweeter to see him meet his fate once the Scarecrow seeks revenge.
I don't want to explain anymore about the movie because it is a lot of fun to watch. You're not going to be surprised by the methodical elimination of the members of the lynch mob but you will be by some of the terrific camera work and nice panoramic shots which absolutely popped on Blu-Ray and must have been all but missed during the movies initial run on old 4:3 TVs back in the '80s. There are a few smart but hilarious edits. One of them involves Harless Hocker a farmer who was one of the original vigilantes. Harless bites the dust when he falls from a hayloft into a wood chipper. We don't actually see him fall into the chipper he just disappears from the screen and we hear a disgusting grinding noise. Then there's an immediate quick cut to a shot of strawberry preserves being plopped onto Hazelrigg's dinner plate. "More preserves Mr. Hazelrigg?" Awesome.
There are some surprises and a few things hinted at that are disturbing. There is very little blood even though the cast is dropping like flies during the last 30 minutes. The ending is absolutely perfect and satisfying. The acting is really solid and Charles Durning's Hazelrigg is such a scumbag that you will love hating him. Even though many may dismiss this as by-the-numbers or campy safe Horror I thought it was a real classic.