Pumpkinhead

 

Pumpkinhead is a 1988 supernatural horror film. It was the directorial debut of special effects artist Stan Winston. While Pumpkinhead received mixed reviews, the film has built up a cult following in the years since its release

 

 

 

pumpkinhead 1988

 

Music

The horror punk band The Misfits released a song entitled "Pumpkin Head," which was featured on their album Famous Monsters, released in 1999. The lyrics are basically a re-telling of the plot of the film, with the first lines being: "Now this is a story, of a good man named Ed, left his son for a moment, returned found him dead". The song ends with the first four lines of the poem that inspired the film "Keep away from the Pumpkinhead, unless you're tired of living, his enemies are mostly dead, he's mean and unforgiving." Boondox, a horrorcore country rapper with Psychopathic Records released an EP entitled 'Punkinhead' May 1, 2007. It features a song of the same name

 

 

Release

After a series of delays and tentative release dates, the film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by United Artists in October 1988 and again in January 1989. It grossed $4,385,516 total at the domestic box office.

The film was released on VHS in the U.S. by MGM/UA Home Entertainment. MGM released the film on DVD twice; once in 2000 as a standard edition and again in 2008 in a 20th Anniversary Edition featuring an audio commentary and over an hour of featurettes

 

 

                                              Reception

Critical reaction to the film has been mostly mixed. On movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film currently holds a 56% 'rotten' rating based on sixteen reviews

 

 

                                                  Sequels

A sequel, entitled Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings, went straight to video in 1994 directed by Jeff Burr.

Two additional sequels, titled Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud, were filmed in 2006 as made for television movies and aired on SCI FI. Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes aired in October 2006, and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud aired on February 10, 2007

 

                                pumpkinhead 2: blood wings

 

 

Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is the 1994 direct-to-video sequel to the 1988 horror film Pumpkinhead. In this movie, thrill-seeking teens resurrect a demon and come to regret it. The movie is barely related to others in the series. A PC game by the name of Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge was released shortly after the movie.

 

pumpkinhead 2: blood wings

 

Production

 

According to director Jeff Burr on the film's audio commentary, a few seconds of footage was trimmed in order to avoid an NC-17, mainly from the scene where Pumpkinhead claws a farmer to death and the monster's own death at the end of the film.

 

The film was shot at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita in a 20 Day schedule. The line producer was Michael Mandaville. The first assistant director was Jack Breschard. The witch's house was built and burned on Sable Ranch, requiring permission from the State of California to selectively trim old protected Oak trees.

Actress Soleil Moon Frye would occasionally show up with muffins that she baked to give the crew

 

                                                                     Game

 

 

pumpkinhead revenge game

 

A videogame adaptation, Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge, was released for the PC in 1995. The game sold poorly at the time of its release and received little attention. The game is a first-person shooter and includes several video clips taken from Pumpkinhead II. The game earned notoriety when it was reviewed on The Spoony Experiment, as it gives the player no in-game instructions on how to play or what the player's objectives are.

 

The player controls a keeper of lost souls who is sent into the spirit world to do battle with Pumpkinhead. The game has three levels. In the first level of the game- Periphery- the player watches video clips from the Pumpkinhead movie and grabs items to add to an inventory. In the second level of the game- Purgatory- the player must rescue lost souls and watch video clips depicting the deaths of characters in the movie. The player must use a voodoo doll to stop Pumpkinhead from killing Jenny or Jane, and the player must allow all of the other characters to die. In the third and final level of the game, the player enters Pumpkinhead's lair and must give Pumpkinhead his favorite childhood toy in order to calm his soul so he may rest in peace.
 

                          pumpkinhead 3 : Ashes to Ashes

 

Pumpkinhead 3: Ashes To Ashes is a 2006 made for television sequel in the Pumpkinhead franchise of horror films. The film is directed by Jake West (Evil Aliens), who co-wrote the movie with Barbara Werner. It follows 1988's Pumpkinhead and 1994's Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings

 

pumpkinhead 3 : ashes to ashes

 

Production

Initially announced as Pumpkinhead 3, it was filmed back-to-back with another sequel titled Pumpkinhead 4 in Bucharest, Romania. The films were renamed Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud, respectively, before their release.

 

The film effectively ignores the events portrayed in the Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings sequel with Lance Henriksen returning as the ghost of Ed Harley, his character from the first film. Doug Bradley, well known to horror fans as the Cenobite Pinhead from the Hellraiser films, also stars in the film as Doc Fraser. The movie received mixed reviews with a lot of the criticism focusing mainly on the film's poor CGI.

 

                                                                   Release

Pumpkinhead 3: Ashes to Ashes premiered on SCI FI on October 28, 2006

 

                        PUMPKINHEAD 4 :  Blood Fued

 

 

Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud is a 2007 made for television sequel in the Pumpkinhead franchise of horror films. The film is written and directed by Michael Hurst. It directly follows 2006's Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes

 

pumpkinhead 4:Blood feud

 

Production

Initially announced as Pumpkinhead 4, it was filmed in Bucharest, Romania back-to-back with another sequel titled Pumpkinhead 3. The films were renamed Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud and Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes, respectively, before their release.

 

The film continues to ignore the events portrayed in the Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings sequel, with Lance Henriksen returning as the ghost of Ed Harley, his character from the first film. The film is considered to be the best of the three sequels and it was more well received