This time I am going to talk about a franchise from the ’80s that, however, I discovered many years later. I’m talking about Punkinhead, by Stan Winston. Quite a find!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story is inspired by a poem by Ed Justin. It all starts with a father, who loses his son, because of some boys, who were driving their motorcycles, in a not very safe way. One of them has a criminal record, so he convinces the rest to flee. This is how the murder goes unpunished, at least by the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boy’s father longs for revenge and a witch offers to fulfill his wish. An unstoppable monster, with a head that looks like a pumpkin, would hunt down those guilty of the crime, and kill them with sheer brute force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plan seemed perfect, but the witch did not tell him the whole truth, and the price to carry out his revenge, through that creature, would be very high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as the monster begins its carnage, the “beneficiary” begins to have visions of the murders. It doesn’t take long for him, to realize that he can see through the monster’s eyes. That is his punishment for seeking revenge, but it is only the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will not tell the final price that he will have to pay, so as not to create spoilers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The film was shot in the ‘ 80s usual way, with those colored lights cutting through the night, in a dark forest, with the wind scattering the dry leaves of autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in the middle of all that environment, some teenagers are trying to flee from a monster, that can destroy them as if they were made of paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The monster bears a slight resemblance to an alien (from the Alien franchise), but considering that the director is the same one who oversaw the special effects on those movies, it’s understandable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special mention deserves the witch: Old, ugly and mysterious. She could have been a second monster, but she really is a neutral character: She offers her services, not caring too much about the consequences for her clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The film received mixed reviews. Its visuals were praised, but some found the story very predictable. From the public, the reception was good\u2026 enough for the producers to recoup their investment, but little more (luckily, it was a limited edition and did not open in many theatres).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But over time, it became a cult movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three sequels were made, but in my opinion the first is still the best of all. A series of comics, called Pumpkinhead: The Rites of Exorcism, was also published but was left unfinished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was also a video game, fps style, called Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge, which did not receive good reviews. I tried to install it, but it seems that it is so old that it does not run on windows 10. I will try to get an emulator or something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A reboot was planned to start in 2017, but there is no news about it yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n