Review of Pumpkinhead (1988) by Alex S — 03 Jan 2011

When youâ(TM)re some supernatural killing machine enlisted as a servant for those that have been wronged, you have to make sure you have an intimidating name. Being named after produce does not qualify for that camp.

Now, granted, the locals gave our terror from beyond the grave the unfortunate moniker of âPumpkinhead,â? despite him not having a pumpkin for a head or even being gourd-like in nature, but he could have called himself âDax Tsunamiâ? and sounded more frightening.

But anyway, what we have here is haphazard teens visiting the middle of nowhere and subsequently running over a local shop ownerâ(TM)s son before bolting for the inevitable cabin in the woods. This isnâ(TM)t about to fly for our hero, the downplayed Lance Henriksen, who is as committed as ever, and so he loads up his sonâ(TM)s body and heads to the token swamp lady for a solution to his problem.

Enter Pumpkinhead and the stalk-and-slay methodology of thinning out the cast. Youâ(TM)ve seen it all before, really. But what puts this ahead of most others in the genre is Stan Winston directing and the creature itself.

Winston has given us a fairly atmospheric flick for its budget and some of the stuff on display is chilling (itâ(TM)s just a shame about 10 percent of the folks in this have heard of the term âactingâ? while the other 90 percent pretty much take up space).

And then you get to the main attraction himself. The Pumpkinhead beast is a tall, gangly oddity that would probably put a few more gray hairs in this beard of mine had I run into him unexpectedly. When the thing starts morphing near the end of the film, youâ(TM)ll really have an appreciation for the effects and craft Winston has put into this thing.

It takes awhile for things to get moving (our villain technically doesnâ(TM)t even show up until past the halfway point, but then again, thatâ(TM)s probably better since we dread what will inevitably show up and only the most hardened of folks will be disappointed when the guest of honor arrives) and it opts for a token ending that leaves the door open for sequels but this definitely does not deserve to get shoved alongside the lesser slasher films to come out of this timeframe.