This crypt episode titled "Four Sided Triangle" has a good blend of humor, anger, and romance that works well together. The plot is centered around an abused farm girl(Patricia Arquette before she became well-known) who works on a couples farm, yet she's in the hands and care of a mean country couple(Chelcie Ross and Susan J. Blommaert). From being beaten physically the problems begin to get worse when the man of the farm shows interest in the young girl in sexual terms. The only hope and escape comes in the form of a scarecrow who the young girl sees as her only hope really the best imaginary friend around and she believes he's real. All along this is only a clever scheme to break free, in the end just as you think the scarecrow has came to life, he has but the scarecrow dies quickly! The viewer sees how the clever farm girl has outsmarted the country couple as the episode ends with a shocking twist that frees her at last! This crypt episode is done in a clever and smart way that proves and shows it's always good to outsmart people to break away from their power and abuse. Remember brain power always wins, this scarecrow just needed a brain!
10 Reviews
Memorable little episode
SleepTight6661 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Another memorable little episode, mainly due the excellent performance given by Patricia Arquette and the nice finale.
I honestly expected something else, I expected the scarecrow to come to life and protect Mary Jo, but instead, she tricked her abusive owners. What I don't get is whether she was actually crazy or just playing along.
Another strong thing was the cinematography, the attempted rape scene was very realistic and almost hard to watch. But Patricia looked so nice, she was a beautiful girl and still is quite pretty.
The deaths at the end were satisfying, Luisa and George were both terrible people that probably deserved much worse than what they got.
I honestly expected something else, I expected the scarecrow to come to life and protect Mary Jo, but instead, she tricked her abusive owners. What I don't get is whether she was actually crazy or just playing along.
Another strong thing was the cinematography, the attempted rape scene was very realistic and almost hard to watch. But Patricia looked so nice, she was a beautiful girl and still is quite pretty.
The deaths at the end were satisfying, Luisa and George were both terrible people that probably deserved much worse than what they got.
"Don't kill the help George, you can beat 'em but don't kill 'em." Good tale from the crypt.
poolandrews2 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Crypt: Four-Sided Triangle is set on 'Yates Farm' where George (Chelcie Ross) & Luisa Yates (Susan Blommaert) treat their help the young & attractive Mary Jo (Patricia Arquette) like dirt, they beat her, abuse her & George has the hots for her. George wants to have sex with her but Mary Jo isn't interested as she says she already has a man who is going to make love to her, George is curious & follows her late one night only to discover that her man happens to be the scarecrow in the middle of the corn field. George senses an opportunity to get what he wants but things turned complicated as two's company but four is definitely a crowd...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 9 from season 2, the second of three Tales from the Crypt episodes to be directed by Tom Holland I rather liked Four-Sided Triangle. The script by Holland & James Tugend was based on a story from the 'Shock SuspenStories' comic book & it's the turn of sinister living scarecrow's to get the Tales from the Crypt treatment in a story of twisted love although things don't turn out as one might initially think so in that respect Four-Sided Triangle might surprise you with a trademark just deserts twist ending which isn't as predictable as it could have been. At only 30 odd minutes in length it moves along at a good pace & as usual for Tales from the Crypt it's well written, the character's & dialogue are decent considering the time restraint.
This one looks good, is well made & has a nice feel to it. There's not much gore here except for a couple of pitchfork impalement's. The acting is good & the small cast making the most of the limited screen time.
Four-Sided Triangle is another top tale from the crypt, definitely well worth a watch if you like this sort of thing.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 9 from season 2, the second of three Tales from the Crypt episodes to be directed by Tom Holland I rather liked Four-Sided Triangle. The script by Holland & James Tugend was based on a story from the 'Shock SuspenStories' comic book & it's the turn of sinister living scarecrow's to get the Tales from the Crypt treatment in a story of twisted love although things don't turn out as one might initially think so in that respect Four-Sided Triangle might surprise you with a trademark just deserts twist ending which isn't as predictable as it could have been. At only 30 odd minutes in length it moves along at a good pace & as usual for Tales from the Crypt it's well written, the character's & dialogue are decent considering the time restraint.
This one looks good, is well made & has a nice feel to it. There's not much gore here except for a couple of pitchfork impalement's. The acting is good & the small cast making the most of the limited screen time.
Four-Sided Triangle is another top tale from the crypt, definitely well worth a watch if you like this sort of thing.
"Ain't nobody here but me and my man..."
Foreverisacastironmess1237 March 2012
Of the three episodes that Tom Holland directed, I like this one the most. It may not have the great, insane gore of "Lover come Hack to Me", or whatever the hell "King of the Road" was supposed to be about, but this darkly weird little thriller scores points for sheer weird edginess. It's not all that great of a tale, but it's very enjoyable and I appreciate the off-beat tone and slight surreality quality it has that went along well the dingy and desolate setting of the isolated farm. It's kind of a strange, tense, and eerily disturbing tale, and quite a violently nasty in one scene. I love the cleverly ambiguous twist that is the core of the story, It serves to make the episode just about a good one. That, and the strong performances of Arquette and Blommaert. The thing I most enjoy is the mystery regarding the triangle of Mary Jo, George and Louisa. And just who or what is the forth side of the triangle, anyway? The scarecrow? The possible machinations of Mary Jo? It's an interesting plot point, whether or not an apparently helpless little farm slave is manipulating a horrible man into being killed by his horrible wife, or if it's just plain luck. I think it's a bit of both, like she might be doing it without even realizing, maybe! I really wish they had gone for a supernatural twist and had the scarecrow really come to life, that sure would have been a lot more fun. The first time I saw this I was very annoyed and disappointed that it never happens, because as a great fan of all things monsters, I really needed the dang scarecrow to be alive! Well they certainly went in a whole other direction than that... I thought Susan Blommaert and Chelsie Ross were both good in their small roles, she was effective and pretty scary as a violent and threatening tyrant to poor little Mary Jo. Ross was good too as a thoroughly unpleasant, gross-looking letch of a redneck. I'm not that big a fan of Patricia Arquette but I liked her in this, here, it suited her weird way of acting playing a kooky, brain-damaged kidnapped girl on a psycho farm, who liked to sing little nursery rhymes and talk in an adoring voice about her "man." She wasn't backward, just a little "teched". Being cracked brutally over the head with a bottle will do that to a gal.. I love the funny note on which the story ends in the final scene where a joyous Mary Jo sings "chicken pot-pie, and I don't care" and skipping merrily away into the creepy rotting rows of corn. I like the few episodes that feature cruel hillbilly's. This one almost buys the farm, buy not quite. Not a great one but twisted and different enough to be good. X
Nice blend of humour and romance
bellino-angelo201414 June 2021
Mary Jo is a young woman and fugitive from the police that ends up in a farm and is forced to work there by George and Louisa Yates, an old couple. But the Yates are real jerks and treat her like dirt. One day when she runs in the country, she falls to the ground and suffers a blow to her head. Soon she sees that the scarecrow is alive and that he loves her. When George finds out about this he tries during one night of full moon to put himself in the scarecrow outfit, but this will cost both his and his wife's lives.
The more the minutes passed the more I loved the episode as I always rooted for Mary Jo since she only needed a place to stay and didn't deserved to be treated like dirt. And the ending was quite fitting. Another great entry overall.
The more the minutes passed the more I loved the episode as I always rooted for Mary Jo since she only needed a place to stay and didn't deserved to be treated like dirt. And the ending was quite fitting. Another great entry overall.
Fun time.
shellytwade1 April 2022
It's cool to see a young Patricia Arquette here and to be honest she does great in the role. I wouldn't say this is one of the best TFTC ever but it definitely has an original vibe and the twist is pretty great too. Overall I would check it out.
Nifty addition to the scarecrow horror sub-genre
Woodyanders17 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Lovely young Mary Jo (a fine and sympathetic performance by Patricia Arquette) is held captive on a farm by the lecherous George Yates (a pleasingly sleazy portrayal by Chelcie Ross) and his vicious shrew wife Luisa (a perfectly nasty turn by Susan J. Blommaert). Mary Jo appears to have gone crazy when she begins claiming that the scarecrow in the field is alive. Director/co-writer Tom Holland does a capable job of creating a strong and oppressively grim rural atmosphere and keeps the viewing guessing right to the end whether Mary Jo is truly nuts or just faking it. The gruesome conclusion packs quite a wallop, with a couple of right-on grisly pitchfork impalings. Paul Elliott's crisp cinematography provides an effective bright look. Scott Johnson's twangy score hits the harmonic spot. As a sweet extra plus, the delectable Ms. Arquette spends a majority of her screen time wearing a clingy'n'dingy white shirt with no bra underneath. A worthy episode.
The Scarecrow is Alive...
mattressman_pdl31 August 2011
...or is he? Fugitive Patricia Arquette is stuck on a farm, blackmailed into working by the grumpy, perverted farmer and his wife. But after suffering a blow to the head, the girl begins to fantasize about the field's scarecrow coming to life. Sound's strange, doesn't it? This episode is neither interesting enough nor horrific enough to stand on it's own, making it among season two's worst offerings. It plays like a dull thriller instead of a tongue-in-cheek horror short. But, can't win 'em all, can we? At least Patricia looks lovely and the scarecrow sequences are just surreal enough to be entertaining. It's too bad it falls apart in the end, where it counts.
Scarecrow
BandSAboutMovies12 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Tom Holland, who wrote the script alongside James Tugend and Steven Dodd, "Four-Sided Triangle" is based on a story in Shock SuspenStories #17 that was written by Al Felder and William Gaines and drawn by Jack Kamen.
"She loves me; she loves me not. She loves me; she loves me not. Ah! What do flowers know about love anyway? Well, hello there boils and ghouls. Just getting in the mood for tonight's tawdry tale a story of love and lurid lust in the dust. Sure to arouse the sickies amongst you to some heavy breathing. A tale I call "Four-Sided Triangle."
George Yates (Chelcie Ross) caught Mary Jo (Patricia Arquette) robbing a store and has kept her a prisoner on the farm he owns with his wife Luisa (Susan Blommaert) as their slave. He harasses Mary Jo while his wife beats her with a cane. One day, while he's trying to get Mary Jo to allow him to touch her, he ends up beating her with a bottle. The head injury she sustains causes her to hallucinate and believe that the clown-masked scarecrow in the field is her lover.
The injury has caused her to keep believing that the scarecrow loves her. Luisa mentions that they now have her for life, which makes George think that he can do whatever he wants to her. He also gets the bright idea to dress like the scarecrow, a plan that ends up destroying the evil scheme once and for all.
I really enjoyed this chapter. After all, Holland is an expert at telling horror stories.
"She loves me; she loves me not. She loves me; she loves me not. Ah! What do flowers know about love anyway? Well, hello there boils and ghouls. Just getting in the mood for tonight's tawdry tale a story of love and lurid lust in the dust. Sure to arouse the sickies amongst you to some heavy breathing. A tale I call "Four-Sided Triangle."
George Yates (Chelcie Ross) caught Mary Jo (Patricia Arquette) robbing a store and has kept her a prisoner on the farm he owns with his wife Luisa (Susan Blommaert) as their slave. He harasses Mary Jo while his wife beats her with a cane. One day, while he's trying to get Mary Jo to allow him to touch her, he ends up beating her with a bottle. The head injury she sustains causes her to hallucinate and believe that the clown-masked scarecrow in the field is her lover.
The injury has caused her to keep believing that the scarecrow loves her. Luisa mentions that they now have her for life, which makes George think that he can do whatever he wants to her. He also gets the bright idea to dress like the scarecrow, a plan that ends up destroying the evil scheme once and for all.
I really enjoyed this chapter. After all, Holland is an expert at telling horror stories.
Four-Sided Triangle
a_baron28 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
George is a farmer, although it is his disabled wife who wears the trousers. They are assisted on this humble estate sixty miles from nowhere by a nubile young thing whose life is clearly a misery if not outright slavery. Indeed, her lot is so wretched that the poor girl appears to be losing her mind. After a run-in with George in which he nearly murders her, she fancies that a scarecrow has come to life and is going to make love to her, if not take her away from all this.
The big question is, has the scarecrow really come to life, is it all in her head, or could there be yet another explanation?
In spite of the wretchedness of this poor girl's life, there is an element of comedy to this otherwise sad tale. Things are clearly going to end in tragedy, the big question is, for whom?
The big question is, has the scarecrow really come to life, is it all in her head, or could there be yet another explanation?
In spite of the wretchedness of this poor girl's life, there is an element of comedy to this otherwise sad tale. Things are clearly going to end in tragedy, the big question is, for whom?
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