Dark Night of the Scarecrow ( Blu-ray from @vciclassicfilms )

It's ability to be read in multiple ways is what makes a movie like Dark Night of the Scarecrow shine just a little brighter than those films around it and allows a longevity than many of its contemporaries lack. And doing this on the constraints that TV would place on it makes it a minor miracle in the process. There's been other good TV movies that fit in the horror genre but Dark Night of the Scarecrow has to be one of the best that has aged remarkably well over the last thirty-five years. Its small town setting hardly puts its cast into the height of 1980's fashion and thankfully this doesn't age the film as much as many from the time... and though the movie was made for TV the production values are well placed. What we get with this film is a tightly written story that takes a few simple twists of a well trod formula and presents it with memorable characters and well conceived set pieces. When this is coupled with Frank De Felitta's understated direction and eye for a simple shot we end up with something that fits the TV format while being much larger at the same time.