‎Pumpkinhead (1988) directed by Stan Winston • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Pumpkinhead

1988 Directed by Stan Winston

For each of man's evils a special demon exists...

A man conjures up a gigantic vengeance demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers who accidentally killed his son.

Lance Henriksen Jeff East John D'Aquino Cynthia Bain Kerry Remsen Lee de Broux Peggy Walton-Walker Chance Michael Corbitt Dick Warlock Devon Odessa Mayim Bialik Tom Woodruff Jr. George Buck Flower Kimberly Ross Joel Hoffman Florence Schauffler Brian Bremer Matthew Hurley Joseph Piro Jandi Swanson Robert Fredrickson Greg Michaels Madeleine Taylor Holmes Mary Boessow

86 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★ 13

Pumpkinhead is the directorial debut of the late FX-guru Stan Winston, setting the precedent for other FX-artists to follow suit, with Tom Savini firmly placing himself in the director's chair on the remake of Night of the Living Dead in 1990 (although, Savini did have a bit more experience directing as he did a few television episodes of Tales from the Darkside before NOTLD '90, which was his feature film).

Both films set themselves apart in the fact that everything else in the film takes a backseat to the love and care applied to the special effects.

Besides the obviously amazing creature effects (one of the most arresting scenes had the vengeance demon perched at the top of a tree),…
Review by Biscoito18 ★★★★ 8

*Part of HOOPT🎃BER 5.0: “You don’t believe in the Boogeyman? You should.” challenge.
2/33
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"PUMPKINHEAD" looks like a dark fairy tale, which, for my surprise, doesn't happen during Halloween.

During most time, a thick atmosphere engulfs the characters either with constant gales, thunders, heavy fog or indirect lighting forming beautiful godrays in an endless twilight, creating a claustrophobic feeling, as if it were isolated from the rest of the world.

I also liked Lance Henriksen's commitment to the character, Ed Harley, a simple, hard-working man who raised his young son by himself. This little boy and his dog called Gypsy (played by a dog actor called Mushroom, cited in the credits, that also played Barney in "Gremlins") are the…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 8

Hoop-Tober 2.0, Film 30 of 31:

guys are you proud of me I watched this movie when I was like nine at my grandparents house because I randomly turned on the SyFy channel and it was on and it literally haunted my dreams for at least four years afterward I kept having this reoccurring nightmare that Pumpkinhead was chasing me down my block and my legs felt like they were wading through tar and Pumpkinhead kept getting closer and closer and anyway I re-watched it tonight for the first time in over a decade and managed not to soil myself are you proud of me
Review by Cinemonster ★★½ 6

Hoop-tober 3.0
Other reviews: #1 | #2 | #4

'What I really want to do is direct'.

The want and sentiment occupies every department and field of the motion picture industry. Some people luck into it, some 'come up through the ranks' and others achieve a level of success in their field that allows them to leverage that notoriety for a crack at directing. Stan Winston had ascended to the highest level of respect and adulation in his field when he began his Pumpkinhead chapter. An effects and makeup resume with Predator, Aliens, Starman, The Thing & The Terminator can do that for you.

P-head is a hillbilly parable dealing with revenge and the existence of that monster within us, as…
Review by Tony the Terror😼 ★★★★ 3

I was looking for something that had that wonderful fall/woods in the fall vibe to it and then I thought “oh what I really need to do is make a list of movies like that” and I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet because ugh thinking, but when I do this movie will definitely be on it. Anywho, this is pretty great stuff. Pumpkinhead is a total badass demon with a beautifully ridiculous name. The cast is good, the kills are great, and the dark atmosphere is so good you can almost feel that nip in the air.

Also, totally random thought I had that may or may not have had something to do with a couple of Rusty…
Review by matt lynch ★★★½ 3

if this is anything, it's gorgeous. what truly lovely photography...golden candlelit backwoods cabins, steel blue nighttime wilderness, captured either in long, fluid crane shots or backlit, smoky tableaux. not to mention the really staggering creature effects (unsurprising given Stan Winston at the helm, but still). and unlike other supernatural revenge horror this strangely doesn't take glee in having a monster wipe out a bunch of teenagers. the deaths here have weight, and everyone is a victim of impulse and anger.

Recent reviews

Review by Niklas ★★★

Been meaning to watch this for YEARS now, but never felt like it or some other film just caught my attention, you know how it is.

If this script had landed in my lap to direct, i would have removed the monster and made the father a revenge-crazed-bloody-psycho-killer-maniac instead. Full on slasher baby! Think Lance would have pulled that off with that rugged/scarred sexy look of his.

Still entertaining though
Review by Nathan ★★★★

One of the best, and most tragic, monster movies of the 80's. I don't know why it seems like some people consider it to be cheesy or corny. Effects hold up EXTREMELY well, it's stylish, and Lance Henriksen is great. The teen characters aren't super well developed, but I've always had a soft spot for this film.

*EDIT*
Also the score: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QIqlYoa7JQ
Review by SatanBoy1993 ★★★★★

I have waited years and years to see this, and after finally purchasing an ex-rental DVD copy I can finally say that it was worth the wait.
Review by Khartrum ★★★

Great, simple horror film from the 1980s. I suggest you watch this with some coffee on a rainy day. Worth it.
Review by garygrant2002 ★★★★★

i love this movie. watching it high is fucking insane

10/10
Review by David Duarte ★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Great effects from Stan Winston. Sort of a Pet Sematary plot... Nice use of that rattlesnake-like sound effect that Carpenter's The Thing loved so much.
Review by CharlieRed13 ★★

This shit is so campy.
As a horror movie, it fails.
It's kinda fun I guess.
Wasn't even made well.
It's alright.
Review by Biedronski ★★★★

One of my favorite creature features. Pumpkinhead looks great and terrifying. The lighting effects make him look even better. It’s also got one of my favorite vhs cover arts of all time.
Review by GranMastrA ★★★½

Moving on to the Pumpkinhead series. I’ve never seen any of these, and I think I only really became aware of its existence within the last few years. I’m sure I saw the VHS box during my video rental store days but it never clicked. This one just passed me by. Too bad. I’m sure I would’ve loved this as a kid. Solid effects and creature work, as to be expected from the great Stan Winston.

Here’s where things get really good... so I went to IMDB to see if Winston directed any other movies. His follow up to this? A Gnome Named Gnorm. What the what?! Starring Anthony Michael Hall and Jerry Orbach. For serious? I’ve never heard of this. But I must see it! And it’s got 11 5-star reviews on Amazon. Sold.