Hello, I’m Adam and welcome to Day 23 of my 31 Days Of Horror. Now, on my blog last year I reviewed an often-discussed film that I was mildly disappointed by. But if the original was a bit naff, man oh man, I had no idea that things were to get much, much worse. This is the straight to video sequel, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings.
Things are quiet in the backwater town of Ferren Woods. So quiet, in fact, that it has lured Sherriff Sean Braddock to return with his wife and daughter Jenny after Jenny had run into some trouble during their time in New York City.
But things haven’t always been so quiet. There are rumours of an old witch on the outskirts of town, and that she once cared for a deformed orphan who ran free in the woods. This boy, Tommy, was tortured and killed by a gang of greasers in the 50s, with his body taken in by the witch, who buried him on her property.
Back to the modern day and Jenny has caught the eye of a group of faintly troublesome teens, particularly the leader of the pack, Danny. One night, in a scene reminiscent of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the group sneak off in the night to drive around and generally be a bit dickish. That’s when disaster strikes. The group hit the old witch and, scared of what she might do, head over to her home. There they find a book of spells and the ingredients necessary to raise the dead. They find the gravesite of young Tommy and try the spell out for a bit of fun.
What they don’t realise, is that Tommy would rise again – but not as the poor deformed orphan – but as Pumpkinhead, the legendary xenomorph rip-off, who is out for revenge.
First off, if I didn’t know this was a straight-to-video movie, I would assume it was a day time soap opera. It certainly looks like one. The acting, particularly of the adults, is very wooden and the overall cinematography just reeks of cheap. That said, the film clearly doesn’t take it too seriously, and the early Pumpkinhead kills are actually very funny. The creature itself is awesome, but again, it’s basically just the xenomorph with extra fleshy bits.
You know what? I kinda liked it. It’s a shame that the mythology set up in the first film was shrugged off for the sequel, but ah, whatever. You can safely pop this on in the background and it will make for a few laughs. Give it a go – but I wouldn’t pay more than a quid or two for it.
See you tomorrow!
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