Calabaza asesina

Carved is an ultra cheesy attempt to exploit our love for any type of holiday related horror.

But it's kind of mid.

It has it's moments.

And a certain charm.

With filmmaker Justin Harding at least taking a stab at making a cool monster, using traditional effects (though CGI is used at parts).

It's got some good laughs.

And a few instances of sweet gore.

But you can tell it's been tailored toward teenagers, with it's childish humour.

The crux of the plot revolves around a chemical spill in a small town, that has saturated the local farmland, and caused pumpkins to mutate into sentient, spider-like beasts.

Though, they aren't exactly malevolent creatures, per se.

Just loving parents that will resort to murder when they feel their family and friends are threatened.

They say two wrongs don't make a right.

But here, it seems one massacre makes up for another.

In the end, it's entertaining enough to keep you engaged.

Just not in a way that is particularly memorable.

4 out of 10.

It's 1993 Halloween. Cedar Creek Pioneer Village is a historical re-enactment theme park in Maine. The locals have already survived a nuclear accident. Now they have to battle a rampaging mutant pumpkin.

This is Hulu doing a bit of horror camp. The camp isn't actually funny. It's the kind of movie that has Chris Elliott doing a weird character that doesn't generate any laughs. There are a couple of moments where one can see the attempt at comedy. None of them pan out. Also, it's a weak horror with a CGI pumpkin monster that don't always look good. The escape from the barn is almost thrilling. It's the best section until the kid loses the keys into the vent. The annoying kid is one of my least favorite horror tropes. This one kills any chance for enjoyment.

Is this great? No.

Is it worth the low rating it has? Also, no!

The humor is ok, nothing great. There are a few times a chuckled a little, but nothing noteworthy. The special effects are ok for what this movie is. Cmon it was made for hulu, it isn't going to be an A24 movie. It is a decently fun popcorn creature feature with slasher elements.

The cast is decent, it was nice seeing DJ Qualls again, and he puts in a solid performance. I didn't much care for the main girl, but it is what it is. It has some fun kills and at the end of the day it is a movie about a killer pumpkin. What were you expecting?!

A group of people find themselves trapped at the Cedar Park historical reenactment village on Halloween after a mutant pumpkin springs to life and goes on a bloody rampage.

Had I noticed that D. J. Qualls was in Carved, I might have passed on it, but I'm glad I didn't: after a rather bumpy start, the film eventually kicks into gear when the killer squash goes on the hunt, making people pay for taking a knife to its fellow pumpkins - and the rest of the film is a delightfully daft and surprisingly gory treat. Hell, there's even a reasonable amount of tension as the handful of survivors put into action an ingenious plan involving walkie talkies.

The acting is passable for this kind of nonsense (even Qualls), writer director Justin Harding injects just the right amount of humour, and the special effects - a mix of CGI and practical - are fairly impressive, the pumpkin scuttling along on its tendrils, which it also uses to impale and dismember its victims.

I rate Carved 6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

I love all types of horror movies, scary movies, monster movies, thrillers, etc. I even love and appreciate low budget and campy attempts. I appreciate them bc you can tell the work, thought and love they put into it.. None of that for this. It was a mess. Bad writing. Horrible premise and story line.. and a big thing here: if you can't find a decent kid actor to play the big role in the film, than cut the damn role!! I'm really sorry, but I hope he stays in school. I can't believe that no one on crew or set mentioned that they should make a change. And he shouldn't feel too bad bc the rest of the cast was weak. Especially the one who played the older sister and the boyfriend. Just a real #%*! Cake.

I would have given 0-1 but there were some great slasher kills in this flick. Not all kills were great, or even good. But there is a stretch in the act that has some good kill.

Do yourself a favor and find something else. I watched it so you don't have to.