Horror Movie Review: Attack of the Tattie-Bogle (2017)

A Tattie-Bogle is a Scottish term for scarecrow, so Attack of the Tattie-Bogle is basically Attack of the Scarecrow. A less inspired title. Fear not though, what it lacks in a characters and story, it makes up for in sheer brutality.

What most will remember about Attack of the Tattie-Bogle is just how real it feels.

A group of young adults gather at a remote cabin to celebrate Independence Day. A group that includes an awkwardly over the top patriot, a parody-like liberalist, couples and horn-dogs. Who they are hardly matters even if this short film tries to add some character stuff in pointlessly.

It’s pointless because there are far too many characters and nowhere enough time to make anyone really care about them. Then there is the fact that a handful just aren’t that good. The dialogue clunky in their mouths. Nowhere is that worse then the patriotic dispute that kicks off on the boat.

However, this is mostly forgotten when a masked figure arrives and doesn’t hang about with the slaughter.

Seriously, this person arrives and in a blur of brutality kills a large portion of the cast. It’s a pretty shocking sequence and clears the fog created by bad dialogue and character interactions instantly. Suddenly Attack of the Tattie-Bogle has the attention, clear and undivided.

From this point onwards, it becomes a cat and mouse game between the last few survivors and the killer. Every escape route is blocked off, the killer is relentless and most importantly, uncompromising when it comes to dishing out the savagery. It can get quite uncomfortable too as the sight of a character pleading for their life results in nothing but murder.

By time the credits roll at just over an hour, Attack of the Tattie-Bogle will have left an impression. It’s not a horror classic by any stretch and takes a bit of time to really get going but when it does, the level of realistic brutality will be remembered.