Pumpkinhead and Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes

Pumpkinhead/Pumpkinhead Ashes To Ashes

Growing up I always sorta knew about the original Pumpkinhead. Trust me I was one of those dumb ass kids who really thought it was a guy that walked around with a giant pumpkin on his head (…) any who I remembered renting Stan Winston's masterpiece when I was eight or nine and being very impressed. I even had a Movie Maniacs Pumpkinhead action figure to go along with all my other monsters. Years later I picked up Pumpkinhead II Blood Wings on VHS and was pretty disappointed. Mind you it was directed by Jeff Blurr (The Stepfather II, Leatherface The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) and had a very impressive cast such as Andrew Robinson, Ami Dolenz, Soleil Moon Frye, Linnea Quigley, Kane Hodder, and yes Rodger Clinton...Bill's brother. Despite it's efforts this sequel was never a direct sequel to the 1988 original, the only thing these two movies have in common is the Pumpkinhead monster which looks more like just a guy in a cheap Halloween store getup. Just last year at Rock & Shock I won it on DVD and it's safe to say that little baby is collecting some dust on my bookshelf. After that years passed before the Sci-Fi channel decided to make two direct for TV sequels for the true hardcore fans. Much like how they did for Ginger Snaps, these movies continue or go deeper into the whole storyline behind the monster. The first was Pumpkinhead Ashes To Ashes, the second released a year later as Pumpkinhead Blood Feud. I'm still yet to see Blood Feud but just this past weekend I bought the original Pumpkinhead and Ashes to Ashes, hoping to spark some interest.

Pumpkinhead

A farmer's young boy is run over and killed by a group of reckless teenagers up in the mountains. Hoping to save his boy, the farmer takes the child's corpse to an old witch who lives out in the woods. Unable to bring him back, the witch offers the next best thing...revenge. Casting a spell a monster rises from the pumpkin patch called Pumpkinhead who begins to stalk and slaughter the teens one by one.

LOWDOWN - The late Stan Winston was the man responsible for some of the most amazing monsters and creatures that graced the silver screen. In 1988 he decided to take the director's chair and make his own movie. This is a fairy tale gone very very wrong. I have very fond memories watching this classic on VHS and it still stands up today. I love hearing/reading about the making of this film and how a handful of very popular makeup artists all took a stab on trying to design the creature suit. This story has some classic elements and a great solid driving force of revenge. I mean honestly what parent wouldn't do this? Lance Henriksen does one of his best roles in this one and one of the most haunting scenes (which I guess was one of the main reasons Mr. Henriksen took the role) was when Ed stops his truck and his little boy pops up and stares at him saying “What did you do daddy?” Gives me chills every time.

Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes

It's been nearly twenty years since Ed Hardy destroyed himself along with the monster Pumpkinhead to stop the bloodbath that took place that faithful night. The children who witnessed the event are now grown and working for a backwoods doctor who has been kidnapping locals and harvesting their organs for profit. When the barn and swamp where the rotting bodies were discovered, a small group of town's people band together to contact the old witch in the woods to bring back Pumpkinhead for revenge and even worse...

LOWDOWN – I'll be the first to admit, this was a complete blind buy and last Saturday when I watched it I was staring down at my laptop for 98% of the time. Still, I did get to witness that this wasn't you're usual run of the mill made for TV movie. The visuals were stunning (what was that flying at the screen? Ashes or glitter?) I loved hearing the old theme play over the credits and of course seeing Lance Henriksen reprise a role that he completely kicked ass in. I loved how they continued the storyline, showing what happened afterwards. This was a really well written storyline and even though it could have been a little bit better I liked most of it. The effects were solid (besides the CG shot of Pumpkinhead climbing the church...God awful). This was another tale of revenge that I loved and besides a few bad shots I found it a very deserving sequel...the real sequel to the original in fact. Also we get another horror power house Mr. Doug Bradley strutting his stuff. A great movie that I just know I'll have to re watch!