Pumpkinhead
Directed by Stan Winston. US. 1988. R. 86 min. Private Collector. 35mm.
- Fri, Sep 7, 9:45 pm
“Pumpkinhead found its audience almost entirely on videocassette, which seems appropriate, since the film’s strengths lie almost entirely in the niche worlds of FX and creature designs. Making his directorial debut, legendary effects and makeup artist Stan Winston (The Terminator, Jurassic Park, Aliens) doesn’t show much interest in the characters or the story, which pits a bunch of city kids against a vengeance demon conjured up by Lance Henriksen, a backwoods hick who blames them for his son’s death. But Winston and his tech crew heavily invest themselves in the expressively backlit gothic atmosphere and a throwback creature that subtly evolves into Henriksen’s eerie doppelgänger, his dark side made manifest. Had Pumpkinhead been made in the silent era, it might now be treated with the reverence granted Nosferatu.” (Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club)