31 Days of Halloween - Day 31 - Movie

After his young son is accidentally killed by a group of young outsiders, a rural father (Lance Henrickson) turns to a local witch for help. She can't bring his boy back from the dead, but she can help him get revenge. Revenge comes in the monstrous form of the demoncalled Pumpkinhead. The cost is a physical and psychic connection between the monster and the father, who realizes the terrible mistake he made out of his grief and he sets out to try and destroy the monster. This is the first time I've ever seen Pumpkinhead (1988, a decent, simple monster movie with lots of visible monster. This is not surprising given that the film was directed by make-up effects genius, Stan Winston. The characters are pretty undefined, though there's a nice bond between the father and son. The contrast between the dirt poor rural folk and the invasive outsiders is such a contrast that it really seems like aliens have dropped in to this dirt poor community. The rural folks are treated with quite a bit of respect and never played of as a bunch of creepy inbred menaces. The monster itself is nicely done with an appearance that evolves over the course of the movie. Pumpkinhead is not a great movie, but it was a nice one to finish the month with.