Venganza diabólica

This film stands as one of the most underrated I have seen. It has a compelling story of a father's love and the powerful grip of vengeful desires. It is well acted, has amazing creature affects, and takes the road less traveled by most horror films. It takes no easy ways out. The plot prefers to turn slowly into a gnarled tale of battling with an inner demon. The lighting in the fog and the mere visual presence of the witch, Haggis, with her wispy hairs in the fire light, are genuinely creepy. I think Lance Henriksen gives one of his best performances in this film. Definitely give it a look if you haven't yet.

In the countryside, the quiet hick Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) raises his beloved son Billy alone, working in his grocery on the side of the road. When three couples from the big city stop off at his store to buy some supplies, their leader Joel (John D'Aquino) accidentally kills Billy with his motorcycle and he does not allow his friends to call for assistance. In his hatred, Ed visits the evil witch Haggis (Florence Schauffler) that conjures the demon avenger Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers. Later Ed regrets and tries to call off the deal but he finds the price to be paid.

"Pumpkinhead" is a great slash movie of a demon called Pumpkinhead that is summoned by someone to revenge the death of another person. It is interesting to note that the boy is accidentally killed and five teenagers try to do the right thing, but the question is not to be fair or not: the boy's father is blind by his feeling of revenge, and only after calming down, he unsuccessfully tries to call off the deal, but it is too late. Therefore there is a good message about the danger of a revenge in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sangue Demoníaco" ("Demoniac Blood")

A group of young adults heading to a cabin for the weekend accidentally run over and kill the son of country storekeeper Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) and then drive away. Driven by grief, Ed goes to a witch for help raising a demonic creature known as Pumpkinhead to wreak vengeance upon his son's killers. Directed by special effects wizard Stan Winston, Pumpkinhead is one of the most original and underrated horror films of the last thirty years. Lance Henriksen is terrific, as is John Carpenter favorite George Buck Flower. The best scenes go to the witch Haggis, played by Florence Schauffler under a ton of makeup. Every scene involving the witch is gold. On the minus side, the kill scenes are not terribly inventive and are done with a minimum of suspense, despite the terrific atmosphere Winston has set up with the dark and misty backwoods locale. And, of course, praise should go to Winston and his special effects crew for creating a unique creature like Pumpkinhead to begin with. I'm sure the dream of every special effects artist who grew up idolizing Jack Pierce, Willis O'Brien, or Ray Harryhausen would be to create a memorable monster of their own. Winston did just that with this film.

"Keep away from Pumpkinhead, Unless you're tired of living, His enemies are mostly dead, He's mean and unforgiving, Bolted doors and windows barred, Guard dogs prowling in the yard, Won't protect you in your bed, Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead."

So goes the poem by Ed Justin. I've never heard of it previously. I'm assuming it's more of an American pop culture thing.

Stan Winston may be the man behind many of todays horror icons and creatures but how exactly does he hold up as a director? Not that great I'm afraid to say. But let's be reasonable. This film is almost 20 years old (it was completed in 1987) and Winston has no doubt improved in many ways since. But what he lacks in style he makes up for in enthusiasm.

The ever-brilliant Lance Henrikson (the man with THE coolest voice in the world) is Ed Harley, a backwoods shopkeep who's Milky-Bar Kid-lookalike son is killed by reckless dirt-bikers. After this surprising sad and touching scene, Ed visits the house of a mysterious old hag who has ties with the forces of darkness. Wishing vengeance upon the bikers he is sent on a mission to dig up the remains of a demon buried in a pumpkin patch. With his blood thrown into the mix of an evil spell, the demon is soon resurrected and goes about his usual mission of killing people who deserve it.

And so begins a series of scenes you've seen many times in numerous Friday the 13th films and the subsequent rip-offs. Only instead of a masked killer you get a very tall, weird looking creature that looks a lot like the Xenomorph from the Alien series. Despite Winston's usually awkward framing and cutting, he does pull off a couple of good scares and generates a decent amount of atmosphere. But the constant unnatural lighting, floodlit woods and fog effects get a bit annoying.

Pumpkinhead is, essentially, a tribute to urban legends and ancient scary stories told for generations before TV and mass-communication came along. In that sense, Pumpkinhead ranks alongside other mythical characters such as Spring-heeled Jack, the Skunk-Ape, Shadow People and El Chupacabra. Many of these characters are in the public subconscious, but like I said, perhaps the Pumkinhead myth is too uncommon outside of America to make that kind of impact.

Plus, there is good amount of story going untold. The whole idea of Harley and Pumpkinhead being connected through blood and bloodlust isn't developed too well and the film should have had a stronger showdown between them. The mysterious old hag could have had a bigger part too.

But if you're in the mood for undemanding horror, with slight irony, mild mythology, an interesting killer and one of the coolest actors ever (Mr Henrikson, take a bow) then go for it. Don't expect anything groundbreaking or memorable.

I will be the first person to stand up and admit that Pumpkinhead is, in some ways, as silly as it's name, but there's something there. It's just enough to elevate this above much of the other "Dead Teenager" dreck that was thrown at us in the glorious eighties.

First off, the monster is a doozy. Stan Winston was up to his usual standard of excelence and creativity, and he created a creature that, while not actually convincing, is alot scarier and easier to enjoy than most. Pumpkinhead is no Freddy or Michael Meyers, but he delivers.

Second of all, the plot is more intelligent than I have come to expect from slasher flicks. The "Kids" are more thought out than most disposable teens, and their motives are more understandable. They accidently take the life of a child, but most want to do the right thing and go to the authorities. Even the Jerk who doesn't is eventually persuaded. And Harley, the father who is the real hero AND villian of the film is much more human than his actions would suggest.

There is also a good twist at the end which I will not reveal here, only say that surprised me with it's subtlety, which is something you rarely see in a horror film that is more than 2/3 done.

Bottom line, I was pleasently surprised with Pumpkinhead. People who don't like horror films are unlikely to be impressed with it, except on a technical level because the effects and atmosphere are superb, but horror fans looking for a harmless new thrill may find it better than expected. It's smarter, wittier and deeper than the norm.

Pumpkinhead gets 6 out of 10 for technical expertise, great atmosphere and an above average story.