Pumpkinhead (1988)

So, there are a lot of horror films that I haven't seen. It's one of my favourite genres, but I'm always playing a game of catch-up. Pumpkinhead is one of those crazy monster movies from the '80s - I tend to find them a little bit cheesy, and not necessarily scary, but some of them still tell a good story.

This is one of the ones that tells a good story.

I thought it was going to be really ridiculous - I mean, a monster named "Pumpkinhead"? Really? The monster itself doesn't look scary, either, which is partly due to the effects of the time, but partly due to other, more important reasons, such as the way it's filmed.

One of the film's major shortcomings is the fact that we see too much of the monster. It's the kind of monster that is a lot more frightening when you don't see it, when it isn't in full view. Part of why the idea of Pumpkinhead is so scary is because it's coming for you, and it's relentless, and you might not even know what's attacking you until it gets you. So, if you see it on screen, full-bodied and brightly-lit, well... it loses some of its effect.

But the reason I actually liked this movie a lot has very little to do with the monster itself. It's because the film is a pretty decently-executed revenge tragedy.

( Cut for length & spoilers for a decades-old film )

Go to hell. I can give you the address.

Ahaha. It's been a few months since I last saw someone saying that the wildfires were God's punishment for - insert laundry list of bullshit here, including drugs and prostitution and who knows what else. I didn't read the whole thing, though funnily enough, this one didn't mention climate change.

( Continued )