A film about a monster that can be called upon when backwoods folk feel they need vengeance after having been grievously wronged, Pumpkinhead has never got the acknowledgement that it truly deserves.
The story is simplistic and easy enough to understand which is a bit cookie cutter but great nonetheless. It's not drawn out and everything moves at a great pace. The actors are absolutely decent with Lance Henriksen playing Ed Harley the distraught father and best known for his role as the artificial human/robot, Bishop, in Aliens (1986). What is super great IMO are the practical effects that, while dated, still look really good today.
It's understandable that this film was overlooked seeing as how 1988 was a pretty big year for horror. Michael Myers made a comeback, we got our first introduction to Chucky and Jason made his 7th appearance. Hellraiser II, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Poltergeist III all came out with Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master being the highest grossing film in the genre. (Unless you count Bettlejuice as horror rather than comedy.) It really was up against some tough competition.
If you're a horror fan, Pumpkinhead should be on your watched list. The franchise went on to produce three additional films but they were only so-so and couldn't match the original. I don't mind suggesting this to friends or giving my fellow horror fans that have yet to add it to their watched list a hard time about it. It's simply a monster must watch.
The story is simplistic and easy enough to understand which is a bit cookie cutter but great nonetheless. It's not drawn out and everything moves at a great pace. The actors are absolutely decent with Lance Henriksen playing Ed Harley the distraught father and best known for his role as the artificial human/robot, Bishop, in Aliens (1986). What is super great IMO are the practical effects that, while dated, still look really good today.
It's understandable that this film was overlooked seeing as how 1988 was a pretty big year for horror. Michael Myers made a comeback, we got our first introduction to Chucky and Jason made his 7th appearance. Hellraiser II, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Poltergeist III all came out with Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master being the highest grossing film in the genre. (Unless you count Bettlejuice as horror rather than comedy.) It really was up against some tough competition.
If you're a horror fan, Pumpkinhead should be on your watched list. The franchise went on to produce three additional films but they were only so-so and couldn't match the original. I don't mind suggesting this to friends or giving my fellow horror fans that have yet to add it to their watched list a hard time about it. It's simply a monster must watch.