Director: Martin Barnewitz
Writer: Todd Farmer (Screenplay)
Starring: Norman Reedus, Heather Stephens, Claire Holt, Richard Riehle, Darcy Fowers
Plot: Doing what he believes must be done in order to save his family and livelihood, farmer John Rollins places an odd scarecrow among his crops and promptly reaps the benefits. The thing is, his luck probably won’t last for long.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Better Built In Story
Story: The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow starts by following the family that previously lived in the house, the Rollins, John (Reedus), Mary (Stephens) along with their children Lindsey (Holt) and Michael. We the family is struggling to make ends meet and to get the crop to flourish.
Searching for a way to rib the land of the crows, John finds an old scarecrow with a strange look and decides to use it on his field. When the scarecrow works killing all of the crows, John starts to change and his family notices these changes becoming scared of him.
Thoughts on The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow
Characters/Performance – John finds his life crashing around him, his farm failing, his marriage falling apart and his money almost gone, but when he puts up a scarecrow his luck changes for the better, at first. Mary is the wife ready to walk away from John with the children. Lindsey is the daughter that clearly wants out of the town, that is about her character.
Performance wise, Normal Reedus does a solid job in the leading role without reaching the levels we know of him now in the Walking Dead, but it would be fair to say the women are written poorly which then shows in their bang average performances.
Story – The story is a prequel to the first film but it also doesn’t have any real connection other than being set on the farm and the character names. Looking away from that problem, you will find this film having a much better story because it followers the struggling farmer that finds himself having his life controlled by a scarecrow. Sure, there is a human factor to this too as we see him deal with his own problems at home too. The story does feel a lot better and more engaging than the first film.
Horror – The horror side of the film is slightly improved but we never find ourselves feeling terrified by any of the events in the film.
Settings – The horror all happens on the farm which is good and all we need from the direction the story goes.
Special Effects – The special effects are all simple and used to the effects required for the film.
Final Thoughts – This is a good follow up but we kind of know how the film will end thanks to the original but the mythology behind it all comes off nicer.
Overall: Solid sequel but average film.
Rating
