Black Pumpkin

And that's about the best thing about the movie. That little tidbit of advice. Not really a good story. Not any good dialogue but that last line. Was pretty boring and uninteresting. Easily a pass. 3/10.

Well, first of all I must say that I found the movie's cover to be interesting and somewhat offbeat and funny, and that was initially what lured me in to watch this 2018 movie from writer and director Ryan McGonagle.

Granted, I had never even heard about this 2018 movie prior to sitting down to watch it late in 2020, so I wasn't really sure what I was in for, nor what I should expect from the movie. So in that aspect, director Ryan McGonagle had every opportunity to impress and entertainment.

But that he failed to do.

"Black Pumpkin" was driven by a rather slow and rather pointless storyline; one that had mundane characters and offered nothing enjoyable to me. And I must admit that I didn't even finish the movie, as there was just simply nothing entertaining enough here to keep me interested in watching.

The characters in "Black Pumpkin" were flaccid and one-dimensional, and the actors and actresses were clearly struggling with a lack of proper script and dialogue, which ultimately reflected poorly on the movie as a whole.

While "Black Pumpkin" is not among the worst of horror movies that I have seen, it is surely not a noteworthy movie, nor is it a movie that I would recommend you spend your time, money or effort on. For a horror movie, "Black Pumpkin" just failed to deliver and impress.

My rating of "Black Pumpkin" shows a generous three out of ten once the innards of the pumpkin have been carved out and peeled away.

Obviously it's a low budget movie. That aside the movie itself was really good. Not a lot of depth as far as characters. But it's the kind of movie you could see yourself in as a kid. Not quite Stand By Me, but the kids were likeable. You've got nothing to lose but a little time.

Take it for what it is: a low-budget Halloween-style horror movie. With an unevent script, too many loose ends, story lines that lead nowhere, and dialogue that much of the time does little to help the actors.

But you know what? I give it a lot of points for making the best of its budget, for the obvious love of the genre and the 80s' horror,. And for Pork Chop who is definitely an 80s throwback and does some pretty good acting as well.

It won't win any Oscars, but I enjoyed watching it for what it is, not for what it isn't. And for that, it is above average.

I don't know if I was looking too hard for references to 80s horror, but I found quite a few. I just hope they were intentional and not me reading too much into it.

With jumpscares, fright and blood and gore, but its made on a mediated budget, and it clearly shines through that the ability is lower than the wish of competence. its like surviving in water, having learned to float you wont drown, but it doesnt make you a gold medalist in the olympics.

which brings me to the filmographic and audiographic impression and that really sucks an ice cube. with a nonsteady cam and a sound like living in a cardboard box makes this look so homemade and amateurish. so they are still on the learning curve.its shines through that this is a local production by some teater ensemble somewhere west usa.

story, plot and themes are generic for the genre, so are much of the acting, even though there are some talent among the young ones. i can tell that this one would have benefited some extra 5 mill ekstra $ to become rekcognized, so if you want a crappyfied halloween in front of the telly ,it wont be my primary recommend, but its ok if you like turkeys. a 5 from the grumpy old man.