Pumpkinhead is directed by Stan Winston and stars Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross & Joel Hoffman. Music is by Richard Stone and cinematography comes from Bojan Bazelli. Plot sees Henriksen play Ed Harley, a loving and devoted father raising his young son on his own after the death of his wife. His world is shattered when a group of adventure seeking teenagers accidentally kill his boy in a motorbike incident. Struck with grief and fury, Ed seeks out a mountain dwelling witch that can invoke the demon Pumpkinhead to do his vengeful bidding for him. However, calling up Pumpkinhead comes at a cost to Ed as much as it does to the teenagers it now seeks.

Tho in essence it is just a creature on the loose killing the teens movie, so a stalk and slash piece if you like, Pumpkinhead is more appealing than most of its ilk. It's an old fashioned movie, rich on atmosphere, presenting a moralistic tale that's steeped in rural folklore and horror legend. It's also propelled forward by a damn great performance from Henriksen. Special effects guru Winston directs assuredly, with a strong visual sense and a knowing that as his movie shifts to the inevitable kill after kill sequence; he had to develop his protagonist first. It's during the first half where Pumpkinhead earns its stripes as Winston takes time to fully form the relationship between father and son, it's tender and very believable, so when the tragedy happens, Ed's reaction is totally understandable. We too feel vindictive such is the way Henriksen has let us feel the love.

On to the second half where the magnificent creature makes its appearance and the blood starts to flow. Here the film is only let down by its relatively low budget and the fact that Winston has nowhere to go other than formula. The youths are the usual array of cocky, bickering shriekers, tho in fairness a couple of the girls here are at least scripted as being intelligent and capable of reasoning. But thankfully in amongst the carnage is Henriksen peeling off another emotional layer, as he starts to get conflicted about what he has done. A fine performance from an actor who is far better than his king of schlock reputation. Tho still rated averagely on some internet movie sites, Pumpkinhead (dreadful name in truth) has garnered, and earned, a big cult fan base. Popular enough to warrant a solid 20th Anniversary DVD release, there's a chance that it will find more fans along the way. It deserves it, if only for Henriksen, the creature, and the attention to art design and detail. And of course if you like the stalk and slash formula anyway? Well it delivers there too. 7/10

In the countryside, the quiet hick Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) raises his beloved son Billy alone, working in his grocery on the side of the road. When three couples from the big city stop off at his store to buy some supplies, their leader Joel (John D'Aquino) accidentally kills Billy with his motorcycle and he does not allow his friends to call for assistance. In his hatred, Ed visits the evil witch Haggis (Florence Schauffler) that conjures the demon avenger Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers. Later Ed regrets and tries to call off the deal but he finds the price to be paid.

"Pumpkinhead" is a great slash movie of a demon called Pumpkinhead that is summoned by someone to revenge the death of another person. It is interesting to note that the boy is accidentally killed and five teenagers try to do the right thing, but the question is not to be fair or not: the boy's father is blind by his feeling of revenge, and only after calming down, he unsuccessfully tries to call off the deal, but it is too late. Therefore there is a good message about the danger of a revenge in the end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sangue Demoníaco" ("Demoniac Blood")

A group of young adults heading to a cabin for the weekend accidentally run over and kill the son of country storekeeper Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) and then drive away. Driven by grief, Ed goes to a witch for help raising a demonic creature known as Pumpkinhead to wreak vengeance upon his son's killers. Directed by special effects wizard Stan Winston, Pumpkinhead is one of the most original and underrated horror films of the last thirty years. Lance Henriksen is terrific, as is John Carpenter favorite George Buck Flower. The best scenes go to the witch Haggis, played by Florence Schauffler under a ton of makeup. Every scene involving the witch is gold. On the minus side, the kill scenes are not terribly inventive and are done with a minimum of suspense, despite the terrific atmosphere Winston has set up with the dark and misty backwoods locale. And, of course, praise should go to Winston and his special effects crew for creating a unique creature like Pumpkinhead to begin with. I'm sure the dream of every special effects artist who grew up idolizing Jack Pierce, Willis O'Brien, or Ray Harryhausen would be to create a memorable monster of their own. Winston did just that with this film.