Review of Pumpkinhead (1988) by Steven M — 22 Apr 2011

The saddest part about "Pumpkinhead" is that a lot of its clichéd subplots-- kids renting a cabin in the woods and personal vengeance-- caused a lot of audience members to lose sight of some of the things that set this film apart from a lot of the other 80's slasher/horror movies of the time.

We start in the 1950's when a small town family refuses to save a terrified old man from his impending demise. The demon known as Pumpkinhead is hot on his coattails and ready to make a human Picasso piece out of him. Our main character Ed Harley, (played as an adult by Lance Henricksen), is a young boy watching the massacre through a dingy little window as the creature toys with his victim.

Many years later, Harley has a son named Billy (Matthew Hurley) who is probably about 8 years old or so. It's a normal day until a band of college-aged kids make a pit stop at his quaint little shop, Harley Groceries. A couple of the kids dig out their dirt-bikes, all too eager to shred some country dirt. The Harleys' pet dog, Gypsy makes his way out to chase the bikes, soon followed by Billy Harley, who tries to retain hold on the escaped canine. A step or two too far lands him in a near miss by one of the bikers and an almost direct hit by a second.

With Billy's passing, Ed Harley seeks out the backwoods witch, Haggis (Madeleine Taylor Holmes). In his name, she summons the enormous demon of vengeance, known as Pumpkinhead, to do the dirty work. From there, the rest unfolds.

A big part of this movie is definitely the visual aspect of it. Before digitally composited images took a chunk out of the sincerity of a well-produced film, a lot of a film's quality could hinge on production design. Directed by the monster master, Stan Winston- probably the most brilliant visionary in his field since Ray Harryhausen- his keen eye for this sort of thing kept this movie ahead of the loop with its eerie visuals. It's a film that's brimming, emphasis on BRIMMING, with atmosphere.

One of the most touching moments of the film is young Billy's death. Harley cradles his weakened son next to a window as sunbeams shine through, exposing gently billowing country dust slowly dancing in the beams of light. It was as if some heavenly light was beckoning Billy's young and innocent spirit into a better place.

Other fantastic visuals set the mood for the film as well, such as the pumpkin patch graveyard, Razerback Holler. A small plateau rises in the middle of a forest clearing littered with pumpkins and remnants of the dead mountaineers. There is a gentle, cold mist rolling across the ground and through the trees as Harley makes his way to dig up the mummified remains of Pumpkinhead.

The birth of Pumpkinhead is probably the one of the most remarkable moments in the film. With the handiwork of Tom Woodruff Jr., Alec Gillis, Richard Landon, to name a few, a truly amazing visual feat is accomplished as the creature rises in front of a roaring fire in the middle of a heavily candlelit room. It is appropriately eerie and compliments a truly fantastic creature- (honestly, it's a monster movie. Part of reviewing is also reviewing it as a monster movie).

If subtext is more your thing, then "Pumpkinhead" delivers in this department as well. Even if it's masked by less than perfect acting and rather generic subplots, it does exist. As Ed Harley's bloodlust begins to take hold of him before the climax of the film, there is an ideologically disturbing moment of poetic depth as the creature begins to adopt certain... traits of Ed Harley. In a way, Harley's vengeance was slowly beginning to manifest into a physical form further than anyone would have ever believed.

It may not boast the best cast in the world, or the most original character subplots. But in many ways, the film truly lives up to its tagline; "A Grim Fairytale." If you can get past the lesser points of the film, there is a lot to be had in this cultish horror film of the 1980's.