Castle Vanian Halloween Special: TV Tuesday: Friday the 13th: The Series: "Scarecrow"

If anyone doesn’t know this series, tell us a little about it. Why do you like it?

The problem with Friday the 13^th: The Series is that you instantly expected Jason Voorhees and the series didn’t have anything to do with him or the movies. I think it was Canadian made?

Yup, according to IMDb, it was.

I thought so. Well, it was about an old antique shop full of cursed objects. The owner had made a pact with the devil and the three protagonists were on a mission to track down all the cursed objects to bring them back.

It’s one of those overlooked series that people are really missing out on. I only know about it because I’d be coming back from the pub drunk. It wasn’t like now, with a million channels; most of the five channels would be off by 2AM. (It’s the only reason I ever watched Prisoner: CellBlock H.)

Friday the 13^th was normally on about 12AM, maybe 1 o’clock, usually one of the last things on ITV at night. I’d beeline to it because I didn’t have Sky or anything yet and I’d be just getting home, a little bit worse for wear and it was a great option.

Let’s talk about “Scarecrow.” What about this episode stood out?

Scarecrows are scary anyway, right? It’s kind of their job title. With this episode, it just stuck with me for some reason. When you said we’d be watching scarecrow movies this year, I knew you had to watch this too because you’d love it.

And you were right. Talk to me about the plot.

It’s basically a woman using a scarecrow to control the land in the town she’s living in.

Like ya do. What is your favourite moment?

I didn’t really have a favourite moment. I just enjoyed the whole episode. The Friday the 13ths were very well done. It’s like Talesfrom the Crypt; I know I probably haven’t seen them all, but I loved the ones I saw.

I guess the difference between the two is that Tales from the Crypt got some big stars but Friday the 13^th never did. It wasn’t really low budget, but it was never in the same league. I’d love to see it remade today and given the proper attention to make it something bigger.

I know I’ve seen dozens of episodes of Friday the 13^th but can I remember them? No. (I did drink a lot, though, to be fair...) But I remember this one. The thought of a scarecrow coming after me, doing someone else’s bidding really stuck in my psyche.

Any final thoughts?

It shows you how good it was, back in the day, that I remembered it thirty years later! Proof’s in the pudding, right? You’re talking about a pulp TV show but it was an episode that made it through the haze of my drinking days…