Scarecrowd - The Musk
Alternative Titles: N/A
Director: George Nevada
Year: 2017
Starring: Fabrizio Occhipinti, Gabrielle Bergère, Antony Ferry
Context:
Directed by American based Italian George Nevada (JACK THE ST.RIPPER), SCARECROWD - THE MUSK represents the first Italian production from American company SRS Cinema. In the disseminated press release there is reference to Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda, which although not exactly relevant to this film has been included because George Nevada's father had previously worked for the two landmark directors.
Interestingly by trade the writer/director of this feature, George Nevada, is a restaurateur, but his father’s death prompted him to make the film that he always wanted to make in dedication to his fathers memory. This personal desire would show itself in the film as the "villain" Tony Maio, is also an homage to his father’s name, Tonino. However there must be more to George Nevada's history than this as the film reasonaby accompished considering his lack of experience.
The film was filmed in Foggia and Anagni in Italy as well as Red Rocks Park in the United States of America on a minuscule budget of just $40,000.
Synopsis:
Tony Maio, who after coming into contact with a radioactive meteorite becomes mutated starts to suffer from a terrible bloodlust necessitating the requirement to disguise himself as a scarecrow and kill people.
Review:
Ok so by now you know the plot of this b-movie and if you didn't one look at the films poster would indicate what you would expect to be getting. Pretty straight forward, but first time director George Nevada has made something here that is a lot stranger and much more creative than that synopsis would have you believe.
Beginning the way which you would expect, an amorous couple canoodling in a field under the watchful eye of a scarecrow; the viewer doesn't have to be a genius to work out what is going to happen next...and it does but then as the film progresses events slowly start to get more and more bizarre. After a quick intergalactic colonisation exposition we are back to seeing a man dressed as a scarecrow murder more people, including an hilarious toilet brush death scene which has more than just a little sexual undertone to it.
Talking of the alien/sci-fi influence while making some sense in regards to context it seemingly doesn't make much sense as to why it was included as I imagine for the majority of the audience this dimension will be all but irrelevant when you have paid to see a man dressed as a scarecrow going round and indiscriminately killing, although in true Italian cinema fashion, hot women do seem to be his preference.
If the alien justification was odd, the dream sequence which incorporates the WIZARD OF OZ completely took me by surprise and I think perhaps another watch or two might be required to fully understand just what is going on here and soon despite there being a clear narrative I was not sure exactly this film was actually going.
Would there even be a protagonist? There certainly was very little dialogue or even meaningful interaction between characters. Then it occured to me, just like listening to Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush and waiting for the killer hook to hit, the sudden realisation that they are the hook, here in this film, Maio is also the protagonist. This suddenly changes the nature of the film despite everything remaining the same.
His story and that of the film is not of the depicted gory murders, nor is it really the alien consciousness invasion thing but something much more subtle that provides a layer of depth that is pretty unheard of for a schlocky piece of trash. This subtext allows the film to more or less work on both the fundamental, base level of entertainment that will be demanded by the audience but also offers the viewer a little more to contemplate should they so wish.
This idea is elevated somewhat within the films final fifteen minutes as elements of humanity start to seep through our killer scarecrow. We learn of his past as we are invited to sympathise with the man he once was; through scenes in which George Nevada has no right to be as good at as he is which managing to elicit the right amount of empathy from the viewer. No mean feat considering the previous sixty minutes of on screen absurdity and violence perpetrated by the very same man.
With Maio's mask slowly coming away we realise that low self-esteem has led to self-loathing and that this, ultimately has manifested itself, externalised if you will into the monstrous, ugly creature before us on screen. It's soul decaying, leaving the remains of a man slowly transuding away. Visually not too dissimilar to THE MELTING MAN or STREET TRASH. However director George Nevada does offer us the possibility of redemption away from this alien parasite...but is it too little too late?
SCARECROWD - THE MUSK is a strange film in terms of its direction, scope and aims. Despite being shot on a tiny budget of just $40,000 it is clear that every decision shown on screen is a conscious one and that there is evidence of a crew with a high level of technical competence, particularly around the cinematography, elements of the Fx and even specific scenes which belies the directors inexperience. At this point I would also like to point out that I thoroughly enjoyed the incorporation of the victims POV which although could have been executed a little better was a creative decision that deserves praise.
From this it is clear that SCARECROWD is the film the crew wanted to make, a nod to the bad 80s slashers and horror comics (or fumetti) of the past. However it must be pointed out that not everything works, on several occasions the background audio is irritatingly high in the mix, with a prime example being the opening pre-credit sequence where it becomes quickly grating and will no doubt sap away some of the good will of the viewer, something particularly important in today's fast consumption throw away culture that has even permeated into that of movie watching and I hope this is something that can be looked at and even rectified before release. Further issues surround some of the CGI utilised throughout the movie.
We all know low budget movies don't have the best and we also know that this film is attempting to go for some 'bad' CGI for both authenticity and entertainment purposes but on a couple of occasions this does not work and becomes more CAMP BLOOD than ZOMBI 3. This is a minor gripe however and all things considered would not affect anyone's enjoyment of the film nor is it consistently an issue throughout.
Director George Nevada has been quoted as saying “It’s hard to explain the fun to be found in seeing the right kind of bad movie” and as horror fans this is something I think we can all relate to. SCARECROWD - THE MUSK is intentional in its badness, this isn't some grandiose statement of pretension with a lack of talent and a lack of budget to execute it; quite the opposite in fact this is a case of clear talent utilising innovation to create and execute these entertaining 'bad' moments through conscious planning and for the most part it works. The gore is as gross as it is funny, the Fx are (often) intentionally bad in a way that mimics the films of the past and quite simply this film, on the whole, is just a piece of fun on one level but with just that additional layer seperating it from its (b-movie) contempories. Sure it is not a slasher classic and if you are looking for a straight-forward, trashy slasher to accompany your boozing sessions there are plenty already out there but if you are willing to invest just a little more time and thought into your movie then SCARECROWD -THE MUSK might just be for you.
Coming in at around 75 minutes and with little (especially conversational) dialogue, the film is delightfully bad in just the right way and can firmly be placed in schlocky 80s horror territory with a clear comic book (and fumetti) influence complementing the b-movie nature of the film. Going further however it was a nice suprise to see that writer and director George Nevada manages to insert genuine moments of emotion towards the end of the film and in ways unexpected for a film about a murderous man dressed as a scarecrow but it is the final monologue from our alien overlords that really leaves a poignant taste in the mouth and confusion in the brain:
"You belong to earth, not earth to you"
Could SCARECROWD - THE MUSK also be a comment on our treatment of the earth? The decline of political support in certain areas for the environment? Whatever the truth, one thing that is certain is that George Nevada has shown great potential with this, his debut film, and is certainly one to watch in the future.
For more infomation on SCARECROWD - THE MUSK visit the Facebook page.
Version Reviewed:
I watched an online screener of the film which is currently available for pre-order from SRS directly with the option of blu-ray and of course VHS; for that extra authentic old-school touch.
