Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Film details

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Year1981
CountryUSA
GenreSlasher
TypeTV Movie
Runtime96m
CastCharles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith, Tonya Crowe, Larry Drake, Jocelyn Brando, Tom Taylor, Richard McKenzie, Ivy Jones

Review

"For a small screen production, the movie manages a terrific autumn/Halloween atmosphere, using the dry, brittle cornfields and even a holiday costume party for mood. It also takes its time with its revenge plot; it keeps the same slow, tense pace throughout to allow time to digest each particular revenge killing and to watch the survivors sweat." - Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Ranking history

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS IN TOP 1,00011
HIGHEST#4932025
LOWEST#9602019
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data

Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.

Lists featuring this film 31 lists

80shorror.net's Derek Schweigert's The Top 200 Best Horror Movies of the 1980s2018Ranked#121
Aaron Christensen's Hidden Horror - A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks2013Unranked—
AXS' Marilisa Sachteleben's Scariest. movies. ever.2015Unranked—
Between the Reel's Top 100 Horror Films2014Ranked#93
Bloody Disgusting's Chris Eggertsen's 10 Awesome Outcast Revenge Horror Movies!2014Ranked#3
Combustible Celluloid's Essential Horror Movies2024Unranked—
Dr-Faustus' GREATEST HORROR MOVIES OF ALL TIME2018Unranked—
Film Inquiry Recommends - Underrated 1980's Horror Films2018Unranked—
Film School Rejects' Kieran Fisher's 10 Creepy Movies That Brought Terror to the Small Screen2018Ranked#5
Final Girl Shocktoberfest Poll2017Ranked#566
Hollie Horror's 1980-19892021Ranked#75
Hollie Horror's Slasher Showdown2020Ranked#54
Horror Homeroom's Elizabeth Erwin's Top 10 Made for TV Movies- Horror Edition2015Ranked#4
It's A Stampede!'s Alex Wiggan's 150 best horror movies you must watch2022Unranked—
Mark H. Harris' The Best Evil Doll Horror Movies2018Ranked#8
Mark H. Harris' Top Halloween Horror Movies2017Ranked#5
Medium's Joel Eisenberg's 20 Top Old School Made-For-TV Horror Films2020Ranked#13
Nathaniel Tolle's Pumpkin Cinema - The Best Movies For Halloween2014Unranked—
Nightmare Nostalgia's Patti PaulterGeist's 40 Terrific Years of Terror! Top Ten Horror Films of 19812021Ranked#10
Paste's Jim Vorel's A Century of Terror - The 100 Best Horror Movies of the Last 100 Years - Honorable mentions2019Unranked—
Rank & File Top 250 HorrorThrillers of All Time2025Ranked#239
Rue Morgue's 200 Alternative Horror Films2012Unranked—
Scott Heim's Ten Creepiest Made-for-TV Movies (or TV Series Episodes)2008Unranked—
Screen Rant's Wednesday Lee Friday's 15 Greatest Made-For-TV Horror Movies Of All Time2017Ranked#10
SYFY WIRE'S Ben Sher's 13 Terrifying Made for TV Horror Films2017Unranked—
The 13th Floor's Matt Molgaard's The 10 Greatest Made-for-TV Horror Movies of All Time2017Unranked—
The Bloody Pit of Horror's Top 10 List For 19812009Ranked#7
Thought Catalog's Michael Gursky's 50 Of The Scariest Horror Movies Of All Time2014Unranked—
Vegan Voorhees' The 100 Greatest Slasher Movies2014Ranked#90
WhatCulture's Brendan Morrow's 10 Horror Films Set At Halloween To Scare You Perfectly In The Mood2015Ranked#5
You Wanna See Something Really Scary A 365 Day Guide to Must See Horror Films by W.P. Spence2013Unranked—