The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow

(2009)**

John’s dream to operate a farm turns into a reality when he moves his family from Chicago to a remote Kansas setting. His quixotic notion of farm life is quickly altered as the realities of the job sink in. With dying crops, debt, and a huge crow problem, John struggles to keep up. After discovering an ugly-ass scarecrow hidden behind a wall in his barn, he quickly erects it despite the protestations of his wimpy young son who senses that something is wrong with it. It turns out that John should have listened to the wuss. Soon strange things begin to happen including the unexplained deaths of all the crows, spooky sounds at night, and a visit from the police asking about a missing person that had met with John the previous day. John begins to change as well and starts acting like a jerk. What is the connection between the scarecrow and the dark events unfolding on John’s farm?


Don't blame me!

I fell asleep during the final third of the original “The Messengers” and never went back to it. I managed to remain awake for this completely unrelated sequel, which was marginally entertaining despite its paint-by-numbers predictability. The scarecrow stuff was largely unimpressive and it was difficult to get a good view of the thing, which was no doubt intentional in order to conceal the film’s meager budget. Oddly enough there are a few sex scenes that rise to the level of soft core porn. In one inappropriate and uncomfortable scene John essentially rapes his wife (blame the scarecrow!). The Messengers 2 is the kind of film you might toss in at the 11th hour if you don’t have better options and you’ve been drinking wine from a box.