HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2020: Pumpkinhead (1988)

Our sponsor for today is the wonderful YouTuber you might know by the name ‘The Twisted Girl Next Door,’ someone I have been honored to be friends with, the one and only avatar of horror positivity Chauncey K. Robinson.  Be sure to check out her YouTube Channel for her reviews and views about the genre! 

Chauncey represents The Cancer Research Institute, whose mission is self-explanitory.

Chauncey has chosen a film that was something of a big deal when it was released but isn’t talked about much any more--which I guess is why she asked me to discuss it...namely, the first of Stan Winston’s two directorial efforts, Pumpkinhead.

Ed Harley (Lance Henrickson) is a lonely widower who runs a grocery store deep in what I suspect is the Appalachian Mountains with the aid of his young son.  When said son is accidentally killed by a young man who was intoxicated and on probation, Ed approaches a local witch for revenge.  The witch has him dig up a curious corpse in a pumpkin patch in the middle of a cemetery and enacts a ritual that brings it back to life.  This is Pumpkinhead, a demonic creature that will track down the people responsible for the boy’s death and slaughter them....and after the first kill, Ed realizes he may have gone too far.

I suppose I should be honest in my belief that Lance Henrickson is The Man.  I have seen him in films ranging from big to ultra low budget and have only seen him give a half-assed performance once*.  This film allows him to go on something of a major character arc, and damn it, he’s giving it his all.  You never feel a lack of sympathy for him; in fact, we are horrified by the decisions he makes and understand why he wants to correct this massive mistake.

...but one of the most intriguing things about this film is that the kids who were involved in the accident are sympathic as well.  Even Joel (John D’Aquino), who is described as ‘just a jerk jerk’ by his friends and is responsible for running the boy down, acts out of panic more than malevolence and does come to his senses a little too late.  None of these characters are obnoxious, none of them behave in that ‘80‘s Horror Movie Irresponsible’ way (while most of them flee, they are doing so because the nearest phone they need to call for help is in the cabin they’re heading to) and we don’t have that feeling of loathing we get for a lot of these types of characters we get in later versions of this scenario.

The thing that struck me about this film is how Winston seems to approach this as a folk tale.  The film is painted in monochromatic swaths of light that get darker and darker the deeper down the hole Ed goes, and the sets have a slightly artificial look that I am pretty sure was intentional.  When Ed visits Old Woman Haggis (played wonderfully by character actress Florence Schauffler), it practically is a crimson-drenched witch’s house from out of the Brothers Grimm--complete with wise ol’ owl and mice, and when he goes to dig up Pumpkinhead, the raised ‘grave’ he digs it out of is straight out of a wierd kid’s pagent come to life.  I liked this vibe a lot; so many people call their films ‘fairy tales for adults,’ but Winston doesn’t draw attention to it and I think I prefer his version!

Of course, we all know what we’re here for.  Pumpkinhead is a monster movie directed by a special effects maven, after all.  And Winston...is very strategic in how he parcels out his creature.  For long stretches we only see it in glimpses and parts--there are a couple of kills where its three-clawed hand is all we get--and when we do get a full look at it, it manages to be impressive.  I like how we’re not sure what the creature is derived from, and I like how the suit effects (this was a practical suit operated by Tom Woodruff Jr) give character to it.  This may be an inhuman entity, but it has an all-too-human sadistic sense of humor.  There’s a scene involving a motorcycle where I swore the creature was chuckling to himself.  Since a monster movie rises and falls on its actual monster, how some films that don’t deserve lionization get lionized for their monster, it satisfies me that this is monster movie where the monster is an out-and-out bad ass crowd pleaser.

There is a lot to like here.  I wonder if the three inferior sequels--the only thing I can remember about one of them is that it starred Bill Clinton’s relative Roger--helped drag it into an obscurity it doesn’t deserve.  I do recommend you watch this, as its an effects-driven horror film where the monster isn’t the only thing worthwhile.

We have no sponsor tomorrow, so the Randomizer has presented me with a film I saw on a screener loaned me from Michael Gingold, then the editor of Fangoria, a film I recall really, really digging on...and I haven’t seen it since I returned that screener.  Does 1991‘s obscure parent anxiety inducing The Unborn still hold up?  I won’t know, but I will warn you...expect lots of gratuitous Brooke Adams love.

There are Three Sponsorship Slots Left in the Halloween Horrorfest this year.  To claim one, do one of four things:

1) You can become a Domicile of Dread Patreon at any level.  Patreons always get a free slot, as well as advance access to podcasts and other goodies!

2) You can buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.  Suggested donation is $3

3) You can make a donation to Black Lives Matter.  Suggested donation is $10.  Please forward your receipt to me as proof.

4) You can choose to make a donation to the charity chosen by a sponsor on his/her/their day. Like with the third possibility, please forward me proof of donation.

As with last year, if I end up with more sponsors than there are days in October, I will go into Horrorfest Overtime, which means Halloween goes into November for me--and you!

*--To be fair, the film he couldn’t be bothered in was The Mangler 2: Graduation Day, which was ridiculous and wretchedly bad.  I don’t blame him for being perpetually checked out in that piece of poo.