(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When a fame hungry couple moves to an ideal LA home, their new dream life spirals into nightmare as an ancient scarecrow begins stalking them - feeding on their lies, testing truth, and turning their fandom into witnesses of its judgment.”
As I often opine when I’m tasked with reviewing another one of those ‘found footage films,’ I admit to being one of the last hold-outs who still finds these things somewhat enjoyable, mostly in that old-school creepy odd way. Granted, a great many of them aren’t, in fact, legitimate ‘found footage’ – which is the case here with Strawstalker (2026) – but that’s okay. It only uses the construct in modern ways, but it’s clearly been edited together. But … so long as the cast and crew show up and actually try to do something interesting with the format I’m generally accepting of it. Writer/director George Henry Horton really pushed me to my limits here. What few good ideas are tossed in here, frankly, get obscured by the fact that this footage winds up being a bland presentation which only circumstantial explains what the Hell all the fuss is about.
Again: I like found footage. Just wanna be clear.
Now, Henry and Haley are a pair of young influencers who’ve moved into what one might assume is their first ‘dream home’ (or maybe it’s only a ‘dream home away from home,’ as it’s never quite clear). This quaint suburban California nest comes completely furnished, even with an elaborate tiki bar in the backyard and what looks to be a modified lap pool ready and willing to sweep all of their cares away. But it would seem that the house and its neighbors hold a dark secret, one involving the lifeless body of an ugly scarecrow the lovebirds find nesting between the trees. As scarecrows go, this one is pretty anemic – a Spirit Halloween knock-off, if ever there were such a thing – but viewers eventually learn that the critter is a kinda/sorta demon who demands a sacrifice.
What for?
Well, there’s something said by someone along the way who would seem to be the community organizer for Evil (maybe the president of the HOA?) that implies an abhorrence of technology. But why would a scarecrow – even one manifested from pure hatred – be opposed to, say, even a fax machine? Apologies, but I’m not following …
In any event …
Storyteller Horton and the gang give it an admirable whirl, though I’m not sure even Scooby and the gang would have much great to say about this. Chiefly, my issues with Scarestalker is that more often than not the streaming celebrity lifestyle – that’s the framework for their ‘found footage’ here mostly – never quite amounts to more than the usual herky-jerky cinematography with a handful of patently predictable jump scares. About the time that two beat cops show up for no reason other than to warn these fame-seekers that they need to be careful about what they do in this neighborhood (???), I’d lost interest in even trying to figure out what ol’ Big Bad ScareFace and his vile homeowners association were all hoping would come to pass. It would seem that a sacrifice isn’t going to be enough this time, and I’ll be damned if I could explain why.
Additionally, Strawstalker suffers from its celebrity construct by having the live-streamers constantly making sure they’re recording even when their respective lives are at stake. Being as old as I am – and having watched enough Horror to choke an exorcist – I know good and well that when Jason or Freddy or Michael or whoever is coming at me that it’s go time, whether I’ve the proper running shoes on or not. But this generation? Why, I was honestly expecting them to stop to ascertain whether they had the best angle showing or even the right filters engaged for their audiences: do their mortal souls really mean nothing to them any longer? Ah, kids these days …
Regardless, here’s the damndest thing …
Because I both like Horror and like ‘found footage’ I managed to suppress a yawn here and there in order to finish Strawstalker. Whether this matters or not, I’d like to add that even though it fails to reach the bar for what’s acceptable in this sub-genre that there’s still enough background in it to make for a purely conventional delivery. In other words: lose the ‘found footage’ – or minimize it to a great degree – and actually tell the story of these two as people instead of celebrities fawning over one another in pursuit of fortune. They could still be influencers (or whatever it is they are as, again, it’s a bit unclear), but with that found footage perspective constrained a bit there would’ve been a greater chance to learn who they are (especially when the cameras are off) and what predicament they’ve found themselves in. That may’ve been interesting. This? Not so much.
Strawstalker (2026) was produced by Dark Atlantic. A quick search of Google.com indicates that the flick is presently available for streaming on Prime Video. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are good. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this presentation via streaming, there were no special features to consider.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
It’s not really ‘found footage,’ not in the classic definition of the sub-genre. It’s more of an expose on the California Society Of Maniacal Streamers, cobbled together from several different cameras. In fact, the story is hacked so much together that, maybe, it would’ve been more entertaining entirely as some kind of traditional yarn, something not using the ‘found footage’ or, instead, sparingly inserting it, kinda/sorta in a way that Woody Allen broke the fourth wall back in the days of Annie Hall. It has that aesthetic – the narrator keeps hijacking the footage to offer his perspective on things; and Strawstalker might’ve been a vivid Allenesque twist had the screenwriter gone another way.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Dark Atlantic provided me with complimentary streaming access to Strawstalker (2026) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When a fame hungry couple moves to an ideal LA home, their new dream life spirals into nightmare as an ancient scarecrow begins stalking them - feeding on their lies, testing truth, and turning their fandom into witnesses of its judgment.”
As I often opine when I’m tasked with reviewing another one of those ‘found footage films,’ I admit to being one of the last hold-outs who still finds these things somewhat enjoyable, mostly in that old-school creepy odd way. Granted, a great many of them aren’t, in fact, legitimate ‘found footage’ – which is the case here with Strawstalker (2026) – but that’s okay. It only uses the construct in modern ways, but it’s clearly been edited together. But … so long as the cast and crew show up and actually try to do something interesting with the format I’m generally accepting of it. Writer/director George Henry Horton really pushed me to my limits here. What few good ideas are tossed in here, frankly, get obscured by the fact that this footage winds up being a bland presentation which only circumstantial explains what the Hell all the fuss is about.
Again: I like found footage. Just wanna be clear.
Now, Henry and Haley are a pair of young influencers who’ve moved into what one might assume is their first ‘dream home’ (or maybe it’s only a ‘dream home away from home,’ as it’s never quite clear). This quaint suburban California nest comes completely furnished, even with an elaborate tiki bar in the backyard and what looks to be a modified lap pool ready and willing to sweep all of their cares away. But it would seem that the house and its neighbors hold a dark secret, one involving the lifeless body of an ugly scarecrow the lovebirds find nesting between the trees. As scarecrows go, this one is pretty anemic – a Spirit Halloween knock-off, if ever there were such a thing – but viewers eventually learn that the critter is a kinda/sorta demon who demands a sacrifice.
What for?
Well, there’s something said by someone along the way who would seem to be the community organizer for Evil (maybe the president of the HOA?) that implies an abhorrence of technology. But why would a scarecrow – even one manifested from pure hatred – be opposed to, say, even a fax machine? Apologies, but I’m not following …
In any event …
Storyteller Horton and the gang give it an admirable whirl, though I’m not sure even Scooby and the gang would have much great to say about this. Chiefly, my issues with Scarestalker is that more often than not the streaming celebrity lifestyle – that’s the framework for their ‘found footage’ here mostly – never quite amounts to more than the usual herky-jerky cinematography with a handful of patently predictable jump scares. About the time that two beat cops show up for no reason other than to warn these fame-seekers that they need to be careful about what they do in this neighborhood (???), I’d lost interest in even trying to figure out what ol’ Big Bad ScareFace and his vile homeowners association were all hoping would come to pass. It would seem that a sacrifice isn’t going to be enough this time, and I’ll be damned if I could explain why.
Additionally, Strawstalker suffers from its celebrity construct by having the live-streamers constantly making sure they’re recording even when their respective lives are at stake. Being as old as I am – and having watched enough Horror to choke an exorcist – I know good and well that when Jason or Freddy or Michael or whoever is coming at me that it’s go time, whether I’ve the proper running shoes on or not. But this generation? Why, I was honestly expecting them to stop to ascertain whether they had the best angle showing or even the right filters engaged for their audiences: do their mortal souls really mean nothing to them any longer? Ah, kids these days …
Regardless, here’s the damndest thing …
Because I both like Horror and like ‘found footage’ I managed to suppress a yawn here and there in order to finish Strawstalker. Whether this matters or not, I’d like to add that even though it fails to reach the bar for what’s acceptable in this sub-genre that there’s still enough background in it to make for a purely conventional delivery. In other words: lose the ‘found footage’ – or minimize it to a great degree – and actually tell the story of these two as people instead of celebrities fawning over one another in pursuit of fortune. They could still be influencers (or whatever it is they are as, again, it’s a bit unclear), but with that found footage perspective constrained a bit there would’ve been a greater chance to learn who they are (especially when the cameras are off) and what predicament they’ve found themselves in. That may’ve been interesting. This? Not so much.
Strawstalker (2026) was produced by Dark Atlantic. A quick search of Google.com indicates that the flick is presently available for streaming on Prime Video. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are good. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this presentation via streaming, there were no special features to consider.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
It’s not really ‘found footage,’ not in the classic definition of the sub-genre. It’s more of an expose on the California Society Of Maniacal Streamers, cobbled together from several different cameras. In fact, the story is hacked so much together that, maybe, it would’ve been more entertaining entirely as some kind of traditional yarn, something not using the ‘found footage’ or, instead, sparingly inserting it, kinda/sorta in a way that Woody Allen broke the fourth wall back in the days of Annie Hall. It has that aesthetic – the narrator keeps hijacking the footage to offer his perspective on things; and Strawstalker might’ve been a vivid Allenesque twist had the screenwriter gone another way.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Dark Atlantic provided me with complimentary streaming access to Strawstalker (2026) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
RSS Feed