Day 4 - Husk (2011)

I've always been a big fan of the idea of killer scarecrows. And who isn't at least a little bit creeped out by cornfields? Unfortunately, though there have been plenty of scarecrow movies in the past, I've yet to find one actually worth watching. And then there was Husk. Brett Simmons' Husk began life as a short film which first gained attention at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, following which it was picked up by Lions Gate and After Dark Films. The original short film can be viewed on Brett Simmons' Vimeo page here.

It's not hard to guess the general premise of Husk; a group of friends trapped in a rural cornfield being stalked and killed by scarecrows. Once the horror starts this small group of friends is torn apart by their conflicting motivations as they attempt to survive an impossible situation. It's hard to describe this movie without giving too much away, but suffice it to say that the number of scarecrows soon starts to multiply. It's this process, coupled with the scarecrows supernatural methods, that I found to be the most entertaining elements of the movie. There isn't too much of a surprise here however, the scarecrows secret being easy enough to figure out before one of the characters has to spell it out for the audience. This is where I appretiated the short film more. Though for visual quality and scope the feature wins out over the short, I enjoyed the short film more for the fact that it didn't pander to the audience, leaving certain things unsaid. Also it was concise and to the point, as all good short films are. While there is a helpful background story added to the full length film, all the important bits are there in the short.

Though I enjoyed Husk, it does have its flaws. In the first few minutes of the film I was quickly becoming worried that the quality of acting would ruin the whole thing for me. However, once the story gets rolling and everyone is good and freaked out this becomes a nonissue; you don't have to be Helen Mirren or Johnny Depp to yell and run. Not that that's all this movie is, but this is a supernatural slasher movie. There isn't a whole lot of originality here, but the way that Simmons combines cliches, peppering in a few new twists, the end result is an entertaining ninety minute melding of ideas.

Husk is not an overly outstanding movie by any means, but if like myself you happen to enjoy the concept of murderous scarecrows and want to see a slightly new twist put to an old idea, then Husk may be right up your alley. If scarecrows really aren't your thing, or you just don't have time to watch the whole movie, give the short film a try, it's a quick and painless twenty-five minutes which more or less wraps up the entire movie in itself.