- Directed by Stan Winston
- Written by Ed Justin, Mark Patrick Carducci, Stan Winston
- Stars Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D’Aquino
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqJ8Teiv6YY
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This is a good and creepy little horror movie. The creature is excellent and we see a lot of it; the other effects are well done. And the cast does a nice job. It was an all-around win.
Synopsis
It’s 1957, and there’s some weirdness at the Hartley farm. Tom Hartley puts the horse in the barn and brings his shotgun inside. “Will it be all right? Should I be afraid,” asks his wife. They wait as we see a young man being chased through the woods by something. Clayton, who was the one being chased, beats on Tom’s door and wants in, but they know better than to let him in. Clayton moves on, and little Eddie gets a glimpse of the monster killing him.
In the present day, Ed has grown up and has a family of his own now; Billy is his son. Billy made him a necklace with a little man on it. They drive over to the little grocery store that they run.
We then cut to the required group of obnoxious teenagers on the way to a cabin in the woods. Joel is the leader and a jerk, but the others follow along.
They all stop at the little roadside store. Mr. Wallace stops in with his five kids, and they’re obviously really poor. the littlest boy steals Billy’s ball, and they all say that Pumpkinhead comes for bad children; there’s a rhyme and everything.
Ed goes out to deliver some animal food to Wallace and leaves Billy in the store. The young people start riding dirt bikes all over like maniacs. Billy’s dog runs out, Billy chases him, and Joel runs Billy over. On the bright side, the dog is fine.
Joel’s been drinking and on probation, so he hops in the car and runs off. There’s no phone in the store, and the others have no idea what to do. At their cabin, Chris wants to call the police, but Joel has ripped the phone wire out, so they can’t.
Ed takes Billy home, but he soon dies. He sees Mr. Wallace and asks him about an old woman in the hills with powers. When Ed shows him Billy’s body, Wallace warns him that the old woman is the last person he needs to see. One of Wallace’s sons says the old woman’s name is Haggis, and he’ll show Ed how to get there.
Ed goes to see Haggis, who lives in what looks like a witch’s house. She can’t raise the dead, but she can get him vengeance. “What you’re asking’s got a powerful price.” She tells him about a thing buried in a cemetery that he needs to bring to her first.
He goes to the ultra-creepy cemetery and finds what he’s looking for. Haggis cuts Ed and drips blood all over the mummified little creature that Ed carried in. Ed passes out as the little thing starts to move… and grow. When Ed wakes up in the morning, Haggis tells him to go home, as now it begins. He goes to the normal cemetery and buries Billy with his mother.
At the cabin, everyone is still arguing with Joel. Maggie and Steve go out for a walk; she’s still in shock from the accident. Pumpkinhead gets right to work on Steve. Maggie runs back and tells the others, but they only halfway believe her.
Every time Pumpkinhead kills one of the kids, Ed has a little seizure. He goes back to Haggis. “It’ll pass, Ed Harley. Let it finish.” “This is wrong,” he cries. She says there’s no way Ed can stop it now.
After finding Maggie and Steve’s body, Joel goes outside. “I’m the one you want!” Pumpkinhead drags off Kim next. Joel, Chris, and Tracy run off into the woods.
Ed comes to the cabin and finds several bodies. He follows the teens and shoots Pumpkinhead himself. Joel shoots it too, but that only makes it worse when it kills Joel. Chris and Joel beat on the Wallace’s door, and the scene plays out like the one in the opening segment.
Chris and Tracy meet up with Bunt, one of the Wallace children, who wants to know if the legend is true. He explains that Pumpkinhead is a demon. Then it arrives and gets Chris.
Bunt and Tracy run into Ed, who now wants to help them. Tracy tells Ed about the accident and asks him to stop this. Pumpkinhead arrives, dragging not-quite-dead Chris with him. Ed soon discovers that he and the monster are also linked physically. Ed shoots himself in the head; Pumpkinhead doesn’t die, but neither does Ed. Tracy picks up the gun and shoots Ed a few more times. Pumpkinhead collapses and dies before combusting and burning up.
We cut to Haggis, burying Pumpkinhead back in his strange pumpkin patch grave. Except we see that the shriveled mummified little body is now what’s left of Ed.
Commentary
The big thing in this movie is the creature design and costume for Pumpkinhead. He’s a real… monster. In the close-ups, his face resembles one of the “Gremlins.” The sets and other effects are also outstanding.
There are a whole bunch of sequels to this, and there’s good reason. It’s really good.
“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 in the yard, Won’t protect you in your bed, Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead!”