Dark Night of the Scarecrow

Bubba Ritter, a man with an intellectual disability, is friends with a young girl named Marylee in a small rural community. When she is found badly hurt, the townspeople assume Bubba is responsible. A group of men, led by the mail carrier Otis Hazelrigg, chase him into a field, where he hides by posing as a scarecrow. He is shot dead, and only afterward does it become clear that he was innocent. Although the men escape punishment, they are soon stalked one by one by a figure seeking revenge.

Frank De Felitta directed this 1981 American television horror film, made by Wizan Productions and produced by Bobbi Frank. It was De Felitta's first feature, followed ten years later by Scissors. The cast includes Charles Durning as Otis, Larry Drake as Bubba, Robert F. Lyons as Skeeter Norris, Claude Earl Jones as Philby, Lane Smith as Harless Hocker and Tonya Crowe as Marylee, among twenty credited performers.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 5.6 out of 10 based on seven critics' reviews, while on TMDB viewers give it 6.5 out of 10 from 201 votes, so audiences rate it somewhat more favourably than the small group of critics did. Its 97-minute running time places it within the standard length of a television movie of the period.