Monster Movie of the Week: Pumpkinhead (1989)

PUMPKINHEAD (1989)

Director: Stan Winston

Genre: Horror/Revenge

THE MOVIE

When it comes to creature effects from the 1980’s on, there is one artist who towers over the rest: Stan Winston. Winston designed and realized monster effects for such films as The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, Jurassic Park and many other classic monster movies. In 1989 Winston made his directorial debut with Pumpkinhead, a country-fried supernatural revenge movie with an emphasis on creature effects. This is also one of the few starring roles for character actor Lance Henriksen’s weathered face and gravelly voice will be familiar to any genre fans from his supporting roles in movies like the Alien and Alien vs. Predator series, Near Dark and his starring role in the Chris Carter TV series Millenium. He’s a good actor and it’s nice to see him get to stretch his legs.

Henriksen plays a single father who owns a shop in a rural mountain community. When his young son is killed in an accident by a group of reckless young tourists he searches for a way to take revenge on them. He ultimately enlists the help of an old mountain witch who summons Pumpkinhead to take revenge on the teens. As Pumpkinhead slaughters the city folk, Henricksen’s character begins to see visions of the killings through the monster’s eyes and eventually grows disturbed by his increasingly symbiotic relationship with Pumpkinhead. He eventually decides to put a stop to it, shotgun style.

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

Pumpkin head looks a bit like a cross between a human being and Giger’s Alien. He has an impossibly spindly body design that recalls the original costume in Alien. He also has an expressive, well-animated face. It is likely that the film was built around the idea of showcasing this monster and since the director’s background is in effects the movie does not stint on attention to the design and realization of the titular creature.

DVD AVIALABILITY

Widely available.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The “summoning” sequence is quite good and loans the film an almost Tim Burtonish fairy tale quality. In fact, it resemble Burton’s later Sleepy Hollow.

SEQUELS

Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings 1994

Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes 2006 (Cable)

Pumkinhead: Blood Feud 2007 (Cable)

TRIVIA

Henricksen, along with actor Bill Paxton, has the privilege of having been killed onscreen by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator (although whether Bishop was actually “killed” by an Alien is debatable.)

TRAILER