People have said this was basically a cheap Terrified knock off. I get that comparison but I also don't think the Terrifier was so original as to completely avoid movies coming out after it from getting that treatment. The storyline is fine, albeit flawed, hilariously at times (i.e., the killer was accidentally released from the psych ward newscaster of a clerical error). The writing was pretty awful and the acting was the dane. The lead actress was actually decent, especially compared to everyone else. The technical aspects were pretty awful; scene transitions were often clunky, the shots seemed to change aspect ratio randomly but not by way of lense changing so much as bad DV editing resulting in people appearing smashed. Very weird. The most intolerable part though was the sound editing and rubbish. It just didn't make sense and was mixed poorly so it airways drew your attention away from the action. All that said, I found some enjoyment in this, especially for being so low budget. Same character and general "universe" but with the above issues addressed I would even say it's passable.

So this movie was sub par, but I'd prefer to provide more of a critique than trash it, because I feel like certain elements could have elevated this film quite a bit. It wasn't all bad, but I'm going to start with what could have been improved.

For starters, I completely agree with those who mentioned the blatant copying of Terrifier. There is paying homage and taking influence, and then there's outright replicating the source material and this film falls into the latter category at times.

The acting was mediocre to bad, but I saw potential for a better performance in a few of the actors. I don't think any would ever become Hollywood A-Listers, but I felt like the director could have coached better performances from a few of them, allowing for a better end product.

The score felt genetic and uninspired. I doubt the budget allowed for an original score to be composed, but better music choices for certain scenes and automating the volume to rise and fall during key moments could have made a huge difference.

The cinematography wasn't all bad, but there were times where I felt like a scene was missing a cutaway shot or could have benefited from a different angle or different lighting. Overall, it only took me out of the moment a handful of times.

Now, the area I felt would have the greatest impact on the overall product. Sound design. A better sound design would have elevated this film tremendously. Even though it may not be realistic, Hollywood has trained us for decades on what a stab should sound like in a film. There were stabs that made no sound at all. The ones that did make sounds were dull and ineffective. There was a scene where a wood pallet was knocked over but it sounded more like a broom stick hit the floor. There was an incredible kill where a guys head was ripped in half, but it felt lacking because the squishing of blood and cracking of bone and everything you would expect to hear was either too quiet or not present at all. I just felt like a proper focus on sound design would have gone a long way with this film.

Now, on to what I liked about it. The Scarecrow was a cool idea for a slasher. I liked the look and the idea. There were creative kills that had great practical effects. Although an hour is a short run time for a feature, I'm glad they didn't pad it with a bunch of filler just to extend it. They told the story they wanted and didn't force it to fit an hour and a half time (or more) block.

Overall, I've seen much worse and understand the limitations of time and budget, but sometimes where you allocate that time and budget can make a huge impact on the final product.