DVD Review: FARMHOUSE and MESSENGERS 2: THE SCARECROW

If you think that GREEN ACRES was a farm horror, then you haven't half seen farm horrors. Two recent DVD releases play on this rural horror genre, but with mixed results. FARMHOUSE looked promising, as it featured both Kelly Hu and former WINGS star, Steven Weber, as two wine vineyard farmhouse owners who invite in lost strangers with car problems. At first both folks seem nice enough, but then both turn into five alarm sickos who like to torture and kill their "guests".

Weber well portrays a sadistic weirdo. And Kelly Hu well portrays an ultra-sexy Asian babe who's all about raunchy sexual kicks with her lover husband, who only gets "hot" from his sadistic murders of the "guests". She looks as hot as ever in this film, and even flashes a sly smile while she's being watched having raunchy sex in one hot scene. And the twisted couple do devise some pretty terrible things for their guests. But this film just isn't as good as it has the potential to be. Unfortunately, the very sexy scenes involving Kelly Hu might just be the best of what this film has to offer here. This film isn't as gross as the SAW series by any means either, but it has some rather sick moments. But, it's only a so-so horror film at best.

But far better than FARMHOUSE is the very effective film by the Pang brothers, MESSENGERS 2: THE SCARECROW. This is a very good film here. The storyline about a poor farmer on the verge of foreclosure, with failing crops, unable to afford new irrigation equipment and with crows eating his crops is a compelling tale. The poor farmer finds a creepy looking scarecrow hidden in a part of the barn that he didn't know about. And then all of his fortunes began to change.

Strangely, the creepy scarecrow figure begins to answer the poor farmers prayers, wishes, hopes and aspirations like some strange genie from a magic lamp. The crows that ate his crops all end up dead one day. The banker who wanted to foreclose on the farm ends up as roadkill for an 18 wheeler and his expensive watch and cash end up laying in with the now flourishing corn crops. But the son of the farmer tells his dad that the scarecrow is evil. And after events begin to get out of hand, with a strange satanic couple living in a trailer nearby, and then the terrible scarecrow figure only comes to life to terrify the family. This is a very good horror film. If the Pang brothers always make films this good, then I'm definitely on-board as a fan.

The bottom line here: FARMHOUSE: ++(Two stars, or just fair). But MESSENGERS 2: THE SCARECROW has a great storyline and is great entertainment: +++(Good).