Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes

Pumkinhead(1988) is considered to be a minor classic by most horror fans.It was generally well-received during its limited run that year and remains a video favorite.Naturaly a schlock-sequel,Blood wings,was conceived in 1993 that met such universal scorn,it was dumped on video with no theater run whatsoever.

After rumors and false starts Pumkinhead has finally returned in a Romanian-shot sequel that aired on the Sci Fi channel October 28th.

A corrupt town Doctor(Doug Bradley)and his grave-robbing family are the cause of the Demon's revival this time around by vengeful family members.As the body count rises they start to learn that revenge has its price to pay.

Doug Bradley is does a great job as the real "Heavy" of the movie and its a Shame he does not get more high-profile gigs.Wise choice by the producers to get Lance Henricksen to play Ed Harley again.The rest of the cast over-acts or under-acts.Another wise choice for the continuity to the first movie,and the ignoring of the 2nd.

What bugged me the most the the cinematography in this one which did not have that eerie feel of the first and cheapens the movie more than it truly is.Pumkinhead is just one step away from being another generic monster of the week.They should have him reacting and interacting more.Don't get me wrong he looked very cool.They just handled him wrong.Most of the characters were just redneck-clichés.One after another.

Is this the sequel that fans have been asking for over a decade?

Yes and No.

But if I were going to bring s well-loved monster out of the mothballs like Pumkinhead,it would have been in a much better movie than this was.

5.5/10

For fans of the original Pumpkinhead, it was hoped that this second sequel, which picked up from the first film would be a return to form after the disastrous second film. While director Jake West keeps the tone and mood similar to the first film, he is hampered by things out of his control. First off, this is a TV movie. As such it is low budget. The thing that makes a creature feature like this sink or swim is its monster effects. Our Pumpkinhead is on screen a lot of the time in this film, so why did more money not get put into the suit? Its a pale imitation of Stan Winston's original. Add in some of the worst CGI in a horror film ever and you get a monster that doesn't scare like it should.Next up is the fact that this was filmed in Romania. I'm sorry, I'm sure Romania is a nice place and I know its cheap to shoot there, but it doesn't really look like America like it is so often called upon to do. Doug Bradley is fine as a doctor without a conscience, but Lance Henriksen is wasted in his return to his character from the first film. Could have been a lot better than it is.

I watched this last night and it is practically a remake of the original. However, I will give the filmmakers credit for actually retaining several characters from the original (the siblings are all the kids of George "Buck" Flower's Wallace character in the first film). Director Jake West - who made the absolutely inept EVIL ALIENS - handles the filming well. Sadly, he doesn't capture Pumpkinhead's towering stance well though, shooting it mostly in close up. On the downside, the actors seem to have never stepped foot in the South. We're talking Gomer Pyle hysterics here. If you look closely, you can actually see Lance Henriksen cashing his check for this one. And there are a few wonky CGI bits.

Yes, the first 'Pumpkinhead' film was actually pretty cool - largely helped by Lance Henriksen in the leading role. Then came the sequels - horror sequels. And, true to form, each one seemed to get progressively worse. This one, although by no means horrendous, is simply just trying to cash in on the first film's success.

Yes, Lance Henriksen comes back, but his scenes are fleeting and you really get the feel he's only doing it for an easy paycheque.

However, you do have Doug Brady (or 'Pinhead' if you've seen 'Hellraiser') and he does his best to lift this film out of the doldrums. However, no matter how good the cast is, you just can't escape the fact that it's a retread of the original which isn't as good.

Yes, there are some decent 'monster moments.' The monster himself has always been pretty cool, but then there are also equally some pretty ropey CGI moments, too. It's just a pity they seemed to use all their budget up on the cast and a few good effects and left little room to pay a good writer to come up with something a little more fresh.

I saw this on the SciFi Network a few weeks ago, and was highly disappointed. As a big fan of the original Punkinhead, I was looking forward to a return to that story, but where Stan Winston's creature effects in the original were awesome (possibly the only creature effect that has ever scared me) the rubber suit and cgi in this one fell way flat. Hard to believe that a puppet can move more convincingly than an actor, but it's true. Whoever was wearing the crappy rubber suit in this one could have moonlighted as a bad Godzilla impersonator. Combined with an absolute waste of Doug Bradley in his role in this film, instead of the fun cameo one might expect from the man who gave life to pinhead, the result was a purely disappointing production. Save your time and just rent the original.