The Scarecrow (1982 film)

The Scarecrow is a 1982 New Zealand film, also known as Klynham Summer in America. It was directed by Sam Pillsbury based on the 1963 horror novel by New Zealand author Ronald Hugh Morrieson.^[2]

The Scarecrow
Directed by	Sam Pillsbury[1]
Written by	Michael Heath, Sam Pillsbury[1]
Based on	The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson
Produced by	Robert Whitehouse[1]
Starring	John Carradine Jonathan Smith Tracy Mann Daniel McLaren
Cinematography	James Bartle[1]
Edited by	Ian John[1]
Music by	Andrew Hagen, Morton Wilson, Phil Broadhurst[1]
Release date	1982 (1982)
Running time	87 minutes[1]
Country	New Zealand
Language	English

Plot

Set in the fictitious New Zealand small town of Klynham in the early 1950s, teenagers Ned Poindexter (Jonathan Smith) and his friend Les (Daniel McLaren) start raising chickens, only to have them stolen. While stealing them back from Victor, the school bully, they inadvertently cross the path of a murderer who had slain a girl in the woods.^[2]

When more girls in the town are killed, and Ned's 16-year old sister, Prudence (Tracy Mann) becomes the new target, Ned begins to suspect that an unsettling town newcomer – travelling magician and hypnotist Hubert Salter (David Carradine), who is living at the undertaker’s place, is responsible. Meanwhile. the police suspect Ned’s alcoholic uncle, Athol.^[2][1]

The tagline for the film was: "The same night our fowls were taken, Daphne Moran had her throat cut".^[3]

According to Sam Edwards the film is not as bleak as the novel. Small-town New Zealand in the 1950s is puritanical on the surface but depraved to its depths.

Cast

• Jonathan Smith as Ned Poindexter
• Tracy Mann as Prudence Poindexter
• Daniel McLaren as Les Wilson
• John Carradine as Hubert Salter
• Bruce Allpress as Uncle Athol
• Philip Holder as Constable Ramsbottom
• Stephen Taylor as Herbert Poindexter
• Desmond Kelly as Mr. Poindexter
• Anne Flannery as Mrs. Poindexter
• Denise O'Connell as Angela Potroz
• Jonathan Hardy as Charlie Dabney
• Martyn Sanderson as Ned as Adult (voice)
• Greer Robson as Lynette
• Roy Billing as Mr. Potroz
• Greg Naughton as Victor Lynch
• Mark Hadlow as Sam Finn

Awards

Source: ^[4]

Year	Award	Category	Result
1982	Cannes Film Festival	Official Selection – Director’s Fortnight Section (out of competition)	Selected
1983	New Zealand Music Awards	Film Soundtrack of the Year: Schtung	Nominated
1982	Mystfest (Italy)	Best Artistic Contribution: (ensemble cast)	Won
		Best Film	Nominated

The Scarecrow was the first film from New Zealand to win official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

Production

The Scarecrow was part of the wave of New Zealand cinema that followed the establishment of the New Zealand Film Commission in 1978.^[5]

The film was produced by the National Film Unit and Oasis Films.^[4]