Doc Fraser(Doug Bradley)has Bunt Wallace(Douglas Roberts presenting a flawed, but sympathetic character)throw corpses his removed the skin from in the swamp as he sells the hide to others for grafting and plastic surgery. His source is a meth-maker named Lenny(Emil Hostina)who can sell the skin and other parts(like a poor live soul who makes the unfortunate mistake of crossing their path on a hike through the backwoods)such as kidneys to other lucrative clients. When the poor unfortunate soul is able, despite having his kidney removed, to run into Molly Sue(Tess Panzer, whose character is a grieving mother stuck in an unhappy marriage)traveling on the road. When Molly calls on the local fuzz, Doc's operation suffers, although he isn't unmasked as the ringleader. Those taken in are Bunt(who is often visited by the ghostly image of Lance Henriksen's Ed Harley from the first PUMPKINHEAD film;it's Bunt who told Ed about the witch in the woods..Ed serves as a type of guilty conscience for Bunt)and his meth-addicted sister(and Doc's lover)Dahlia(Lisa McAllister). They are the ones who dug up the corpses for Doc from their graves. When Molly's interference causes the finding of all the corpses, both found in a barn and in the forest, Doc has to come up with a plan to halt anyone finding out his involvement. That's the least he has to worry about, because Molly will pay a visit to the witch in the woods, along with three others including her husband's lover, Ellie(Ioana Ginghina). Seeking vengeance for her son being dug up and skinned, Molly will give over her blood marking all those involved with the grave-digging operation. The corpse of Ed Harley will be the demonic vessel used to summon Pumpkinhead to wreak havoc not only on those marked, but also anyone, innocent or otherwise, that stands in the way of that murderous goal. Will Molly's husband Oliver(Emanuel Parvu)be able to find a way, along with Ellie who regrets her decision for participating in the summoning of the monster, to stop Pumpkinhead and it's bloody rampage? Can Bunt find redemption for his past involvement with Fraser? And, will Fraser be able to kill all those who summoned Pumpkinhead before he becomes a victim?
This film is a welcome return to the franchise and seeing Bradley out of his Pinhead make-up is really neat. He's a good actor and being able to play a human monster without a disguise is fun. The cast outside of Bradley and Henriksen, who is also a welcome sight even if he's basically in it as a messenger communicating to Bunt about how vengeance and summoning evil can do no good, is forgettable and uninteresting. The monster is terrific, even if the filmmakers can not resist whipping out the CGI for some climbing sequences(particularly the church sequence). The film also wisely avoids even mentioning the sequel BLOODWINGS adopting a more serious tone and staying close to what made the first film so intriguing. It's also quite gory with the monster mangling quite a few folks who get in it's path of bloodshed.
This film is a welcome return to the franchise and seeing Bradley out of his Pinhead make-up is really neat. He's a good actor and being able to play a human monster without a disguise is fun. The cast outside of Bradley and Henriksen, who is also a welcome sight even if he's basically in it as a messenger communicating to Bunt about how vengeance and summoning evil can do no good, is forgettable and uninteresting. The monster is terrific, even if the filmmakers can not resist whipping out the CGI for some climbing sequences(particularly the church sequence). The film also wisely avoids even mentioning the sequel BLOODWINGS adopting a more serious tone and staying close to what made the first film so intriguing. It's also quite gory with the monster mangling quite a few folks who get in it's path of bloodshed.