Monster Crap Inductee: Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings (1993)

Monster Crap Inductee: Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings
They Couldn’t Leave A Good Film Alone

1993

In cinema, there are very few men whose effects you could consider legendary and would be remembered even today. One of those people was the late legendary special effects man Stan Winston.

 

His work is seen today in legendary films such as Aliens, Predator, The Terminator, Edward Scissorhands, The Monster Squad, Predator 2, Terminator 2, Batman Returns, Jurassic Park, and other films. Heck, he even did uncredited work with credited special effects man Rob Bottin in my favorite film, John Carpenter’s The Thing. But in 1988, he decided to be a director and directed a cult classic in Pumpkinhead.

 

In summary of the film, it is about some teenage kids whose antics accidentally kill the son of a farmer Tom Harley. Tom (played by Lance Henrickson) swears revenge and goes to an old witch in an attempt to exact his revenge by having her summon the monster known as Pumpkinhead. Despite her telling him that you can’t go back on this and once Pumpkinhead is out, he can’t be stopped until his goal is completed (which in this case is to kill all the kids who were responsible for his son’s death). After the kids start dying one by one at the hands of Pumpkinhead, Tom feels the horror of what he has done and tries to undo what he has done. Knowing that he can’t just have the witch undo it, he has to in the end stop Pumpkinhead by sacrificing himself to end it.

It is definitely based on the old adage of “If you are searching for revenge, dig two graves: one for the person you want revenge on and ONE FOR YOURSELF.” The script is awesome, the acting is marvelous, and the effects are masterful. Hell, if you need any convincing on effects, look at the totally not-CGI monster that is Pumpkinhead himself.

Yes, No CGI There….When People Were Running From The Monster, The Monster Was Really There

Now, Stan Winston would direct one more film called A Gnome Named Gnorm and would sadly die in 2008, but that is not what this induction is about, is it? Instead, we are talking about the sequel to this film that Stan Winston had nothing to do with (in fact, not many people from the original had anything to do with it). In 1993, filmmakers in Hollywood decided we should make a direct to video sequel of this cult classic (having to actually track down and acquire the rights to the character and series). It would be shot in 90 days on the cheap and would be directed by Jeff Burr (who had a history of being screwed by the censors in Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 and wasn’t even their original choice to direct the film as Tony Randel, the original choice, turned this down for a bigger movie that would come out in 1995 and that movie would be Fist of the North Star.

Fuck This Shitty Pumpkinhead Movie. I Would Rather Do A Shitty Live Action Adaptation Of The Ultra-Violent Anime Fist Of The North Star.

It would star Andrew Robinson (who was the father in Hellraiser, the killer in Dirty Harry, and the asshole cop who Stallone hates in Cobra). Also Andrew Robinson wasn’t the original choice to play the role as originally he had a different role that I will mention later on as Jeff Burr admits on the special feature that the original guy to play the role Andrew plays in this film was Timothy Bottoms. Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t remember Timothy Bottoms? He was in that hilariously horror movie with a schizophrenic message called Uncle Sam.

Yeah, He Was The Draft-Dodging Teacher Who Of All The Victims Was One Of The Only Two We Actually Could Sympathize With. Imagine This Guy Versus Pumpkinhead And You Realize That Andrew Robinson Was Probably A Better Choice.

It also had Ami Dolenz (the daughter of Monkies member Mickey Dolenz who before this was also in another not needed sequel in Witchboard 2), J Trevor Edmond (who was the tragic kid whose girlfriend turned into a zombie in Return of the Living Dead III), Alexander Polinsky (Adam Powell in Charles In Charge), Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs in Dallas), Gloria Hendry (CIA Agent Rosie Carver in Live And Let Die), Lilyan Chauvin (Mother Superior in Silent Night, Deadly Night), R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface in Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), Linnea Quigley (Trash from The Return of the Living Dead), and Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees in 4 Friday The 13^th films). But perhaps the most intriguing for a lot of people was Soleil Moon Frye, who was Punky Brewster. She also a year before underwent a breast reduction because she suffered from gigantomastia, which makes your breasts abnormally huge.

 

Now, why would people want to see a grown up Punky Brewster in a low budget horror movie. Well, she grew up into this.

Yeah, She Grew Up Into Someone Very Attractive

Now of course, I will mention the Monster Crap alumni who are in this film before and after this film. We have Kane Hodder (Friday The 13^th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason X, & Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College) and Ed Anders (Alone In The Dark & Seed).

Now I think you all know that this movie is supposedly bad, but did you know that there was also a computer game released two years later based on this film called Blood Wings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge?  Well, there was and if you know…The Spoony One covered that on his internet review show The Spoony Experiment. He even said that this film was awful, but never went full review on the film so let’s talk about this film and see why this was a sequel that spit on Stan Winston’s legacy.

We begin this film with some opening credits which are generic, but it is still better than the credits being in the middle of the movie because those take you out of the film a bit.

 

And then we have an explosion.

Jesus Christ!

Kane aka Glen Jacobs, you better have had nothing to do with this.

 

Okay…was not expecting the first shot after the credits (which did reveal a red V that will play later into the film) to be an explosion.

It transitions to flames and the shot turns black in white because guess what folks, we are in the 1950s.

1958 to be exact

This old blind lady (named Miss Osie) comes out with a plate of food which she gives to a deformed orphan named Tommy.

 

Unfortunately for Tommy, while he is eating, some punk ass college kids come up in a convertible.

 

These kids decide it would be fun to chase Tommy to an abandoned mine shaft. Miss Osie feels Tommy is in trouble and despite being blind, tries to go after him. But unfortunately she doesn’t get far as the kids catch Tommy. They beat Tommy up with the bats they have (that for some reason Miss Osie can feel as well). They string Tommy up to some chains with a hook and hang him over the shaft.

 

Then the leader of these punks produces a switch knife and starts cutting up Tommy (again Miss Osie feels pain) until the deformed kid is dead.

 

They then drop Tommy into the hole that you never see the bottom of so you can safely say he is dead. The kids leave laughing and then we go back to color to signify that it is in fact now the present.

 

We meet newly appointed Sheriff Sean Braddock and his wife as he is getting dressed.

 

The woman who is his wife is actually played Carin Kaye, who if you were in the 70s, might know her as the star of a film called My Tutor (I was born in 1984 so I wasn’t one of them).

Sean is very happy to be here as there is no pollution or traffic (which I guess means they used to live in the big city). During their conversation, we learn that they have a daughter named Jenny, she and her father don’t talk much (they actually debate), and she apparently got in trouble in the city that they hope she doesn’t get into in this town.

We then meet Jenny, who is met by some new friends who help her ditch school.

She Is The Blonde Girl

We then head to the sheriff’s office where we see Braddock and we meet Judge Dixon and Ernst.

 

And remember that thing about Andrew Robinson’s original role in the film. Well, while Timothy Bottoms was supposed to be the sheriff, Andrew Robinson was supposed to be Judge Dixon. But since Timothy never showed up to set, Andrew had to become the sheriff and Steve Kanaly (whose original role was I don’t know) was made the judge. Ernst is upset that the fee for a hunting license has gone up to ten dollars (which wasn’t the way things were with the old sheriff) and Dixon tells him that Sean has nothing to do with the raising of the price. The judge also calls Ernst “Slick”, something that Ernst says he hated then and he hates now, so Dixon and Ernst obviously have a past together. The judge says he is glad he picked Dixon to be sheriff as he seems like the guy who just wants to make the right things work in this town.

Sean has to go to the mandatory physical where he meets Dr. Delilah Pettibone, who gives him his necessary physical.

 

We then meet Mayor Bubba, who likes to introduce himself to the new hired hands in his town.

 

For those of you who do not know, that is Roger Clinton, brother of the 42^nd President of the United States Bill Clinton.

 

Bill was in his first year of presidency when this film was made and the filmmakers thought it would be very ironic that Roger would be playing a mayor of this town named Bubba (Bill Clinton’s nickname). He isn’t that bad in this film and since he is basically a musician, he did play the theme to the ending credits.

Anyway, Mayor Bubba grabs his guitar and leaves to play a gig. But before he does, he asks Sean how the town has been treating him. Sean says it has been fine so far and it is the same little town as it was when he was growing up. Bubba then warns him that he might want to be careful since this town may not be big like New York City, but it also isn’t very little either and he also warns him to watch for his daughter because it would be a shame if she ended up with the wrong crowd.

Then we head to where Jenny and the group hang out, which is the same abandoned mine shaft from earlier. It is here where we really know the group.

That Is Paul, The Groups Loner And Stoner

That Is Marcie (Brunette) and Peter. These Two Are In Love

And That Is Danny, Son Of Judge Dixon

These kids drink beer and smoke pot so you know this is definitely the wrong crowd for Jenny to be hanging out with. Danny makes his move on Jenny by forcing a kiss from her after swinging across the shaft.

 

Unfortunately for them, Jenny’s dad Sean shows up and is not too happy to see that she decided to ditch school on her first day. He has everyone leave the abandoned mine shaft since there is no trespassing in this area (otherwise he would have to cite them for trespassing. He also picks up Jenny and takes her home, much to her dismay.

After arriving home, Jenny tells her father that first he tells her to make friends and then doesn’t like the friends she has made. Typical teenage bullcrap, you know. Sean then warns her that those kids are trouble and he doesn’t want what happened in the big city to happen here. He then has her promise to not hang out with those kids anymore and she reluctantly agrees (which is a promise she definitely will not keep). Like I said, usual teenage stuff.

That night, Jenny sneaks out of the house and hangs out with the friends that she was told not to hang out with. As they drive in the convertible, they decide to play dangerously by turning the headlights off. Unfortunately when they turn the lights back on, they hit an older Miss Osie.

 

Miss Osie crawls away as the kids look for her hoping not to get in trouble for their actions. Marcie says that some folks say that Miss Osie is a witch and Danny is upset that the woman made a dent in his car. They then go to the place she lives (an old house) and they notice the strange graveyard.

 

They enter the house and find a model of the graveyard outside and a piece of cloth that looks like a page from the Book of Shadows.

 

Marcie reveals that this is basically a spell to bring back the dead. They also find a vial of blood and decide in their teenage delinquency to try and have fun by raising the dead. Miss Osie shows up and tells them to leave now.

Of Course She Looks Nothing Like Or Sounds Nothing Like The Witch From The Original Film

There is a very good reason for that. That reason is the filmmakers decided “Fuck the original continuity, we just can put Pumpkinhead in any film since we have the rights.” In fact, the script for this film was not even originally supposed to be for Pumpkinhead, but the vengeful son coming back from the dead to take revenge on the people who killed him and these kids for reasons you will see later. They decided to add Pumpkinhead into the film for no reason other than to be a Pumpkinhead film and added the pain telepathy crap that comes also with Pumpkinhead when he kills. You’ll see some other BS that if you remember the original film, will make no sense in context.

Anyway, the kids try to leave, but the old lady wants them to return the page and the vial of blood. In a struggle for the blood vial, Danny hits the old lady with the flashlight. The group doesn’t know what he did and he doesn’t tell them and leaves. As they leave to continue the ritual because “hey, it’s fun”, Miss Osie decides to curse every single one of them with the vengeance of Pumpkinhead.

The group heads to the graveyard and begins the ritual. They dig up the grave and find a Tommy’s rotting corpse.

Looking Like It Is About To Sing In An Opera

They pour the blood and read the incantation from the page, as Jenny leaves, upset over all of this crap. The spell appears to be a dud to them and they are disappointed. Meanwhile, Miss Osie tries to grab a book, but knocks over a candle which starts a fire.

 

Jenny notices the house is on fire and tries to get the others to help her save Miss Osie, but of course thanks to Danny the Douche (his new nickname from me), they decide to leave thinking that she already got out. Basically, the group leaves the witch to burn. But while leaving, they don’t find out that the spell actually worked and now Tommy has come back to life as Pumpkinhead.

 

The next day, Sean and his deputies inspect what is left of Miss Osie’s house. A nurse named Maurine reveals that the Miss Osie did survive the fire, but she is really just clinging to life and they don’t know how long she will have left to live. Oh and for some fun, look at this scarecrow.

I Only Mention This Because In The Director’s Commentary, Jeff Burr Admits That This Was A Hint To One Of His Next Films, Which Would Be Night Of The Scarecrow, A Terrible Movie That Even He Admits Had Worse Looking Scarecrows Than This Still Scarecrow Here.

The gang are back at the abandoned mine shaft and Danny the Douche apologizes for what happened and explains that they were just having some fun. Jenny is not happy that it turned out the old woman was still in the house and Marcie is not happy either, but Danny the Douche forces everyone in the party to keep their mouths shut about what happened as nobody is going to get wise as to their involvement.

Back at the Sheriff’s Office, Ernst comes in asking for his money back as he is not happy about the fire. And apparently, Ernst says that the kids don’t know what they have done, messing with old Miss Osie and may have just unleashed Satan himself. Sean wonders about what he was talking about and Ernst reveals that he saw the house fire and some kids in a convertible rumbling by. Sean gives him back the ten dollars, saying he doesn’t want any unhappy hunters out there, but Ernst says that he isn’t the hunter anymore, he is the hunted because “it” is back and nobody is safe until “it” gets what “it” has come for. Sean stops him and asks what he is talking about, but Ernst just says that he should ask the judge or mayor about it since they are the smart ones and he is just a dumb ole farmer.

Danny the Douche starts cleaning the red convertible as Sean decides to give him a visit. He starts questioning Sean about the dent and asks if he would know anything about what happened with the fire last night. Danny explains that he knows nothing about what happened and explains that the dent is from hitting the dog. Now look at the dent.

 

Unless the dog was a Great Dane or a Mastiff, that dent isn’t coming from a dog.

My Dog Definitely Would Not Be Able To Make That Type Of Dent

Even the sheriff doesn’t buy this.

Boy, You Are A Lying Son Of A Bitch With That Story

The judge comes out and Danny tells him that he was just telling Sean how he was studying all last night and of course, the judge knows this is bullshit, but he protects his son by going with his story and says that his son is quite the student. Sean leaves as Judge Dixon looks at his son and asks if he did anything he wasn’t supposed to last night. Danny says that Sean is just pissed because he is seeing his daughter and his father reminds him that he is currently on probation, which he had a hell of a time arranging. Dixon finally tells Danny that if he screws up one more time, he can’t cover for him, which Danny responds that he can take care of himself.

In the hospital bed, Miss Osie realizes that it is happening again as “it” is coming. It of course being Pumpkinhead, decides to pay old Ernst a visit.

 

Ernst is getting prepared for it in his meat locker, but he is too late as Pumpkinhead shows up and starts beating the shit out of him.

 

He throws Ernst into a hook and rips him to pieces while Miss Osie feels the pain.

 

I will say one thing and that is the effects for the monster and the gore effects when you see them are damn impressive for a low budget movie made in 90 days. And you can thank the people at KNB Effects Group for doing them.

Anyway, transition to day and the sheriff, his deputies, and Delilah are looking over the mangled body of Ernst.

Let’s Just Say Pumpkinhead Did A Number On Ernst Here

Delilah talks about working at the New Orleans Coroner’s Office before coming here and she has seen some real hamburger meat in her days, but nothing like this. Sean admits that the Manhattan dumpsters have nothing on this and takes out an old outdated camera to take pictures.

To Be Fair, This Was Made And Set In 1993 So That Camera Is Definitely Appropriate For That Time Period.

Judge Dixon thinks that it was a wildcat that did Ernst in as Ernst had been bitching about them coming down from the hills and killing his chickens. Delilah says that there isn’t much to tell about what happened until she takes his body to the lab, or what is left of it. They also noticed a bloody V sprayed on the walls, which intrigues everyone.

 

Judge decides that he is going to get a posse out to hunt the thing down. Sean says the last thing he needs is a trigger happy posse that thinks everything that moves is a wildcat. Sean then mentions that Ernst told him that something was coming back to revenge. Dixon says that while he doesn’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but Ernst was just a scared old boy with a head full of rats and then the judge leaves.

Back at Sean’s house, Delilah comes in to give her autopsy report. She talks about how Ernst was messed up before showing striations on the wall that match the ones that were left on Miss Osie’s house so whatever killed Ernst was at Miss Osie’s place. This causes Jenny to drop a plate in shock. When asked what happens, Jenny apologizes and jumps when the phone rings. Jenny answers the phone and it is Danny the Douche, asking if she can come over. Jenny says that she can’t because now is not a good time with everything that has happened. Danny asks if she told her father what they did and Jenny says no, but she thinks her father is starting to put things together. She says something strange is happening and Danny tells her to not worry about as he talked to his father and nothing will happen to her.

At the table, Sean’s wife looks at the picture and questions whether their theory that an animal might have done this is believable. Delilah says that if it was an animal, it was an animal not of this world.

Aliens…

When asked what she thinks did it, Delilah talks about the old legend that some people believe about Pumpkinhead. She says that the old saying goes that if you have been wronged, you can conjure Pumpkinhead to get revenge in your name, but if you do, you will be damned for all eternity. Sean says that he has also heard of this legend and says that there is a nursery rhyme and it goes:

Bolted doors and windows barred,

Guard dogs prowling the yard,
Won’t protect you in your bed,
Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead.

Well, yes that poem (not a nursery rhyme) does exist as it was a poem from Ed Justin, but that was only the ending of the poem. Here is the whole poem.

Keep away from Pumpkinhead,

Unless you’re tired of living,
His enemies are mostly dead,
He’s mean and unforgiving,
Laugh at him and you’re undone
But in some dreadful fashion,
Vengeance, he considers fun,
And plans it with a passion,
Time will not erase or blot,
A plot that he has brewing,

It’s when you think that he’s forgot,

He’ll conjure your undoing,
Bolted doors and windows barred,
Guard dogs prowling the yard,
Won’t protect you in your bed,
Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead.

Creepy poem, huh? Probably should have read the whole thing, Sean, instead of just the end.

Anyway, Jenny hears about all of this and is now more terrified than ever about what will happen to her and her friends.

I’m Screwed…

That night, Jenny has a dream about Danny the Douche showing up at her bed, which is now somehow in the middle of the woods.

At Least This Film Doesn’t Try To Make You Think It Is Real Life And Then Reveal This Is Just A Dream. This Film Just Flat Out Says That What You Are Seeing Is A Dream.

They start making out and Jenny wakes up. She then finds that the bed is still there and sees Pumpkinhead.

 

She wakes up from that nightmare in a sweat, but is thankful that it was all just a horrible dream.

Meanwhile Pumpkinhead goes back on the prowl for his next victim. His next victims are Red Byers who is cheating on his wife with Nadine.

That Is Of Course TCM3 Leatherface R.A. Mihailoff and scream queen Linnea Quigley. Jeez…You Wonder Why R.A. Took This Gig.

By The Way, I Have Linnea Quigley’s Autograph In My Autograph Album

Nadine looks for cigarettes and Red reveals that there is more out in the truck so she goes out in the truck to get them.

I Guess I Should Mention The Fun Story That Both R.A. Mihailoff and Jeff Burr Have About This Film Where R.A. Said That He Was Willing To Show His Bare Ass And Jeff Saying That Would Be Too Terrifying To Show In An R-Rated Film.

Anyway, Miss Osie starts feeling pain and Pumpkinhead attacks Red.

No More Sleeping With Linnea Quigley For You, Mister!!!

Pumpkinhead then kill Red like he did Ernst, only this time with Nadine witnessing all of it and deciding to go all Bane on him and break is damn back.

No, He Did Not Fuck His Ass To Make Him Humble The Ol’ Country Way Like WWE Hall of Famer Iron Shiek Would Do. And He Does Not Do The Same Thing To Nadine Either

Fucking Bullshit…

I know, Iron Shiek…I know.

Moving on, Sean gets a call about the attack and goes to investigate. At Red Byers place, the V’s show up again and Sean reveals that they are wings, but he doesn’t know what it all means. Of course it is revealed that it seems that Red Byers as a mailman, stole more mail than he delivered with all these colored TVs he has stocked up. Sean wonders what all of the victims have in common and Delilah mentions that Ernst and Red haven’t spoken to each other in years. They find a key to a safe deposit box, but Delilah says that probably won’t help finding the killer, but she has something that might. She has done a field test and all the blood is Type-O (probably Byers’ blood), except for one slide which might be the killer’s blood. They hear a noise, go to investigate, and find a scared as hell Nadine who has been hiding this whole time.

 

They subdue Nadine and give her a sedative to calm her down. They reveal that whatever Nadine saw scared her so badly that her mind has basically shut down and it is one step away from being scared to death. Yeah, they are probably not going to be able to get any information out of her.

Sean goes into town and is accosted by townsfolk who say that people are saying that the killer is some type of monster. He of course finds a bunch of men with rifles who say they are there at the behest of the judge. Yes, Judge Dixon has called for a posse to find whatever is out there killing people and of course Sean is not too happy about this. The judge tries to justify his actions, but Sean says that as long as he is sheriff, they are going to do things his way.

We then go to a place where the red convertible is parked as Jenny is making out with Danny the Douche. Jenny pushes him off and says that she doesn’t feel in the mood with another killing that happened last night. She also says that her dad thinks it might have something to do with what happened at Miss Osie’s place. Danny asks if she said anything and Jenny says that she didn’t say anything, but she is thinking maybe she should. Danny says that she is nuts and that if she says anything, they are going to the slammer, but Jenny believes that if they say the fire was an accident, they might get off. Danny says that she should stop worrying as he is going to take care of everything. Car horns are being heard and Jenny says that she better go, but before she leaves, Danny tells her that they are all getting together at his place and Jenny says she will come.

The car is of course not her dad, but instead Peter with Marcie and Paul. Peter saw Jenny talking and is convinced that Jenny wants to rat them out. Danny says that he is out of line and Marcie reveals that she was at the principal’s office. There was some files on his desk and one of them was Jenny’s. She reveals that it seems that Jenny got into some trouble at her old school as she and her friends stole a teacher’s car and got caught. Peter then reveals that Jenny was the only one who wasn’t charged and Paul says that she squealed to her old man. Danny says just because her old man pulled a few strings and got her out of trouble, it doesn’t mean she squealed on anyone. They then talk about Pumpkinhead and Marcie thinks that the body they dug up might be Pumpkinhead. Danny doesn’t believe this and to prove his point, he plans on taking them out there and showing them that nothing crawled out of that box.

Sean and his wife go through the safety deposit box that Red Byers have and find a few things. They find newspaper clippings about a deformed boy named Tommy running wild in the hills and Sean talks about the old crap about people believing him to be a monster who if he caught you alone, would rip your heart out and eat it in front of you as you die. Sean says that all those stories that they said were not true because when he was a kid, he came face to face with Tommy.

We then transition to when Sean going to the abandoned mine shaft because the last time he played there, he left a toy fire ruck there. When he got to the shaft, he saw Tommy playing with his fire truck.

 

Tommy accidentally dropped it into the shaft and tried to get it, but he nearly fell into the shaft. Little Sean grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him out of the shaft, saving him from a deadly fall.

 

Back to the present, Sean reveals that Tommy was just a little boy just like him, grateful that he had saved his life. Sean and his parents moved away shortly after that and he never saw Tommy again. He then shows a newspaper article and says according to it, Tommy hung himself. Um….bullshit. What about the number of knife wounds that was on Tommy? You wouldn’t be able to hide that shit. Sean’s wife said that she thinks something is suspicious because why would a retired postman keep newspaper clippings about a deformed kid who died 35 years ago.

Sean goes to Delilah to talk about the death of Tommy and needs to see the coroner’s report. Delilah says that she can get them, but it will take some time. Sean says to do it and then Delilah says that she did a blood analysis of the other blood done at Red Byers’ place and she has never seen blood like this before. She says that whatever is doing the killing is unlike anything she has ever known. Sean asks if she is starting to believe the Pumpkinhead stories and the doctor says she doesn’t know what to believe. All she knows is that it isn’t any animal and it isn’t human.

The mayor then appears and Sean tells him that he is doing everything he can about the murders. The mayor believes him, but he must have heard the talk about Pumpkinhead. Sean asks if he believes that and the mayor says of course not, but a lot of folks do…a lot of tourists. Yes, the mayor has decided that creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snowman, and Bigfoot all make big business for their area so why don’t they make some money off Pumpkinhead. Sean is outraged by this, saying that people have died here and of course, the mayor has this line.

Bubba: Tragedy, ain’t it?

Bubba then reveals that the budget of this town is also a tragedy. Sean is so outraged by this attempted exploitation that he leaves. Bubba yells that he wants that creature, dead or alive.

Meanwhile, Danny the Douche takes his friends (sans Jenny) to the gravesite and what do you know? The body isn’t there. Paul freaks out and says that he told Danny that they shouldn’t have done it. Danny says that this means nothing and Peter says that it means something as the body is gone, meaning to him that the spell worked. Danny is adamant that you cannot raise the dead and Peter comes back with a response, telling him that he better tell that to whatever was buried there. Marcie wants to tell somebody and this pisses Danny off, who threatens her to keep her mouth shut. He also says that there is a good explanation for this and until they do, they say nothing. Danny then reveals that they will all get together at his place.

That night, we are at an illegal cockfighting operation run by Brian and Keith Knox.

I Have Kane Hodder’s Autograph And That's Me Hanging Out With Him

They see a deaf and mute woman and Brian are not happy about her looking at a rooster. Brian grabs her and treats her like crap and Keith gets him off her. Keith then reveals that it is their baby sister. Brian then reveals that he isn’t the one sleeping with her, signaling that Keith is into some incest. Some older guy freaks out wondering what is going on as wind is picking up and light bulbs start flashing,

That Is Fred Knox

And guess who has decided to crash the party.

I Came Here To Kick Ass And Eat Eggs…And I See You Don't Have Any Eggs

Pumpkinhead knocks Brian into a chicken cage where the roosters in there peck him to death.

 

It then knocks Fred down and stomps a mudhole on him.

 

Finally, Pumpkinhead goes after Keith and does the same thing he does to Fred.

 

Pumpkinhead sees the mute girl hiding behind a tub and we fast forward to her on a hospital bed, just as messed up as Nadine was.

 

Delilah reveals that she was driving home and she picked the mute girl up off the side of the road, half crazed. She reveals that the mute girl worked with the Knox brothers as she was their sister. Delilah says that she is deaf and mute so they won’t be getting anything out of her about what she saw. Delilah does reveal that there is something that might be able to help them which is the red V’s scratched onto the Knox brother’s jacket pieces. Sean believes there is a pattern between all of them. He doesn’t know what the pattern is, but he believes it all has to do with these marks left on all the crime scenes. He believes that if they figure who is next, they can get there first to stop it.

Sean spends the entire night reading books and speaking into his recorder about what he knows. His wife comes to him with a sweater that Jenny had on the other night that smells like smoke, which confirms his suspicion that she was at Miss Osie’s place. Sean is not happy because she is doing this trouble stuff all over again. Delilah comes in with the coroner’s report. It shows that there were contusions and cuts that are more consistent with a murder then a suicide. The hanging suicide was a cover up and that the body was claimed by Miss Osie. She buried him at the grave near her place and tended to it ever since.

So Sean and Delilah go to interview Miss Osie about Tommy’s murder and what happened at her place when it caught fire. Unfortunately they arrive too late as it seems that Miss Osie passed away just now. They are not happy as it was their only lead into what is going on. But suddenly the door closes and Miss Osie returns from the dead.

 

Miss Osie says that it is too late to help her, but it is not too late to help the others. When Sean asks about the others, Miss Osie says that they are the ones he is going to kill. Sean asks who pulled her from the fire and she says that Tommy did. She says that before she died, she was the guardian of Tommy’s soul. She says that Tommy’s mother was nothing special, but his father was Pumpkinhead.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they are implying that Pumpkinhead had sex with a woman and gave birth to Tommy. Now here is the problem with that. In the original film, Pumpkinhead was nothing more than a monster made out of the corpse of the last person who summoned it. Pumpkinhead does not have sex when it is in that form. This film is implying that not only is Pumpkinhead a male, but that Pumpkinhead fathered a child. That is where I see that this was not a Pumpkinhead script originally and Pumpkinhead was just shoehorned in to make it part of the series. Hell, in the documentary, the producers themselves admitted that they took an unused script and just put Pumpkinhead in it.

Back to the movie, long story short….Tommy is now the Pumpkinhead that is killing everyone. She reveals that the ultimate vengeance is the vengeance for your own soul and he is killing all of those who killed him those years ago.

Punishment Is Absolute

She reveals that all of them men when they were boys had red wings on them. She says six, but there have only been five victims so they ask who the sixth is. Miss Osie continues that after he has killed the six people with the red wings, he will go after the kids that burned her. Sean pleads with Miss Osie to help them and tell them how to stop Tommy Pumpkinhead. Miss Osie hands Sean an amulet from around her neck and says that the amulet may help them. After thunder, lightning, a small earthquake, and Pumpkinhead somewhere else screaming, Miss Osie goes back to her death.

To Sean, the red wings Miss Osie mentioned before she went back to death seemed familiar to him. So they look at all the yearbooks from the town’s history and they find The Red Wings were a club in the year 1955 and it turns out all of the people killed were members of this group and all of them are now dead except for one person. That final person is Merle Dixon aka Judge Dixon.

 

We then go to the red corvette and we see that Danny has taken Jenny for the meeting at his house, where all of the other friends are already there. Judge Dixon stops Danny before he goes in and notices that Danny has a case of beer. Of course the Judge freaking ignores this because his son is special to him. In fact, the Judge says that he has them all set up in a cabin by the house. In fact, when Jenny says she is cold, Danny gets her his dad’s old jacket.

At the cabin, Peter tells Danny that they need to talk. Marcie reveals that Miss Osie died today which means that if they get caught, they can now be charged with murder. Danny still says that the fire was still just an accident so they can’t be charged with murder. Paul then reveals that he knows Danny clobbered her with a candle before leaving and that could be considered murder. Danny tries to proclaim innocence, but Paul says he saw him do it. Jenny now believes Paul that Danny is lying and now says that it doesn’t matter because they are all guilty. Her idea is of course confess to her dad and Paul says that she is right. Danny punches Paul and as the friends check on him, Danny proves my nickname for him by producing a gun.

What A Douche…

Danny orders everyone on the couch and says no one is going anywhere tonight. Meanwhile, we see that Sean and Delilah are heading to the Judge’s place to hopefully save and arrest him. Also the Judge has called the posse he set up earlier to hopefully come and protect him because he thinks is life is in danger as well. Dixon goes into another room and sees all the red V’s that are supposed to be wings painted on his wall and I will have to say this to fans of a certain 1980 cult movie.

This House Was Also The Same Place Used As A Motel In Motel Hell

Of course, we have a problem with this film involving the suit used for the monster. You see, the suit of course with the fake claw feet was very hard to move in and a lot of times to move like Pumpkinhead did in the original (which used wire work, something they couldn’t afford), the guy in the suit had to for the most part wear sneakers to move around. Now of course that is fine, since most of the shots with him wearing the sneakers were shot so you done where you couldn’t see the sneakers. But there were sadly some scenes, they were not so smart and this scene where Pumpkinhead kicks down the door is definitely the most obvious.

 

This was actually made a joke of in the Pumpkinhead computer game as if you got the best ending for it, you got to see Pumpkinhead in dancing shoes, tap dancing.

Credit To FreddyInSpace.Com For Taking The Pic

Anyway, Pumpkinhead attacks the judge.

 

Judge Dixon recognizes Pumpkinhead in his daze as Tommy and says that it can’t be him for obvious reasons. And then Pumpkinhead finishes off the judge by crushing his head.

 

Meanwhile, Danny is still holding all his friends at gunpoint and hears all the roars. He decides to force Paul at gunpoint to go get the car so they can run. Paul goes to the car to get it ready, but before he can start it, Pumpkinhead gets him in an offscreen death.

We Only Get This Red Vision As The Last Time We See Paul Alive

The power goes out and Danny grabs a lantern, wondering where the fuck is Paul. Pumpkinhead decides to throw Paul’s corpse through one of the cabin’s windows.

No Doubt If Pumpkinhead Could Speak English, He Would Say, “Here's Paul”.

They all scream and run out of the cabin. The crew then splits up with Danny and Jenny in one group and Marcie and Peter in the other. Marcie trips and is killed by Pumpkinhead while Peter watches in horror.

Well, Pumpkinhead Can At Least Say He Poked An Adult Punky Brewster

Peter tries to charge at Pumpkinhead for killing his girlfriend and ends up dead as well.

Well, The Two Did Die Together

Sean and Delilah arrive and they reveal that they have found Judge Dixon and Paul dead. Sean knows that Jenny is out there so he goes to try and protect her. The posse also arrives to look for the killer as well.

 

Pumpkinhead finds Danny and Jenny and Danny pushes Jenny out of the way so he can start firing his gun at Pumpkinhead. Yeah, Pumpkinhead rips Danny’s head off.

Fatality!

Sean finally shows up to protect Jenny and tries to reason with Pumpkinhead at the abandoned mine shaft. Sean puts the gun away, calls Pumpkinhead Tommy and produces the necklace. He says to Pumpkinhead that his job is done as he has avenged his own murder and he has punished those who hurt Osie, but his daughter had nothing to do with it. He also reveals that he saved his life once and Pumpkinhead remembers him as the kid who saved him. Sean also says that Jenny is his daughter. Pumpkinhead finally decides not to kill her.

Well, You Did Say “Please”

Sean thanks the monster for saving his daughter when the posse finally shows up. The posse shoots Pumpkinhead, despite Sean’s pleas for them not to. Pumpkinhead gets shot enough and hangs onto the chains, reminiscent of Tommy’s murder.

 

Oh and in some shots, we see a string for Pumpkinhead’s arm as he is hanging on the chain.

 

Also reminiscent of Tommy’s murder, someone drops Pumpkinhead into the mine shaft causing an explosion while the posse celebrates and the sheriff looks on sad.

 

To be fair on the weak ass explosion, they actually planned for a bigger explosion, but the explosion just turned out like that and they couldn’t afford to do another one so…oh well.

The next day, Sean and Jenny stand over the mine shaft where Pumpkinhead was buried and workers are now closing off permanently. Jenny apologizes for everything and reveals that her mother told her everything about him saving Tommy when he was a kid. She says that Pumpkinhead didn’t kill her because Tommy trusted him. As they leave, they notice something near the mine, covered in the bushes.

It Was The Fire Truck That Fell Into The Shaft Years Ago

Yep…the film ends with them knowing that Tommy’s mystical spirit is at rest and that the fire truck that he accidentally dropped into the shaft has been returned to its rightful owner. Also Roger Clinton’s song for the film plays over the closing credits.

The film did make money for the Direct To Video market, which you can say about any of those movies. However, there would not be another Pumpkinhead sequel until 2006 and that was one of those Direct to Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) sequels. We’ll get to those sequels eventually since I do own the first one.

As for the cast and crew, most of them didn’t go on to huge success, which is normal for these movies. And here are the people who did stuff of note

·       Andrew Robinson (who played Sean) did mostly TV work after this (most notably as the recurring character Elin Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) before retiring from acting in 2005 and is currently the Director of The Master of Fine Arts Acting program at USC.

·       Ami Dolenz (who played Jenny) did more small time gigs in films and TV until 1998, where she took a four year hiatus and has since been in independent films. She also manages KidPix Productions with her husband (martial artist Jerry Trimble), a company that stages birthday parties for children as movie shoots; performs with the Write Act Repertory Theatre; and co-owns (with her mother) Bluebell Boutique, an internet custom jewelry store.

·       Soleil Moon Frye (who played Marcie) guest-starred in TV series like The Wonder Years, Saved By The Bell, and Friends and voiced characters for Tiny Toons Adventures  and The Cartoon Cartoon Show during the 90s. In 2000-2003, she played Roxie King in Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, working with longtime friend and show producer Melissa Joan Hart. In 1998, she married TV producer Jason Goldberg and has three kids with him. She has directed two films (one of which (Sonny Boy) won Best Documentary at the San Diego Film Festival. She opened (along with two friends) The Little Seed, an environmentally-conscious children’s boutique in LA; launched the “Better Together” campaign for Gain (with Melissa Joan Hart); wrote a book (Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures for Inbetween); and hosts a web series (Her Say)a blog on her official website, both of which deal with women’s issues and parenting.

·       J. Trevor Edmond (who played Danny) retired from acting in 1999, although he was featured in The Return of the Living Dead documentary called More Brains! The Return of the Living Dead, released in 2011

·       Hill Harper (who played Peter) in 2004-2013 played Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on CSI:NY and is currently a member of Obama for America National Finance Committee because while he may be a fiscal conservative, he and the current President of the United States were good buddies at Harvard.

·       Alexander Polinsky (who played Paul) went to voice acting for such shows as Ben 10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Teen Titans, Transformers Animated, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He is also a mold maker at a movie prop design studio.

·       Stan Kanaly (who played Judge Dixon) has appeared in the new incarnation of Dallas as Ray Krebbs (most notably in the episode involving JR Ewing’s funeral). He was also in All My Children from 1994-1995 as Seabone Hunkle. Also, he is a highly regarded watercolor artist.

·       Lilyan Chauvin (who played Miss Osie) guest starred in such shows as The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Friends, Alias, Malcolm in the Middle, and Ugly Betty. She also became a very sought after acting and directing coach. Sadly on June 26, 2008, she died at her Studio City home at the age of 82 after a long battle with breast cancer complicated by congestive heart failure.

·       Caren Kaye (who played Sean’s wife) retired from acting in 1993. She earned a Master’s and Doctorate’s in Psychology.

·       J.P. Manoux (who played Tommy) played the mime in EuroTrip, played recurring surgical resident Dustin Crenshaw in two of the later seasons of ER, and currently works on a CTV sitcom called Spun Out

·       Kane Hodder (who played Keith Knox) still did two more film roles as Jason Voorhees. He also is Victor Crowley in the Hatchet trilogy.

·       John Gatins (who played the younger Dixon at the beginning) has become a writer and has written such films as Coach Carter, Real Steel, and Flight. He currently did the story for the upcoming Need For Speed film. He also directed a very good 2005 film about a horse who returned from injury to win the Breeder's Cup Classic (based on the true story of Mariah's Storm) called Dreamer.

My personal opinion of the film is this would be a decent film, if it wasn’t a Pumpkinhead film. The effects for the most part are there for what little they had. The acting is okay actually. But the problems come when you put continuity into the mix as this film has Pumpkinhead be a father (even though that is basically impossible), nothing from the first film is ever brought into this one, and basically the gaffes while small are really noticeable. This film is such a stain on the series that the sequels disregard it as part of the continuity (although we’ll get to how ironic that is when we get to the sequels).

However, I will say that I actually appreciate this film for having the common courtesy for explaining the film in a director’s commentary and a featurette talking about the making of the film. How many times do I have to mention that I actually appreciate someone taking the time to explain to me the process for making a bad film and not BS me (like The Fog remake director’s commentary did) or try to force me to buy the move to know what happened (like The Thing prequel did)? Trying to make it harder for the reviewer to find information on your film doesn’t help you, it hurts you in the end.

Well, since March is coming up, I already know which film is next since NegaSeth sent me an email from wherever he is vacationing at to tell me it’s the same as the last two March inductions so here it is.

Yep…Our Leprechaun Goes To Las Vegas.