The Pumpkin Karver (2006)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Don't Believe the Hype

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A vicious killer wearing a grotesque pumpkin mask (a genuinely scary portrayal by David J. Wright) stalks teenagers at a rowdy Halloween bash being held on a remote farm in the sleepy country town of Carver. Director Robert Mann, who also co-wrote the compact script with Sheldon Silverstein, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, does a sound job of creating and sustaining both an eerie atmosphere and a good deal of tension, vividly captures a flavorsome Halloween party mood, and delivers the gruesome goods with the gory murder set pieces. The solid acting from a capable cast helps a lot: Michael Zara makes for a sympathetic protagonist as the troubled and tormented Jonathan Starks, Terrance Evans almost steals the whole show with his marvelously lively and quirky turn as creepy'n'crusty old coot Ben Wickets, Minka Kelly provides plenty of charm and warmth as the sweet Tammy Boyles, and Alex Weed and David Phillips supply hilarious comic relief as boisterous hipsters Spinner and Bone Daddy. Moreover, it's nice see a recent fright feature that takes time to establish the well drawn characters and rural setting before getting down to bloody brass tacks. Philip Hurn's sharp cinematography gives the picture a neat autumnal look and makes fluid use of a gliding'n'prowling camera. David Kowal's shivery score does the spine-tingling trick. A worthwhile slice'n'dice opus.

"The Pumpkin Karver" is a terrible film. It's that simple. It's trying to be a slasher, but offers very little slashing. It's dumb, not scary, and most importantly, not entertaining.The plot is so thin, it was probably written on a Kleenex, or a napkin. It doesn't make sense, somehow, the guy, who is obviously murdered in the first 10 minutes, is the killer. The plot: on one Halloween, Johnathan and his sister, Lynn or something, are carving pumpkins, when Lynn's boyfriend tries to scare her. Bad scare scene later, and he's dead, the result of John's carving. One year later, they're going to a costume party (not in costume, wtf?) when they meet a creepy old guy with pumpkins. Several lame, and obviously fake party scenes later, and people are coming up dead. More bad party scenes, scenes of the killer failing to kill, bad gore scenes, and the killer turns out to be... The old man, or the guy he killed in the beginning, who knows, who cares? Yup, the plot is bad. Yes, the acting is incredibly lame, and the gore, once again, bad. I could make better gore effects in my basement, in 10 minutes. Oh, and if you're expecting gore, keep looking. There is, maybe, 3 gore scenes in the entire movie. Sure there are more killings, but with barely any gore. So you're going to have to sit through many, many, many bad party scenes.Just skip this movie, if you're unfortunate enough to have seen it, I'm sorry.

After a Halloween prank goes fatally wrong, disturbed youth Jonathan (Michael Zara) is haunted by the visions of a terrifying murderer in a pumpkin mask. To take his mind off things, his sister Lynn (Amy Weber) invites him along to an all-night Halloween kegger at a pumpkin patch. There, partygoers are killed off one by one in the same viciously brutal way: their faces are carved into Jack-O-Lanterns. Who is behind these murders, and can they be stopped before it's too late for them all? Just in time for the Halloween season, I received a copy of the much-hated The Pumpkin Karver (2006). Like many modern indie horrors, the plot seemed rather interesting or, at least, entertaining. Unfortunately, from what I heard of the execution, I wasn't looking forward to it too much. So, with my expectations set to the 0 notch, I went ahead with the film. Sadly, even with my expectations all the way down, I was still disappointed. In the positives (yeah, there are a couple), you won't have to think for 90 minutes and we all need a little time off from our brains occasionally. Also, the background story was made fairly cool with the surprising opening scene. But, the opening scene is about where it ends being cool, and the remaining 80 or so minutes had my emotions ranging from annoyed & frustrated to just plain embarrassed for the cast & crew. The acting is absolutely atrocious and some of the worst I've seen in a while. I don't think I've ever seen a cast of actors with worse timing than this film's. The gore, though plentiful, is about as believable as the actors. And it's all brought together by Mann's amateurish writing & direction. Overall, if you're looking for a good way to spend about seven minutes, watch the opening of this film. Then, turn it off, and put on one of the other dozens of superior films that this film tries to be like. There's not enough entertainment to make it fun, quality to make it good, or creativity to make it special. Pass! Obligatory Slasher Elements:Violence/Gore: While it's definitely there, it's not very good. I liked the opening attack and thought it was a good start, but it went downhill from there. There's a good bit of gore, but it's terribly done. Also, the fact that there are only two kills in the first forty minutes really hinders any chance of killing boredom.Sex/Nudity: You get a couple of pumpkin-painted asses and a brief, clothed (unfortunately) sex scene, but that's all.Cool Killer(s): I like the mask, but that's it. The killer isn't scary, or interesting, or entertaining. Just. . . boring and stupid, really.Scares/Suspense: Really, none at all. They made a sad attempt at a few jump scares, but they're extremely ineffective.Mystery: As you barely see the killer, I suppose that could be counted as mystery. . . unfortunately, the 'secret' is pretty obvious about twelve minutes into the film.Awkward Dance Scene: There's a pretty embarrassing 'grind' between a Charlie's Angel and Austin Powers. Seriously.- -Final verdict: 2.5/10. Do not see this slasher! -AP3-

"Low budget" is not a valid excuse for a lousy film. Some great films have been products of extremely low budgets. This is not one of them.Quick plot summary: Halloween night, sister's boyfriend pretends he's a masked murderer. Sister doesn't get the joke and screams for help. Young brother arrives with blade in hand and viciously attacks assailant. Shoot forward one year, sister and brother are moving to a new town and attend a locals' Halloween party on a pumpkin farm. As the evening progresses, so does the body count.The villain's mask in this film is above average in the grotesque category and was pretty effective. Amy Weber and Minka Kelly are gorgeous. A couple of interesting plot twists.Now for the bad: 4000 plot holes! Albeit, the masked-serial murderer has been (pardon the pun) done to death, but this film had potential to be a decent Halloween flick. Unfortunately, it is all presented in a choppy, careless manner that not even its gratuitous (and extremely brief) bare breast scene could assist in saving.Amy Weber and Minka Kelly are gorgeous, though.