Pumpkinhead/Vengeance the Demon (1989)
- written April 1999
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We are taken through a tour of evil hosted by a monster called Pumpkinhead. We start off in 1957 in the woodlands as a couple is bolting their doors because they know a monster is chasing an evil man about the wood. As the man is being mutilated, a little kid watches on - that little kid is Ed Harley. Ed is now a grocery store owner and a father. While his kid plays "fetch" with the dog,
soon 6 rowdy teens show up on their way to the local mountains to do some
dirt-bike racing. After Ed goes home to get some feed, the bike riding gets out of hand and the main loser in the bunch (who had been drinking) hits Ed's kid with the bike and kills him. The main loser is the strongest of the bunch and tells them all he's leaving and will refuse any of them to tell anyone else, especially since he'd been drinking. The teens get in their cars and run for safety leaving one of their own behind to at least let Ed know of the accident. But when Ed returns home he doesn't think an accident occurred and oh, is he heart-broken over the loss of his only son. He skirts off to a local guy, Mr. Wallace, so as to find the location of the old lady in the woods - known for being a witch. Although Mr. Wallace refuses to do such, one of his kids does give the info. Ed goes to the witch and asks for help, ends up digging up a body from a cemetery and after a few incantations, Pumpkinhead is reborn. The monster goes after the 6 teens but as each is killed Ed can "see" it - sort of an ESP thing going on. The pain in his head is so intense that Ed can hardly stand it. Will Ed accept the 6 deaths and go on with his life or will he give in to the pain and stop the beast?
Overall: A decent horror film with lots of talking and setting up of the monster scenes, which makes it a bit slow. The monster bears a striking resemblance to the one in "Tales from the Darkside" with James Remar and Rae Dawn Chong ("Tales" was made 2 years later though) So the monster doesn't exactly look new but slightly scary. Don't miss the girl from "Blossom," Mayim Bialik, in this film as the 2nd of the 3 Wallace girls - small bit but still interesting. You must admit after seeing this film it bears a strong resemblance to "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Comparison: I Know What You Did Last Summer meets Pet Sematary |
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