For me, Halloween has a few meanings: hilarious novelty items, gummy candies, costume fails, and classic horror movies. In this, you don’t get much more classic than a monster movie, and today’s specimen is one of the cult favorites in that category. Directed in 1988, Pumpkinhead is the story of messing with the wrong country bumpkin, and it’s somehow much better than a movie called “Pumpkinhead” has the right to be.
Here in the unspecified backcountry of Nowhere, USA, there’s a legend about a creature called Pumpkinhead. This demon of the pumpkin patch can be summoned in the name of vengeance, to tear apart whoever did you wrong. A young Ed Harley sees a strange creature attack an accused murderer right after the credits, killing any doubt that Pumpkinhead was real, and setting the tone for the rest of the movie. When a fully grown Mr. Harley (Lance Henriksen) discovers his boy killed by a reckless group of “city-folk,” we know it’s only a matter of time before Pumpkinhead makes another appearance. But, this time, we get to see the whole process, and shudder over this “final price” Mr. Harley has to pay. Half of it will be obvious, the other half might surprise you.
Here we have the bare bones of any given monster film: scary creature, reason scary creature exists, and reckless youth/monster fodder. There’s no real excess pieces in this movie, making the story very tight and very face-paced. This effect works for movies like this because most monster movie fans tend to get bored when the writer tries to give the backstory on the deadmeat walking around. Basically, if you know that these characters are just here to get killed, why should I care that little Amanda wants to be an astronaut and has been training to do so since she was a little girl? Now this doens't mean that I don't want anything on them (killing mannequins is no fun) but it hardly calls for the enough information to fill an extended LOTR movie.
The only problem that arises from this is that some scenes will leave the audience hanging, looking like they were cut too early. Mr. Harley is telling his son a story, one that actually sounded pretty good. He's right in the middle of it and BOOM, sudden teenage alpha-jerk making fun of the hillbillies. So, you think, "okay, whatever, we'll move on," as Head American Idiot asks Barley Here Girlfriend for a cigarette. Than, BOOM AGAIN, we're back to Mr. Harley. Now, before the choir pedantic kicks up, I realize the flipside to this would be Pirates of the Carribian Three, as in three hours on endless tripe, but you do need time to process moments in movies. I know we need to quickly get to the rum-cake waiting for us but that doesn't mean the waiter can yank my appetizer away when he feels like it.
The metaphor I clumsily tried to get to is that pacing is important in movies like this, especially for this odd twist on the formula. You see, the story here is less about the monster and more about Henriksen’s character. Most monster movies put the audience in the shoes of the victims: Ah, oh no, scary monster, why it do what it do, where it come from, what do we do, that kind of thing? You, hopefully, identify with the victims and walk with them on this horrible journey of blood, guts, and occasional self-discovery.
Pumpkinhead, on the other hand, takes the Halloween approach and puts the viewer squarely with Mr. Harley from Pumpkinhead’s conception down to his defeat. In Halloween, we know Myers is an escaped mental patient who likes murdering young girls, and it turns into a game of "Where's Mikey?" In that same vein, we know who Mr. Harley is, we know why he summoned Pumpkinhead, and that he's sicked him on a stupid, defenseless pack of city-kids. This can create a great dynamic with the audiance scrutuinizing every shadow twice over, wondering when the monster will strike first/next.
Or, at least it would if this happened early in the movie. Since it happens about midway, Pumpky has to start the murder train as soon as possible. At least the stops he has are creative and unique for each kid.
Speaking of the kids, wow, I know next to nothing about any of them. I know that Joel (John D'Aquino) is a jerk that's been on probation, and no one knows why they hang out with him; I know that Tracy (Cynthia Bain) is the only one with a spine between the girls and likes photography; I know Kim is the religious one, and nothing else. The other three (Steve, Chris, Kim) might as well be wallpaper for how little I know about them, and how little they contribute to anything. This entire group is less about characters and more about set pieces to spur on Mr. Harley's character development.
Did you get that? The victims are the catalyst to the killer's growth. That is simultaneously weird and fascinating.
Given that the movie has such an interesting angle, it’s a shame that it only knows how to do three types of lighting: idyllic country day, harsh hell-red night, and flashing blue death (we're gonna take one of the most calming colors on the spectrum as our dead-light YAY!) Most of these are done in smash cuts, meaning back to back for those who don’t like fancy film-terms, and it gets distracting real quick.
The sound mixing is also an issue. My biggest pet-peeve in a film is mumbling, because I never see it mixed right. It's always too low, gets drowned out by the music, or just makes everything incomprehensible. If I have to blast the background music because I can’t hear the protagonist, you have made a mistake.
I’m only sore about the light and sound choices because I adore the practical effects this film has. This movie is the directorial debut of special effects artist Stan Winston, the man you can all thank for Arnold's Terminator, the Alien chest-bursters, and even Edward's Scissorhands. The special effects are golden (er, golden red) here with well-done gore and a surprisingly creepy costume for Pumpkinhead himself. Does he look anything like an actual pumpkin? Not at all, but he will be lurking from that dark corner of your dreams, the one that likes to throw out random nightmares when you're sleeping too deeply. You can accuse this movie of a few things, but "cheap" is not one of them.
So what does this mish-mash of points come to in conclusion? It says that Pumpkinhead isn't perfect, but it’s very easy to enjoy. It’s a fun, spooky, well-directed romp through Hillbilly Hell that I make sure to see at least once every October. If you're an admirer of monster movies, this needs to be added to your shelf (or you might already have it; I wouldn’t be surprised.) For those who are looking to dip their toe in the genre, this movie is worth renting. There’s no deep story telling here, but there’s no need for there to be.
What do you think of special effects men taking the chair? Comment and discuss below.
No comments:
Post a Comment