Pumpkinhead (1988)

1988
Directed by Stan Winston
Starring Lance Henriksen, Jeff East and John D'Aquino

It's unlikely that many people outside of the horror community have even heard of Pumpkinhead, the 1988 directorial debut from special effects wiz kid Stan Winston.  And that's a damn shame, because this is a pretty damn fun time at the movies.  Maybe the BEST thing about the flick is how it blends some of the various types of horror movies out there together - it's partly a revenge thriller, there's a substantial chunk of "creature feature" Frankenstein-esque stuff, and for a good portion of the second act it's a straight-up slasher as a group of attractive young kids get cut the hell up in ever-inventive and ever-gory ways.  Amazingly enough, it also never feels like overkill (hello, Cabin in the Woods).

And it's the only movie I've ever seen where a bizarre man-creature who looks like a cross between a scarecrow and a xenomorph gets to kill the holy dick out of a bunch of people.  There's some major victories to be had here, I tell ya.

PLOT:  Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) owns a small store in the country and lives with his young son.  A group of hooligan-esque teens pass through and wind up mortally wounding Ed's son in a dirtbike accident.  Cue extremely angry Henriksen face  and dark, dreary music.  You see, there is an urban legend in this part of the country about a witch living in the sticks who has the power to get revenge against those who have wronged you.  Within short order, Ed tracks the witch down (in a very atmospheric, understated scene, by the way) and begs for revenge.  It's one of the more creative things I've seen in a horror movie, involving raising an unstoppable killing machine of a creature to do the deed - a creature that proves quite adept at its mission as the teens begin getting offed one by one at a nearby cabin.  Unexpectedly, Ed is able to see every kill that the creature completes, and as the movie reaches its crescendo, it's up to Ed (along with a couple of the more likable campers) to undo the damage and send the creature back to hell.  The script is very inventive, rarely strays into dorky territory, and has a very distinctive three-act structure that gives the Lick Ness Monster a monstrous boner.
PLOT RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.

CHARACTERS AND ACTORS:  The movie starts with a scene set in the 1950s involving a very young Ed Harley witnessing his father denying help to a man begging for help at their door, only to be summarily killed by Pumpkinhead.  There's a very good shading of depth to the character of Ed Harley, and Henriksen - as he always does - plays the character masterfully.  Amazingly enough, several of the teen characters are also quite likable and engaging - they're very different from the typical group of pot-smoking sexmongers in most movies of this type, as they all feel a great deal of remorse about their act.  Return to Sleepaway Camp, this bunch ain't.  Watching the movie unfold, it is also clear that the writer made a very good choice, in particular, to leave Chris (Jeff East) and Tracy (Cynthia Bain) as the final two survivors along with Ed.   Good stuff all-around here.
CHARACTERS AND ACTORS RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.

COOL FACTOR:  Winston is a makeup master, and his talents are well-on-display in Pumpkinhead as he creates one of his more iconic...um...icons in the form of the Pumpkinhead monster.  As far as I'm concerned, the official goddamn gold seal of approval when it comes to movie monsters is if they have their own model kits associated with them, and this dude has plenty.  The "shit hits the fan" portion of the movie is very effectively done; it doesn't throw red stuff off the screen in some sort of menstrual Shining-esque geyser, it spreads them out to make an impact.  An impact, mind you, that is damn better than anything we get from Willow or the Bro-Mans.
COOL FACTOR: *** 1/2 out of ****.

OVERALL:  This flick was a moderate success at the box office, making its budget back with a little extra, but it has become a fairly substantial cult hit in the years since.  Having also seen the sequels, including two amazingly craptacular SyFy originals, it is also MILES above anything else that would come from this concept.  It really is amazing what you get from a horror movie when you have actors who are genuinely invested in what they're doing, and watching Henriksen in this movie in preparation for this review actually made me very sad considering just how uninspired and disengaged almost all of the vaguely hateable teens/college kids that populate horror movies these days.  Curmudgeonly old man syndrome rears his ugly head once again.  In summary, pick this one up if you haven't seen it, because Pumpkinhead is a scary, well-acted and even occasionally genuinely powerful horror flick that might just stick with you after you turn the lights off.
OVERALL RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.  Joe Bob makes the "Yes" gesture.