Pumpkinhead

source: Pumpkinhead

Dammit, why did I put off seeing this for so long? Pumpkinhead is a complete and total 80s horror flick all the way through, and if you're tired of modernized torture horror and dumb ripoff slashers, throw this on as a reminder of why you loved the horror genre in the first place. I think the best thing about this is that it isn't just for fans of one specific type of horror. There was slasher horror and there were monster movies, and maybe a few odd-man-out occult flicks, but Pumpkinhead doesn't really fall into any of those, rather settling to sit on the divider between them. I guess you could call this a monster movie more than anything, but you've got more than enough elements of the slasher and "occult" types of films in there too, so it's pretty much up to the viewer. Watch it as what you like. No matter what, though, no horror fan can deny that this rules, being both totally old school and boasting a somewhat new twist on the films it took influence from. The monster might seem cheesy or awkward, but I grew to appreciate it the same as I did other horror icons like Jason and Michael Myers, which says it all. The kills are brutal yet not overdone (learn a lesson here, Mr. Eli Roth!), and the characters are generally enjoyable and not too shallow (at least not compared to the random teens in Friday the 13th flicks). This might not be the best film from a critical standpoint, but as a horror fan, I can't give this anything but a perfect score. With a great setting, a healthy helping of mozzarella cheese, some classic 80s blood and guts, a monster that is as much cheesy as it is cool, and a certain spark that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole demonic thrill ride of the movie, Pumpkinhead will fit right in on your shelf next to Friday the 13th, Halloween and Sleepaway Camp. If you don't already have it, then take it from me and go get it right now.

Generally considered to be a minor classic in the tremendous 80's horror offer, "Pumpkinhead" mostly benefices from Lance Henriksen's strong lead performance, the solid direction job by Stan Winston and the compelling atmosphere that ideally balances between harrowing drama and exciting horror. It may take a little while before the story really swifts into action-gear, but at least the introduction of the characters and the build up towards why the titular demon gets summoned is well-crafted and involving. Widower Ed Harley lives with his young son and owns a grocery store in the rural outback. His peaceful life abruptly comes to an end when a bunch of city-teenagers accidentally run over his beloved son with their motorcycles. Overcome with grief and fury, Ed seeks contact with a local witch capable of resurrecting a powerful demon to extract blood-vengeance. The hideous demon with superhuman strength immediately goes after the teenagers and isolates the entire area with petrifying anguish. Ed soon regrets having unleashed this supernatural evil and teams up with the last remaining teenagers to destroy it. The titular demon's head isn't exactly shaped like a pumpkin, he merely owes his name to the fact his remainders were buried in a fields were pumpkins are cultivated. He's a tall, relentless and bloodthirsty creature that looks an awful lot like the extraterrestrial monsters in "Aliens". This shouldn't really come as a surprise, since the talented special effects team was responsible for both movies. Director Stan Winston is an effects artist as well, and thus he perfectly knows to depict the demon at its most menacing. And not only the creature's design is scary! The ominous forests, the superb lighting and the superstitious supportive characters all contribute to increase the tension-level as well. Lance Henriksen starred in numerous low-budget horror features that aren't worth bothering, but "Pumpkinhead" easily ranks among his best roles. His imposing charisma and cheekbones do most of the acting here, but Lance nevertheless remains a mighty fine action hero. There are sublime supportive roles for Florence Schauffler (as the uncanny witch) and George 'Buck' Flower as the wise elderly man.

"Keep away from Pumpkinhead, Unless you're tired of living, His enemies are mostly dead, He's mean and unforgiving, Bolted doors and windows barred, Guard dogs prowling in the yard, Won't protect you in your bed, Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead." So goes the poem by Ed Justin. I've never heard of it previously. I'm assuming it's more of an American pop culture thing. Stan Winston may be the man behind many of todays horror icons and creatures but how exactly does he hold up as a director? Not that great I'm afraid to say. But let's be reasonable. This film is almost 20 years old (it was completed in 1987) and Winston has no doubt improved in many ways since. But what he lacks in style he makes up for in enthusiasm. The ever-brilliant Lance Henrikson (the man with THE coolest voice in the world) is Ed Harley, a backwoods shopkeep who's Milky-Bar Kid-lookalike son is killed by reckless dirt-bikers. After this surprising sad and touching scene, Ed visits the house of a mysterious old hag who has ties with the forces of darkness. Wishing vengeance upon the bikers he is sent on a mission to dig up the remains of a demon buried in a pumpkin patch. With his blood thrown into the mix of an evil spell, the demon is soon resurrected and goes about his usual mission of killing people who deserve it. And so begins a series of scenes you've seen many times in numerous Friday the 13th films and the subsequent rip-offs. Only instead of a masked killer you get a very tall, weird looking creature that looks a lot like the Xenomorph from the Alien series. Despite Winston's usually awkward framing and cutting, he does pull off a couple of good scares and generates a decent amount of atmosphere. But the constant unnatural lighting, floodlit woods and fog effects get a bit annoying. Pumpkinhead is, essentially, a tribute to urban legends and ancient scary stories told for generations before TV and mass-communication came along. In that sense, Pumpkinhead ranks alongside other mythical characters such as Spring-heeled Jack, the Skunk-Ape, Shadow People and El Chupacabra. Many of these characters are in the public subconscious, but like I said, perhaps the Pumkinhead myth is too uncommon outside of America to make that kind of impact. Plus, there is good amount of story going untold. The whole idea of Harley and Pumpkinhead being connected through blood and bloodlust isn't developed too well and the film should have had a stronger showdown between them. The mysterious old hag could have had a bigger part too. But if you're in the mood for undemanding horror, with slight irony, mild mythology, an interesting killer and one of the coolest actors ever (Mr Henrikson, take a bow) then go for it. Don't expect anything groundbreaking or memorable.

"Pumpkinhead" was the first directing job for make-up wizard Stan Winston. You can hardly overlook what Winston's main occupation had been so far. Pumpkinhead, the monster itself, does look pretty neat (even if its design is totally ripped off of H.R. Giger's Alien), but that doesn't mean that we should see the creature as often as we do. In fact, Winston seems so proud of the job his make-up team has done that he wants to show as much of it as possible and we all know that less is often more when it comes to horror movies. "Pumpkinhead" leaves nothing to your imagination and that's not scary at all. In the whole movie there are hardly any effective jumps, because Winston fails to create any kind of suspense or atmosphere. The score gives it all away beforehand and most of the sets look so cheap, they could have been taken right out of an episode of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (a series more horrific than "Pumpkinhead" could ever hope to be). And don't expect much gore, either. The most explicit death scene you'll see is one in which a guy get's stabbed and thrown into the air, which isn't as exciting as it might sound. However, "Pumpkinhead" suffers the most from its bad script in combination with horrible editing. What could have been a half-decent story, was totally ruined by unbelievable characters, idiotic dialog and silly cuts from one scene to the next. By 1989 such mistakes just weren't forgivable anymore. Seriously, this is the kind of movie a bunch of teenagers would make if you'd give them the equipment and teach them a thing or two about how to handle it. For anybody over the age of 14 "Pumpkinhead" is hardly enjoyable unless you have a liking for cheesy 80's horror flicks (like I do). Everybody else should stay away.

Dont be fooled by positive reviews of this Crap movie. I looked up reviews of this, was impressed and purchased a copy expecting to be frightened and intrigued. I got neither. I cannot believe this film actually spooked viewers. I mean, Pumpkinhead kills his victims in the exact same way every time. Hand reaches down from the tree, hand grabs the head...snore... It is unbelievable boring. I wanted to fall asleep while watching it, while my brother and his friends left the room to play the PS2. Its just totally Over-rated. I have never been impressed with Lance Henriksen and this film does nothing to change my view. CRAP.

Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) is a poor but hard working man, who cares for his only son Billy (Matthew Hurley) after his wife dies. Harley also owns a small grocery store. When a group of young people (Jeff East, John D'Aquino, The late Kimberly Ross, Joel Hoffman, Cynthia Bain and Kerry Resmen) accidentally kills Harley's son, when two of the guys of the group were trying their dirt-bikes. After Harley leaves his son for several minutes for business. While some of the group are trying to get call for help and the others are hiding in their cabin for the weekend. When Harley finds his son dead, he gets mad and he seeks for vengeance of his son's killer. He decides to go see a old witch named Haggis (Florence Schauffler) and Harley tries to find out about an old Urban Legend if it's true. This legend is about an revenge seeking demon that could be brought back to life by this witch but it's only works if Harley gives part of his soul to this demon by giving his blood and the blood of his dead son. When the deal is done by bringing back this creature for finding revenge. Harley finds out that the creature can't be done and there's no turning back, until the monster finds all for those who are responsible for his son's death. The only way, it could be stopped if Harley kills himself and saves his soul before it's too late. Directed by Four Time Oscar-Winner:Stan Winston (T2 3-D:Battle Across Time) made an well directed horror/fantasy/thriller that is well acted, well produced and strikingly photographed by Bojan Bazelli (Dangerous Beauty, Kalifornia, The Ring "2002"). Winston, who's best known as a Make-Up Artist/Creature Designer. Since this was his first film as a filmmaker, he didn't have time to supervised the creature effects of this movie. But it was created by his F/X studio and Tom Woodruff Jr. (Who works with Winston on many films before), he plays the title role of the film. Perphas the problem of the movie that is not entirely original on storytelling or dialogue. But Winston and his cinematographer keeps this lively minor cult classic interesting. Character-Actor:Henriksen is excellent as usual in this kind of movie. This picture went on to have three sequels and "Pumpkinhead" is the kind of film that plays well on Halloween night. This was the last film to be produced by the short-lived infamous studio:DEG (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group). But United Artists brought the film for a limited release and it came out in 1989, after it was filmed in the fall of 1987. Despite for some serious flaws in the movie, this picture is worth a look. Horror Fans will impressive with this 1980's gem. (*** ½/*****).

Most critics (who actually get PAID to critique films, unlike me, HA!) really hated this movie, dismissing it as yet another "brainless teen" slaughterfest and slamming it with either one star or a big fat turkey. I've never really understood this. Okay, it's not ever going to win an Academy Award, some of the acting is atrocious and much of the incidental music was cheesy and had me rolling my eyes, but the basic story is quite good. Six city teens on a vacation in either the Appalachians or the Ozarks, make the mistake of running over a little hillbilly boy with a motorcycle. 5 of them want to do the right thing and call the police, but the 6th, a hulking moron with a police record, takes his friends hostage. By the time he comes to his senses, it's too late. The dead boys father has been to see the local Witch, who in turn has summoned the Demon of Vengeance: Pumpkinhead. There's really not a lot of gore here, and no sex whatsoever. The "typical teens" here actually appear to be in their early twenties, and are hardly the faceless victims you usually find in these kinds of films. The real menace lies with the hill folk, many of whom look like the genuine article; inbred and dangerous. Lance Henriksen turns in a great performance as the dead boys father, blinded (most understandably) by grief and anger, yet still compassionate enough at last to try and reverse what he has done. The monster, Pumpkinhead, is really cool looking, created as it was by special effects man Stan Winston, who also directed. The atmosphere and mood of this movie are constantly menacing, even in the bright light of day, and Pumpkinhead seems to bring an aura of electrical storms with him wherever he goes, the sound of cicadas and the flashing of heat lightening most unsettling. The Witches cabin in particular is a magnificent set piece. Worth seeing at least once. The "professional" critics are NOT always right. PS - Don't bother watching "Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings." I've never seen a more horrible sequel with a more annoying cast of arrogant teenagers who deserved to be killed. Banal, moronic waste of film.

A group of young adults heading to a cabin for the weekend accidentally run over and kill the son of country storekeeper Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) and then drive away. Driven by grief, Ed goes to a witch for help raising a demonic creature known as Pumpkinhead to wreak vengeance upon his son's killers. Directed by special effects wizard Stan Winston, Pumpkinhead is one of the most original and underrated horror films of the last thirty years. Lance Henriksen is terrific, as is John Carpenter favorite George Buck Flower. The best scenes go to the witch Haggis, played by Florence Schauffler under a ton of makeup. Every scene involving the witch is gold. On the minus side, the kill scenes are not terribly inventive and are done with a minimum of suspense, despite the terrific atmosphere Winston has set up with the dark and misty backwoods locale. And, of course, praise should go to Winston and his special effects crew for creating a unique creature like Pumpkinhead to begin with. I'm sure the dream of every special effects artist who grew up idolizing Jack Pierce, Willis O'Brien, or Ray Harryhausen would be to create a memorable monster of their own. Winston did just that with this film.

I will be the first person to stand up and admit that Pumpkinhead is, in some ways, as silly as it's name, but there's something there. It's just enough to elevate this above much of the other "Dead Teenager" dreck that was thrown at us in the glorious eighties. First off, the monster is a doozy. Stan Winston was up to his usual standard of excelence and creativity, and he created a creature that, while not actually convincing, is alot scarier and easier to enjoy than most. Pumpkinhead is no Freddy or Michael Meyers, but he delivers. Second of all, the plot is more intelligent than I have come to expect from slasher flicks. The "Kids" are more thought out than most disposable teens, and their motives are more understandable. They accidently take the life of a child, but most want to do the right thing and go to the authorities. Even the Jerk who doesn't is eventually persuaded. And Harley, the father who is the real hero AND villian of the film is much more human than his actions would suggest. There is also a good twist at the end which I will not reveal here, only say that surprised me with it's subtlety, which is something you rarely see in a horror film that is more than 2/3 done. Bottom line, I was pleasently surprised with Pumpkinhead. People who don't like horror films are unlikely to be impressed with it, except on a technical level because the effects and atmosphere are superb, but horror fans looking for a harmless new thrill may find it better than expected. It's smarter, wittier and deeper than the norm. Pumpkinhead gets 6 out of 10 for technical expertise, great atmosphere and an above average story.