May. 2nd, 2009
You know what's weird?
I actually like the Pumpkinhead series. The original, the cult classic, is the first one I saw. It was both horrifying and hysterical. One of those movies where you can't look away, want to laugh, want to scream... jeez, it's just great. I've also seen Blood Wings, which was sort of unmemorable but not bad, and I just finished watching Ashes to Ashes, which was, well... they decided to do a CG monster instead of a guy in a suit, and that was a mistake. But the music and cinematography were still scary, and extremely Silent Hill-inspired, so I still enjoyed it. And now I'm watching Blood Feud. Which means by the time I finish Blood Feud, I will have seen them all.
It's a concept that really appeals to me - Pumpkinhead is the community monster (demon, for the religious types that populate these movies - often as hypocrites) who lives on rage, and it gets summoned by people who are trying to right some perceived injustice - with the help of the very haggard, very voudou witch of the woods. Simple. Now before you start calling Pumpkinhead the next Crow, just don't, because Pumpkinhead is not some film-noir-wannabe with goth makeup and all that b.s. Pumpkinhead is set in the boondocks of America, not to put too fine a point on it. Blood Feud is actually about the Hatfields and McCoys (ha!). This is Pumpkinhead. He ain't pretty. And instead of a standard-fare revenge extravaganza, the Pumpkinhead series actually deals with the complications of vengeance, grief, and rage. I may be exaggerating Pumpkinhead's moral, uh, philosophies, but... Pumpkinhead is something special. For example, vengeance is always undertaken for a crime that would qualify as manslaughter, not murder. It always hurts innocents. Then of course there's this: "The secret of course is that the person who called Pumpkinhead into action becomes the next Pumpkin." Well, either that or it'll eat your soul.
Witch: What you're asking for has a name.
Ricky: Pumpkinhead.
Witch: That.
update: oh shit, Blood Feud has a goo-ood Pumpkinhead. Seriously, whoever makes these movies... god-damn. The series is 10x as good as the average Sci-Fi Saturday movie because whoever makes them clearly has a healthy respect for the monster and the plot.
I actually like the Pumpkinhead series. The original, the cult classic, is the first one I saw. It was both horrifying and hysterical. One of those movies where you can't look away, want to laugh, want to scream... jeez, it's just great. I've also seen Blood Wings, which was sort of unmemorable but not bad, and I just finished watching Ashes to Ashes, which was, well... they decided to do a CG monster instead of a guy in a suit, and that was a mistake. But the music and cinematography were still scary, and extremely Silent Hill-inspired, so I still enjoyed it. And now I'm watching Blood Feud. Which means by the time I finish Blood Feud, I will have seen them all.
It's a concept that really appeals to me - Pumpkinhead is the community monster (demon, for the religious types that populate these movies - often as hypocrites) who lives on rage, and it gets summoned by people who are trying to right some perceived injustice - with the help of the very haggard, very voudou witch of the woods. Simple. Now before you start calling Pumpkinhead the next Crow, just don't, because Pumpkinhead is not some film-noir-wannabe with goth makeup and all that b.s. Pumpkinhead is set in the boondocks of America, not to put too fine a point on it. Blood Feud is actually about the Hatfields and McCoys (ha!). This is Pumpkinhead. He ain't pretty. And instead of a standard-fare revenge extravaganza, the Pumpkinhead series actually deals with the complications of vengeance, grief, and rage. I may be exaggerating Pumpkinhead's moral, uh, philosophies, but... Pumpkinhead is something special. For example, vengeance is always undertaken for a crime that would qualify as manslaughter, not murder. It always hurts innocents. Then of course there's this: "The secret of course is that the person who called Pumpkinhead into action becomes the next Pumpkin." Well, either that or it'll eat your soul.
Witch: What you're asking for has a name.
Ricky: Pumpkinhead.
Witch: That.
update: oh shit, Blood Feud has a goo-ood Pumpkinhead. Seriously, whoever makes these movies... god-damn. The series is 10x as good as the average Sci-Fi Saturday movie because whoever makes them clearly has a healthy respect for the monster and the plot.