Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud

This fourth entry in the "Pumpkinhead"-saga (damn, that's kind of a depressing thing to write) finally goes for the element we've all been waiting for in this series: a Romeo and Juliet storyline. This movie provides us with an important lesson: if there's one thing that can truly express how much you really love a girl, it's by summoning a demon and instructing it to kill her entire family. Duely noted. Other than that the movie doesn't really provide much new, but it's entertaining and gory and just good enough for a lazy evening. It all seems to be in good fun, even the scene where the monster advances on a dude in a wheelchair is suspiciously humorous. The highlights of the movie are Lance Henriksen's interventions though, when it comes to delivering random wise-sounding monologues in rarely-seen genre movies he can't really be topped. Overall "Blood Feud" is a decent sequel, nothing less nothing more.

It was a bit surprising to note that this fourth movie from the Pumpkinhead franchise was the best of the sequels to watch. Not that that means that it was a great movie though but it featured a decent enough story, that stays true to the Pumpkinhead-franchise but is not as predictable and clichéd as its predecessors. The characters are all better and the movie also features a decent enough amount of gore to pleasure the genre-fans.

The movie has the same look and feels as the third movie "Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes" and also seems to be shot at the same locations. This isn't a very positive thing though. It got shot in Romania, which is of course nothing like the South of the USA, which made the first Pumpkinhead movie such an atmospheric one.

The movie features some pretty good effects, which also provides the movie with some nice gory moments. It also uses the monster at the right moments and it doesn't make the mistake of featuring it as prominently as any of the other earlier sequels.

Yet again the movie features Lance Henriksen, who had played the main character almost 20 years prior to this movie, in the first Pumpkinhead movie from 1988, directed by Stan Winston. He also reappeared in "Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes" but his role in that movie was rather small and pointless. In this movie his character doesn't make a totally redundant impression and it's a pleasure to watch him in this movie. It still gives the movie a certain bit of more overall professionality over it, despite its overall obvious low-budget look and feel.

A decent enough movie and certainly the best out of the so far three sequels made.

5/10

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I nearly didn't even bother to rent Pumpkinhead-blood feud since I hated the one before it called Pumpkinhead-ashes ton ashes,and they were made back to back.The only thing I liked about ashes to ashes was Lance Henriksen & returning from the original.I mean even pumpkinhead 2 was better and that one was a flop. The very first pumpkinhead movie back in 1988 was the best one and deserves a proper DVD special feature release.At the very least a cleaned up digital copy in widescreen! But the newest one "blood feud" is a good sequel.I could actually sit through it and enjoy it.The plot was good and it had again disastrous results for the poor bastards that summoned the demon and again ignored Ed Harley's(Henriksen) warning.This one was probably the goriest one in the series so far.The acting was a lot better then I thought it would be after the b-rated ashes to ashes.And even Pumpkinhead looked better and more ferocious then in the other one.

The appeal of the original "Pumpkinhead" (1988) was its creepy atmosphere, serious vibe, malevolent monster and the always reliable Lance Henriksen, but other than these factors it wasn't anything noteworthy. As far as overall entertainment goes, practically every Friday the 13th sequel was/is superior.

"Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud" (2007) is the third sequel and -- although it was shot in Romania rather than California -- it stays true to the original concept by having a similar revenge plot and features the three main characters of the original: Ed Harley (Henriksen), albeit now a ghost; the ugly, old witch; and, of course, Pumpkinhead itself. Although Henriksen is 18 years older he's just fine; the witch looks almost exactly the same; as does Pumpkinhead. Speaking of which, some complain about the appearance of Pumpkinhead, but he (it) looks great to me; I know it's probably done via CGI, unlike the original, but it works and I couldn't discern any strings, so to speak.

The unique thing here is that the story involves a modern-day take on the Hatfield/McCoy feud crossed with Romeo & Juliet, which I found interesting.

The creature is featured prominently throughout, as are Henriksen and the witch, and there's loads of gore, but I didn't find the story or the characters all that compelling. It's not bad, but it's not good either; it's somewhere in between. The story needed more drawing power. Still, it's a decent sequel.

GRADE: C

True to the original classic, this installment is a classic in its own right, and the second best in the series (next to the original). The McCoys and Hatfield's family feud resulted in the death Ricky McCoy's young sister. When Pumpkinhead is called for revenge, the families must stand together to survive. With a good script and solid acting, this fourth installment almost lives up to the original.