A blend of folk horror and supernatural slasher combined with some of the best creature design and movement ever. It unfolds like a tragedy that explores how vengeance can consume someone into turning them into a monster both literally and metaphorically. I haven't seen any movie that embodies the quote "Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself." Like some Shakesperian works the death that drives the story in this movie is an accident and it shows how people may think about what they want first to make themselves feel better and they make decisions they regret. There is also an interesting urban versus rural story going on here and by the end they need to join forces to defeat the evil.
The movie starts in the past, possibly the 1950s where a young Ed Harley witnesses his father refusing to open the door for a man "marked" by Pumpkinhead. Pumpkinhead is a demon of revenge as we find out later that can be activated by a witch to get vengeance on someone a person targets. Many years later grown up Ed (Lance Henriksen) runs a country roadside grocery store with his young son Billy (Matthew Hurley). Teenage tourists come to the area to vacation to a cabin. The tourists are Joel (John D'Aquino), his girlfriend Kim (Kimberly Ross), Joel's brother Steve (Joel Hoffman), his girlfriend Tracy (Cynthia Bain), Maggie (Kerry Remsen), and Chris (Jeff East). Ed leaves the grocery store to go on an errand. Joel takes his dirt bike out and Steve follows. When the Harley's dog gypsy runs out after them Billy follows and as the dirt bikes jump over a hill Billy is struck and fatally wounded by Joel.
Everyone leaves except Steve who stays with Billy. Joel is on parole for a similar incident and he had been drinking. Once they get to the cabin Joel locks Tracy and Chris in a room to prevent them from leaving and cuts the phone line to prevent them from calling the authorities. Billy dies in Ed's arms and he eventually goes to see the Wallace family who live in the woods. Ed knows about the Pumpkinhead legend and asks the patriarch, (Buck Flower) if he can help him find the Witch who can grant his wish. After he says he doesn't know anything his son Bunt (Brian Bremer) follows him and after Ed gives him some money he agrees to take him to the Witch.
Once Ed gets to the Witch she says she can't bring Billy back. Ed, however remembers the his experience as a child and asks if Pumpkinhead can get revenge on the people he deems responsible for killing his kid. Ed digs up a body in a pumpkin patch on a hill. The witch uses both Ed and Billy's blood to resurrect Pumpkinhead. Meanwhile, Joel lets Tracy and Chris out of the closet and vows to turn himself in. It is too late though as the creature has all ready shown up...
I love the filmmaking on display here. The opening credits have this red fire that echoes the look we see throughout the film as people's houses in the woods are only lit by fire. The theme music by Richard Stone
has an awesome blend of human voice, harmonica, and acoustics that adds to the feel. This movie is shot quite well by Bojan Bazelli who also did the cinematography for things like Deep Cover, King of New York, The Ring. This movie wouldn't work if Ed and Billy didn't seem believable and they do. Early on Ed helps wash his hands and tells this story about how soft his grandmother's hands were when he would wash them. He repeats something he said to Billy earlier as he dies about him being a great son. Billy makes him a necklace. This movie with little time establishes them in a real way that makes you sad when Billy dies.
Joel does not help matters to make you sympathize with any of the teens. Joel though is thinking selfishly and eventually comes around, even volunteering at one point to give himself to the creature so it will spare his friends. Joel establishes himself early on as rude but as the movie goes on you realize his response to the situation is one a lot of people would have making him a tragic hero. There is that idea of city versus rural established early on and Tracy is taking pictures of the kids of the Wallace family who are surrounding one kid and saying the Pumpkinhead poem to scare him. By the end of the movie it is Bunt who explains the legend and has to work with the remaining teenagers and Ed to defeat the creature so it is a dynamic where people from different ways of life have to team up to fight against evil.
The creature effects here are amazing. The eyes of Pumkpinhead that you see up close look incredibly human. The scale of this creature is shown whenever it goes into a room or whenever it uses its hands and fingers to pick people up or put them in people's faces. The limbs and the movement look real. This is one of the best creature designs and executions ever. I can't say I'm surprised given that Stan Winston directed this film and had Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. working on the creature from Studio ADI. This movie is much more minimal on the gore effects though, save for one of the deaths. This isn't Tom Savini and I think the FX people were focusing more on the creature rather than the gore. I also enjoy how the wind starts and Pumpkinhead makes this ambient sound whenver it shows up adding to the supernatural feel. The makeup effects on Haggis the Witch (Florence Schauffer) are second to none and she exudes a feeling of fear whenever she is on screen.
A picture of Lance Henriksen with the titular Pumpkinhead puppet
Haggis is one of the scariest on screen witches
Spoiler Section
The creature shows up to the cabin and quickly dispatches Steve and then Maggie who probably gets the worst death as you see her crash through the window and her blood leaks out going down the sink. The group then goes outside and Kim is killed after being dropped from a tree by the creature. As more people start dying Ed starts to see and feel their deaths. There are some cool visuals here as the lights around him change to different colors and the stuff around him goes blurry almost like someone wearing drunk goggles. The teens eventually trie to steal a man's car and he doesn't let them and says he can't help them. Ed eventually meets them in the woods and shoots the creature. Joel goes up to see if it is dead and uses his shotgun to impale him. Ed had gone to Witch and asked her to stop it but she says it is what he wanted and she can't stop it. This shows the tragedy in the story. If Joel had taken responsibility sooner or stayed at the store maybe Ed would have forgiven them. Ed realizing he has been consumed by vengeance wants to stop it but is too late. He thought the creature getting revenge wouldn't impact him but the creature and him are becoming one. After Wallace refuses to help Bunt sneaks out and takes Tracy and Chris to a church. He explains the legend as the creature shows up and captures him. Eventually Tracy, Chris and Ed confront the creature at a barn. As Pumpkinhead's features turn more human Ed turns more monstrous. He realizes he needs to die in order to stop the creature is to die himself. Tracy eventually shoots Ed with his own gun after he begs her too. The movie ends with Haggis burying Ed in the same grave where he dug up Pumpkinhead.
Rating: 8.5/10
If the deaths had been more violent that would take this over the top for me. As it stands the creature design and execution is second to none and I enjoy all the ambiguity and tragedy in the story. I just wish the kills could have been gorier.
Trivia: Lance Henriksen wore a set of dentures to give him a more rural look. He gathered his wardrobe and props himself including his hat, shotgun, and silver dollars that he gives to Haggis.
No comments:
Post a Comment