This ain't the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown . . .
In my opinion,
Pumpkinhead (aka Vengeance the Demon) was a pretty darn good horror film. It started out way better than it ended, but such is the way with a lot of films. Although, at least the ending of Pumpkinhead was believable as far as the story goes.
As a young boy, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) witnessed the horror of one man's revenge against another in the form of Pumpkinhead. What he did not know then was that he would one day call upon this demon to deliver his own vengeance.
Flash forward several years and we find Harley living in his childhood home with his young son Billy (Matthew Hurley) who is so obviously the center of his world. They own a little grocery store that happens to be on the way to a cabin that six dirt bike riding, adolescent, city folk are headed to. You feel the tension leading up to what just breaks your heart as one of the kids accidentally hits little Billy with his bike while Dad has run home to pick up some feed. Fearing retribution for riding his bike while intoxicated, one of the bad-ass city folk basically holds all of the others hostage in the cabin so no one can call for help.
Compounding the grief for his son, Harley is enraged that the kids just left Billy there to die. He decides to seek out his vengeance and calls upon Haggis the witch to help him summon Pumpkinhead. She warns him there is a high price to pay to mete out one's revenge, but Harley is so overcome with grief that all he can focus on is making someone pay for his pain. So he does as the witch instructs and digs up the remains of Pumpkinhead from the old pumpkin patch cemetery where folks buried those they were ashamed of.
With the death of each of those he considered guilty, Harley becomes more and more convinced that what he has done is wrong and that it needs to be stopped. Of course, once started vengeance is a hard thing to stop. Harley finds this out as well as the fact that he must pay the ultimate price in order to save the lives of those he considered guilty.
Significantly underrated,
Pumpkinhead is a must see especially if you like a good Southern Gothic film.
Pumpkinhead Movie Cast and Credits
Directed by
Stan Winston
Writing credits
Ed Justin (poem)
Mark Patrick Carducci (story) and
Stan Winston (story) &
Richard Weinman (story) (as Richard C. Weinman)
Mark Patrick Carducci (screenplay) and
Gary Gerani (screenplay)
Cast (in credits order)
Lance Henriksen .... Ed Harley
Jeff East .... Chris
John D'Aquino .... Joel
Kimberly Ross .... Kim
Joel Hoffman .... Steve
Cynthia Bain .... Tracy
Kerry Remsen .... Maggie
Florence Schauffler .... Haggis
Brian Bremer .... Bunt
George 'Buck' Flower .... Mr. Wallace (as Buck Flower)
Matthew Hurley .... Billy Harley
Lee de Broux .... Tom Harley (as Lee DeBroux)
Peggy Walton-Walker .... Ellie Harley (as Peggy Walton Walker)
Chance Corbitt Jr. .... Eddie Harley
Dick Warlock .... Clayton Heller (as Richard Warlock)
Devon Odessa .... Hessie
Joseph Piro .... Jimmy Joe
Mayim Bialik .... Wallace kid
Jandi Swanson .... Wallace kid
Bob Fredrickson .... Ethan (as Robert Fredrickson)
Greg Michaels .... Hill man
Madeleine Taylor Holmes .... Old hill woman
Mary Boessow .... Mountain girl
Tom Woodruff Jr. .... Pumpkinhead
More Pumpkinhead Movie Reviews
Pumpkinhead review from The Vault at House of HorrorsPumpkinhead Movie Information Page at The Internet Movie Database
