Pumpkinhead - Asche zu Asche

I saw this on the SciFi Network a few weeks ago, and was highly disappointed. As a big fan of the original Punkinhead, I was looking forward to a return to that story, but where Stan Winston's creature effects in the original were awesome (possibly the only creature effect that has ever scared me) the rubber suit and cgi in this one fell way flat. Hard to believe that a puppet can move more convincingly than an actor, but it's true. Whoever was wearing the crappy rubber suit in this one could have moonlighted as a bad Godzilla impersonator. Combined with an absolute waste of Doug Bradley in his role in this film, instead of the fun cameo one might expect from the man who gave life to pinhead, the result was a purely disappointing production. Save your time and just rent the original.

I watched this last night and it is practically a remake of the original. However, I will give the filmmakers credit for actually retaining several characters from the original (the siblings are all the kids of George "Buck" Flower's Wallace character in the first film). Director Jake West - who made the absolutely inept EVIL ALIENS - handles the filming well. Sadly, he doesn't capture Pumpkinhead's towering stance well though, shooting it mostly in close up. On the downside, the actors seem to have never stepped foot in the South. We're talking Gomer Pyle hysterics here. If you look closely, you can actually see Lance Henriksen cashing his check for this one. And there are a few wonky CGI bits.

OK....I'm having a Halloween party, everyone is dressed to the max, having fun and I say,"Guess what? There's a NEW Pumpkinhead movie and it's on tonight! Not only is Lance Henriksen in it, but Doug Bradley from Hellraiser!" (oohs and ahhhs follow) I have NEVER been so embarrassed in my life. I was a complete fan of the original. It was a classic that I've watched time and time again. The first sequel (Bloodwings) didn't have the mood of the original, and turned into another "monster kills the idiotic teens" movie. This one appeared to have an interesting beginning and premise...oops, my bad! When I saw the first CGI Pumpkinhead sequence I was almost too embarrassed to laugh. Almost. All my pals gawked at the cartoon images that made Jimmy Neutron look as real as yer next door neighbor. Needless to say, this spoiled the whole movie for me, and if they have indeed made another sequel...I hope they can look back on this as a serious mistake. Dudes, go talk to the guys that made Jurassic Park. I'm sure they can give you a few low budget pointers.

Pumkinhead(1988) is considered to be a minor classic by most horror fans.It was generally well-received during its limited run that year and remains a video favorite.Naturaly a schlock-sequel,Blood wings,was conceived in 1993 that met such universal scorn,it was dumped on video with no theater run whatsoever.

After rumors and false starts Pumkinhead has finally returned in a Romanian-shot sequel that aired on the Sci Fi channel October 28th.

A corrupt town Doctor(Doug Bradley)and his grave-robbing family are the cause of the Demon's revival this time around by vengeful family members.As the body count rises they start to learn that revenge has its price to pay.

Doug Bradley is does a great job as the real "Heavy" of the movie and its a Shame he does not get more high-profile gigs.Wise choice by the producers to get Lance Henricksen to play Ed Harley again.The rest of the cast over-acts or under-acts.Another wise choice for the continuity to the first movie,and the ignoring of the 2nd.

What bugged me the most the the cinematography in this one which did not have that eerie feel of the first and cheapens the movie more than it truly is.Pumkinhead is just one step away from being another generic monster of the week.They should have him reacting and interacting more.Don't get me wrong he looked very cool.They just handled him wrong.Most of the characters were just redneck-clichés.One after another.

Is this the sequel that fans have been asking for over a decade?

Yes and No.

But if I were going to bring s well-loved monster out of the mothballs like Pumkinhead,it would have been in a much better movie than this was.

5.5/10

Pumpkin head is back for vengeance in this made for television movie production. Good acting and direction is wasted on sub-par writing and low budget computer graphics. It had the were-with-all and means to be great but really came out to be another average made for t.v. movie. Rent it on DVD, rather than watching it on cable; it's much more appealing unedited and uninterrupted. Speaking of which, Sci-Fi should have filmed a t.v. version with a an additional R rated version for DVD release. There just wasn't enough blood, gore, explicit language, or nudity to make this a realistic attempt at being great Horror. If your not a horror fan,don't watch it. If you like horror, go for it!

*Directing: Good *Acting: Good *Writing: Fair *Computer FX: Poor *Special FX: Good *Sound Editing: Excellent *Cinemotography: Excellent