This movie had rave reviews, so I must have built it up too much in my head before I saw the movie because it just did nothing for me. I like all types of horror movies and I didn't want or expect it to be a gorefest either. I did like the premise of the movie, I think it just was too slow and didn't hold my attention at all. I really did want to like it though!!
shareThe movie suffers from two crippling problems:
1. The killer is the protagonist. We have no relationship to any of the men we spend time with; we have no sympathy for them at all, and the only emotional investment we have in their deaths is to see them get their comeuppance.
2. (More importantly) The movie completely squanders its main selling point...its killer. You have a vengeful apparition in the form of a scarecrow stalking the countryside, and we never even see the bloody thing. The director thought it would be a wise decision to cut away whenever the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Bubba presented itself, which I think is to the film's detriment. I think it would have been far more terrifying to reveal Bubba in all his glory at several key points.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
I agree with your 2 points, especially # 2. I think it was a bad idea to keep him hidden, but I think this was done because it was a tv movie.
share1. The protaganist was not the killer. His spirit seeking the justice that the simpleton court did not provide was. You're not supposed to sympathize with the men that killed him. They were bigoted, hateful murderers, and one even a possible child molester. Why would you sympathize with them? Your sympathy was supposed to go towards Bubba and his mom.
2. Did you not watch the entire movie? They showed glimpses of him throughout and you saw him clearly at the end when he was playing hide and seek with the little girl and hands her a flower like he used to in life. He wasn't shown in full throughout to keep you in suspense, and it worked. When he finally is shown in full at the end, the hairs on the back of neck stood up. If we saw him throughout the movie, his reveal at the climax would not have affected me like it did.
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Speaking of idiot. Learn to disagree with people in a civil manner you MORON. I see most people find you to be a witty poster, I beg to differ. You reek of immaturity and stupidity.
Yeah I stooped to your level, but like the saying about a certain part of the anatomy goes....., letting you see mine too.
Hey, "prbronx" -- I'm in full agreement with you! People actually find that dunce "witty"? Really?? The same old argument, "You're an idiot," over and over?? Well, judging from those folks, seems that "Idiocracy" is really a documentary. (If you haven't seen that film, BTW, check it out!) Anyway, as I've said, I agree with you: "Dark Night..." is creepy on many levels: from the hearty congratulations to the perps by the entire town, it looks like, after the trial (they must have all hated Bubba on some level)...Mary Lee's cool acknowledgement of the dead Bubba visiting her (driven by her deep affection, I'm guessing)...I could go on and on. But on a TV budget, this is a lean, sharp work, reminiscent of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt." Good post--I'm right behind you!
sharethank you for your reply and support. yes this site gets a little exhausting with the negativity and hate that's spewed by a few people that can't communicate civily.
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I think the fact that Otis is the main character of the movie works towards it's advantage, actually. He is an evil, vile, nasty man so that makes you want to see him get what is coming to him because of the various acts he commits throughout the film. I don't think you have to like a character to care about what happens to them. Whether you want to see them live happily ever after in the end and have a good life, or you want to see them get their comeuppance for being a horrible human being; either way, you care what happens to them. I think caring what happens to the characters in the movie is very important, and because you wanted to see Otis get what he deserved, you cared what happened to him because you did not want him to get away with his cruel deeds.
And I think that if they were to show an evil scarecrow walking around with a weapon, it would take away some of the effectiveness of the film and make it look kind of silly. If they showed Bubba committing acts of murder, it would take away some of the suspense. Also, I can site films such as Jaws and The Blair Witch Project in which you see the villain very little or not at all as examples of where they are often praised as being scary for what you DON'T see, rather than what you do see. I think in the case of this film, it is the same thing. As someone said before, they were building up to the ending which really packed a punch and was very scary.
Come, fly the teeth of the wind. Share my wings.
Less is more, that's something you millennium kids are blind to.
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