Scarecrow County, A Town With Secrets

Ah those tiny little secrets. Okay, those not so little secrets. The types of secrets that throw dirt on top of a grave and stew in our souls until the day we die. But wait! Not even the CIA can keep a secret, and when the blood starts flowing, the secret becomes a pitchforked wielding killer. Hence the latest film from John Oak Dalton, 2019's "Scarecrow County." Call it Hoosier-Sploitation, or a deadly morality tale, both work...but Mr. Dalton again gives us a reminder that the best horror are poignant morality tales.

Poor Paige (Iabou Windimere)...instead of opting for pre-marital sex, she and her BF play with a Ouija board. Death and destruction follow. Now something is unleashed (or awakened). Parker City, Indiana, a town with a secret...a dying town that is dying by the minute. Something awful happened many years ago causing Joey to commit suicide (or was it murder?). Now one by one, the town elders, who were Joey's high-school pals, begin dying in bloody fashion. Suspects? A few, but Winnie (Chelsi Kern) emerges as the sweet protagonist. She is the town librarian and her burden is heavy. She tends to her alcoholic dad, Brownie (Tom Cherry), and her suicidal adult sister Zoe (Rachel Redolfi).

As the town elders begin assuming room temperature, Zoe's artwork begins to take on a life of its own. A menacing demon-like character intrudes on Zoe's canvas and Winnie accidentally finds Joey's diary. Uh oh...the diary has secrets that no one wants discovered, and Brownie burns it before Winnie can read it. The diary returns from the ashes, along with a phantom scarecrow, and is present during the horrific deaths of Parker City's VIPs. Oh yeah, remember the suspects question? Well, guess who just happens to have showed up in town right as the homicides begin? Prentiss (John Bradley Hambrick), the son of the first town elder to die. Although, a supernatural tone has overtaken this film one wonders if the killer is something conjured up from the Ouija board or Zoe's drawings.

You'll see, but the answer is multi-dimensional and and draws in every aspect of the plot. Will any of the town elders survive the wrath of whatever their secret is? Will Winnie be able to save her suicidal sister and/or her secret-ridden dad? Is the pitchfork wielding specter a vengeful demon or an angel of justice? Enjoy this supernatural tale set in rural Indiana, and perhaps survey your own past for secrets that may just come back someday...with a bladed weapon. "Scarecrow County" is a fine story and the morality lesson put forth is timeless.