Pumpkinhead (1988)

People are voting emotionally.

Fantastic!

Crappy film

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the true teen-horror classics, with a good story and where the evil is justified. The visual and creature effects are amazingly realistic and scary. The cast is very good, especially Lance Henrikssen in a very demanding role, which he does brilliantly. The film is tense, thrilling and offers loads of great scares. This is one of my all-time horror favorites.

31 Days Of Horror: Day 23Pumpkinhead is the king of supernatural backwoods legends, one of those atmospheric 80's slice n' dicers that's perpetually saturated with fog from an unseen smoke machine, and presided over by a huge impressive monster made from considerably complex animatronics, eternally more effective than CGI. Simple southern dude Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) lives in smoky rural nowhere with his adorable son and scruffy dog Gypsy. He's a feed stocker for local farmers, but things get out of hand when a group of moronic city dwelling teens and their ditzhole girlfriends show up for a vacation. When one irresponsible youth accidentally kills Ed's son in a dirtbike accident, Ed goes mad with grief and rage. He turns his attention to a decrepit witch who lives in a dark part of the local woods (spectacular set design in this sequence) who is rumored to be able to bring about a curse on people who have wronged someone. She warns Ed about the ramifications of setting such a force loose, but blind with grief he persists. And so she releases pumpkinhead, a nine foot tall friggin monster of a creature that looks like a xenomorph crossed with gollum and, with just a touch of inbred dragon. This thing mercilessly hunts down not only the kid who ran Ed's son over, but turns it's bloodlust to the rest of the pack too, and anyone who gets in the way. By the time Ed realizes what he's unleashed, it's too late. There's some killer god gore scenes as the physically imposing creature wreaks havoc, snapping necks and drinking blood and all sorts of goodies. Henriksen gives the movie a gravity it almost doesn't deserve, being at its core a monster flick, yet his earnest emotion and anger is welcome, giving the story that human element among the grisly chaos. Nothing brings us atmosphere like an 80's horror flick, and unlike the genre movies of today, they still stand as testaments to quality, effects, hard work and pure passion for bringing a grotesque story like this to life.

Oozing With Atmosphere and Lensed Photogenically Dark and Creepy, This Minor Cult Film is Dripping with Style. Directed by Legendary SFX Man Stan Winston, it Remains One of the 1980's Best and Different Teenagers in Peril Movies.What Sets it Apart from the Others is the Way it Looks and its Emphasis on Story and its De-Emphasis on the Gory. Winston Seems to Pull Back on the Creatures Slaughter of the Aforementioned, City Teens Traveling on Roads Less Traveled and Encountering Fate's Formidable Reckoning. The Monster, the Set-Up, and the Folklore are All Handled with Attention to Detail and Presented with Scary Scenes in the Backwoods Inhabited by Hillbilly's and Haunted by a Hag who Conjures Up Creatures from the Undergrowth, but Only by Request.Lance Henrikson, One of the Best B-Actors Ever, Who Seems to Never Give a Bad Performance and Enhances Every Project He Appears, is a Grieving Father that Calls on the Witch and Immediately Regrets It.It's a Near Perfect Horror Show, but it Does a Few Things that Keeps it From Elevated Status Beyond its Loyal Following in the "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Crowd. The Aforementioned, Obvious Reluctance to Go for the Gore and Splatter Relying on Tone, Tells the Scary Tale with a Reverence and Refuses to Capitulate to the Prurient Blood-Letting.That Makes Some of the Avenging Demon's Horrific Slaughter Seem a Bit Tame in Terms of What is Shown Anyhow. Seen Today, That and the Pacing Appear Somewhat Slow. Still, the Movie Makes Up for it in the Way it is Framed and All the Sets and Design are as Eerie as They Come.Overall, its a Way Better Than Average Film of its Type and Along with the Cinematographer, Stan Winston's Monster Makers and Hendrickson Deliver a Better Than it Should be Entry in the Glut of 80's Horror (for example at the time of its release Halloween 4 was about to hit theaters). Nuff Said.

After accidentally killing his son, a group of teens find themselves subject to a series of attacks by a demonic creature summoned to take revenge on their actions by the father and must try to stop it from completing its rampage.This here is one of the more impressive and enjoyable creature features out there. One of the biggest pluses here is the fact that this one manages to introduce a rather novel and intriguing storyline for its monster that comes off very well. The idea of letting loose a horrible creature of revenge to right perceived wrongs is a fairly new twist to the typical monster-on-the-loose style films and the way this element is woven into the story makes for some pretty exciting times. It needs a plausible scenario to set events in motion which is done here with the fine scene early on that kills of the son in what looks genuinely like a true accident so there's a logical reason for the demon conjuring, a fine set-up that gives the kids something resembling a conscience and finally brings the actual point home with a practically-chilling exhumation sequence in the appropriately long-dead cemetery that not only meets the functions of the story but also gives off the feeling of appropriate unease required for such scenes. The other big part about the novel story here is the physical connection between the two, as he manages to meld together with the creature during the attack scenes which is quite an inventive feeling here. There's also some good times here with this one featuring some really enjoyable stalking here with this one featuring some rather intense chases here with the creature going after the gang through the woods which results in great moments at the cabin and the abandoned church which provide this one with some thrilling action, nice suspense and a series of chilling encounters all packed with great gore and bloody kills. Combined here with the spectacular special effects for the creature and it's enough to overcome the one flaw present which is the nonsensical action that occurs in the later half. Many of the scenes here make no sense and come at a complete reversal from what was told before. This is really the only part here that doesn't really work.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and intense violent themes toward children.