rdoyle29 Lance Henriksen stars as a single dad operating a small store out in the boondocks. When a bunch of kids from the city accidentally kill his son, he goes to a local witch to invoke the demon Pumpkinhead for revenge. He comes to regret the decision. Effects dude extraordinaire Stan Winston's directorial debut would have been a fairly average monster stalker film were it not for two things ... his dynamite practical effects work and Henriksen's superb performance.

thesar-2 Wait. THIS is who Linus van Pelt was writing his annual Halloween letter to? Don't know what's so great about this pumpkin.Man, do I love 80s horror. It seemed so diverse back then. You had demons, slasher-killers, holiday themed massacres, ghosts, dolls, everything and all rated R. Nowadays, it a rarity to get any horror film that doesn't involve ghosts or possession from ghosts or ghosts in a house or found footage of ghosts. And almost all PG-13. Too bad.Now, Pumpkinhead is definitely cheesy at times – some of the reactions from our "heroes" had me unintentionally laughing out loud a few times, but damn, did they work on this story. While it's the basic Twilight Zone/Tales from the Crypt story, unlike most horror movies during that timeframe (late 80s,) this one took it's time setting up everything and the lure verses making it all a monster/demon movie.Apparently, there's this demon whose name only describes his resting place and is called upon to seek revenge upon what evil one man had committed to another man. Or so they tell me. I guess females are off the hook.In this case, a man's tragedy spurs him conjuring up the demon to exact revenge on the "people" responsible. There was really only one involved out of six young adults, but my guess, giving the movie the benefit of the doubt, is that Pumpkinhead carries out revenge on who the innocent man *thinks* is guilty.This is strictly for fans of 80s horror and, namely the always incredible Lance Henriksen and Stan Winston. If you just want gore and the monster throughout, you'll be disappointed. But, if you're looking for a little more depth, setup suspense and a change, this might be for you.***Final thoughts: 'Cheesehead: The Revenge' was the movie title I was thinking throughout, even though I don't do football. 'Cheesy Bread: The Movie' might have also worked, but now I'm getting hungry. Excuse me.

view_and_review 1988 or not, Pumpkinhead was an awful movie. Some vacationing city folk wrong a country feed store owner. To right that wrong he unleashes the fury of Pumpkinhead. Even if I put aside the lame story I cannot forgive the star of the movie: Pumpkinhead.If Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy and the Wolfman are hall of fame monsters and Cenobites, Gremlins and the Thing are allstars, Pumpkinhead never even made it to the pros. If there was a party and the aforementioned monsters were there along with Alien and Predator, Pumpkinhead would not be invited. Pumpkinhead would be outside trying to sneak in with the Trolls. He was as absurd as his name. A slow moving, synthetic looking gargantuan with an ever-present light show and rattle snake sound behind it. It fails to evoke any kind of fear or awe. He was simply bad. Maybe he can work on his game a bit more and get a tryout with a pro team someday.

cls0680 I pretty much only watch horror movie (I don't know why) and this has always been one of my personal favorites. Though it does follow the old formula of a stalker slashing screaming teens, there is more to it than JUST that.Start with Lance Henriksen, who is an amazing actor and so much better than he is given credit. He is natural and emotional and he makes you feel sadness and regret and things you don't normally get out of B horror.Of course, Stan Winston, who was a genius in special effects and creature design and did not disappoint with the Pumpkinhead creature. It is not your typical rubber hand puppet. It IS a character in the movie with facial expressions, body gestures, and a quality that is not typically found in movies of this level. It is easy to forget it is an actor inside, and that is hard to come by.Story / Characters - some are great. I wish the movie would have steered clear of the stereotypical snotty teenagers on a party weekend, because it has more potential than that. I'm not sure if that was the only group of people that it was OK to kill in movies at the time - partying teenagers...? It makes it difficult to illicit any kind of emotion for them either positive or negative, because it tries so hard to make you hate them that by the time it wants you to feel bad for them, its too late. The whole movie is about regretting your wrath and vengeance, so I always felt like I should feel worse for these people, and never really did. Regardless, the locals are pretty great and remind me of some actual people I know, or have known. Mr. Wallace is a classic to me.The biggest issue for me, and this is stupid, was the setting and the lighting! After you have watched a movie 100s of times, you notice when there are two moons, and they are both neon blue. Or that backwoods West Virginia seems to look a lot like Barstow, California. Or random lightning with no source and no thunder. I understand the lighting (and lightning) is for effect, and it is a pretty strong visual effect combined with the awesome Pumpkinhead creature, if you're not thinking about it. I started to think about it...