LITERAL REMAINS

In the backwoods, if you have a problem and are desperate enough, you can raise a demon to mete out revenge.  That’s exactly what Ed Harley does in Stan Winston’s classic, Pumpkinhead.

Ed is a single father doing the best he can to provide for his son.  They live way in the back woods, one of those very remote rural communities.  Ed runs a general store on the highway that passes through the countryside to cities and towns with more opportunities.  The place isn’t much, but its his, and they seem pretty happy and content.

Sadly, Ed makes a mistake.  He lives his young son at the store while he makes a delivery.  Some vacationers stop for a breather, deciding to run their dirt bikes.  An accident happens, and Ed’s son is run down.  When Ed returns and finds his son, the vacationer responsible long gone.  Ed knows what has to be done, despite the warning from his friends and neighbors.

Ed tracks down Haggis, the witch.  She lives in a cabin in the swamp; its located in a place that to find it, you really got to want it.  Haggis agrees to Ed’s demands and raises the demon of revenge known as Pumpkinhead, a monster he saw as a child chasing one of the local men.  The demon does its job, exacting revenge for Ed Harley, but there are some things Ed didn’t expect.  For one, he can see through the demon’s eyes.  And Ed also has a change of heart.

 Pumpkinhead has feelings that run deep.  Fear, grief, horror, remorse.  The late Stan Winston and his crew draped the movie in chilling atmosphere and created a simple and effective revenge story with a very scary looking monster.  Lance Henriksen plays Ed, the mourning father, and it is one of his great performances.

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