Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Charming and brutal

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

As far as soil-your-pants, creepy-ass movie characters go, only the clown has a slight edge over the scarecrow (unless the scarecrow is wearing a curly wig, a big red nose, face paint and a squirty flower, in which case the scarecrow wins hands down). Husk's sack-headed monstrosities sure are unsettling to look at, but they are made even more scary by the fact that they can move like the clappers and have very sharp nails in their fingers (metal nails—the type you hit with a hammer!).Attacking with lightning speed and remarkable ferocity, these fleet-footed frights whittle down an unfortunate group of friends who crash their car by the side of a cornfield after ploughing headlong into a flock of crows. Seeking refuge in a dilapidated farmhouse, the pals try to figure out how to get back to the road without being killed and turned into scarecrows themselves.Killer scarecrows are nothing new in the world of horror (see Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Scarecrows, Messengers 2: The Scarecrow, Scarecrow Gone Wild, Dark Harvest), Husk's characters are two dimensional, and much of its action can easily be labelled as predictable, but writer/director Brett Simmons more than compensates for his familiar foes, cookie-cutter victims and expected developments with a rollicking pace and several genuinely clever touches.Simmons kicks the action off almost immediately and kills off the only female early in his film, putting paid to the tired 'final girl' trope that plagues many a modern horror movie; he also introduces an ingenious plot device that ensures that only one scarecrow can attack at any given time, which gives the remaining characters a faint glimmer of hope. Another nice touch sees the scarecrow losing its power when unmasked. It's unique elements like these that go to make his film a very enjoyable and satisfyingly scary flick.

When I marked this movie to record, the 1988 Scarecrows came to mind, and made me come up with a small checklist of things which I would like to see: the scarecrow would have to have a good design (they have to look pretty decent, or no one would take this movie seriously), and a decent plot and back-story. More so, the main characters have to be realistic enough as to not make me sigh in pity for the movie. The camera angles aren't too crucial, nor the music, but they do have the potential to add to a movie. This movie had all the requirements I would have liked, though some of them could have been improved. The scarecrows had my approval of being threatening, malevolent beings. Their make- up/costume was pretty cool, I think. The back-story behind the scarecrows was interesting, though why only the nerdy characters could see the flashback, I don't know. Also, for the most part, the actors played their parts pretty well. One of the things I think that this movie does quite well is the avoidance of the normal cliché slasher-movie characters. There's no blonde-haired girl who's messing with three guys' affections or a shy, well-behaving female who survives the onslaught. This just has four males and one female, and they all get along with each other decently well. I found this rather nice for a change. As aforementioned, I didn't care too much for how we found out about the origin of the scarecrows (via flashbacks that only one character could see), but I can try to look past that. Also, the chess analogy with such little evidence concerned me a bit, but it wasn't too big of a plot point, so I can deal with that also. Gore-wise, this had some pretty painful-looking deaths and injuries, but as I only saw an edited version, I don't know how much total bloodshed this had to offer. Overall, I feel that this movie is something that a horror movie fan should be able to watch without grimacing. 7.5/10, rounded down to 7 to fit IMDb.

Husk – CATCH IT (B) Husk is a combination of Jeepers Creepers and Children of the Corn (Kind of). The film follows five friends on a weekend holiday who become stranded in a secluded farmland after wild crows attack their SUV. The friends soon realize that the cornfields are inhabited by reanimated, vicious human scarecrows who produce their offspring by killing anyone they get a hold of and force their undead victims to join their ranks. Even though the story and characters are cliché there is a good screenplay to it. C.J. Thomason as Chris, Devon Graye as Scott, Wes Chatham as Brian, Tammin Sursok as Natalie and Ben Easter as Johnny did a decent job. Overall, I had fun time getting scared of the Husk, it's not something out of the box but it's not mediocre either. Good time pass.

Okay, so "Husk" may not necessarily be the most intelligent or innovative horror flick in history, but I do shamelessly admit that I found it vastly entertaining! Why is that? For simple reasons, actually. First and foremost because it's a straightforward and incredibly fast-paced little film that doesn't waste any time on overlong introductions. I think it takes approximately, what, two or three minutes before the action and horror aspects kick in and the film remains eventful until the very last moments. I, for one, really appreciated that writer/director Brett Simmons didn't waste our time (and his own) on redundant character drawings, because they're mainly all just insufferable twenty-something idiots that are about to die in gruesome circumstances anyway. Secondly because, when the subject matter is handled right, scarecrows can be the scariest monsters in the horror genre. Admittedly it must be rather difficult for a scriptwriter to link a decent and plausible story to lifeless puppets made out of straw and discarded clothes, but the image of a scarecrow in the middle of a desolate field at night is so genuinely creepy! The background story that Brett Simmons gave to his scarecrows isn't exactly brilliant, but it's a neat attempt and you got to admit that they look mighty frightening. On their way to a secluded party, four high-school buddies and one supplementary girlfriend crash their car because – inexplicably – a whole swarm of kamikaze crows hammer themselves into the windshield. Across the cornfield, full of eerie scarecrows, they notice a ramshackle farmhouse and the two most courageous ones of the bunch head over there for help, as Johnny mysteriously vanished after the accident. The scarecrows come to life and there's seemingly no way to escape the cornfield. During their quest for survival, Scott gradually uncovers the horrible secret of the living scarecrows through unexplained supernatural visions. Yes indeed, the plot is full of holes, improbabilities and questions that remain unanswered. Quite frankly, this is one of those rare occasions where it didn't bother me too much, as "Husk" provides plentiful of creepy imagery, gore, atmosphere and adrenalin. Simmons makes the most out of a clearly shoestring budget and, most astounding of all, the cast of youngsters is actually very adequate. Director Simmons generates occasional moments of sheer suspense, while the players truly manage to appear terrified and desperate. And, perhaps just because the film didn't waste any initial time on fake and overlong introductions, the characters gradually even become amiable and identifiable. I think I can say for myself that I know horror… "Husk" is horror. And warmly recommended to all fans of the genre.