Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes

Production: Pierre Spengler (Producer) — Brad Krevoy (Producer) — Donald Kushner (Producer) — Reuben Liber (Executive Producer) — Karri O'Reilly (Executive Producer)

Screenplay: Barbara Werner (Screenplay) — Jake West (Screenplay) — John Werner (Writer)

Music: Rob Lord (Original Music Composer)

Cinematography: Erik Wilson (Director of Photography)

In a quiet American small town, Doc Fraser, the town doctor, with the help of a farming family, steals corpses from the morgue to extract organs and sell them on the black market. When a mass grave is discovered near a swamp, the outraged citizens demand revenge against those who dared to desecrate the remains of their deceased loved ones, but the culprits remain unknown to the authorities. In this situation, young Molly Sue Ellen, who recognized among the mutilated corpses that of her child who died a few months earlier, along with three other townspeople, goes to an old witch who lives in the woods to find out through magic the names of those responsible for such horror. The old woman then, through a ritual, brings back to life Pumpkinhead, a demon of vengeance that will seek out and eliminate those who have wronged his summoners. Exactly twelve years after the last film ("Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings" is from 1994), the vengeance demon who lives in the pumpkin fields, Pumpkinhead, returns unexpectedly. The Pumpkinhead saga is almost unknown in Italy but enjoys a good following among fans in the US, so much so that the main demon has already been consecrated as the boogeyman of horror cinema and boasts a decent number of products dedicated to him (t-shirts, action figures, comics, etc.). "Pumpkinhead 3: Ashes to Ashes" directly connects to the first chapter directed in 1989 by Stan Winston and does so by bringing back some characters who were protagonists and updating the story to the present day, obviously keeping the theme of vengeance central. In this third chapter, we see a slimy desecrator of corpses, played by a resurrected Doug Bradley (the Pinhead of the "Hellraiser" saga), and his unpleasant gang, which also includes Bunt Wallance (Douglas Roberts), one of the characters who already appeared in the first film and who already knows Pumpkinhead and his methods of action. The film is full of gory and disgusting scenes, with a great parade of decomposing corpses and some bloody scenes that never hurt in this type of film; the handmade special effects and makeup are well crafted, much less the – fortunately – rare computer graphic effects that look completely fake. The monster, although not very original in its aesthetic representation, is rather effective and its old-style rendering cannot help but be endearing to the hardcore horror fan, just as a genuine old b-movie vibe can be felt throughout the film, in its merits and its flaws. "Pumpkinhead 3" is full of flaws, starting with a often approximate screenplay full of holes and naivety, not to mention the two-dimensional characters that serve as mere backdrop to justify the actions of the vengeance demon; Pumpkinhead himself, then, does not seem very consistent with his nature: his task is to eliminate those who have wronged those who invoked him, yet, from time to time, the monster kills other people… like that, without any logic. All these flaws, however, only enhance the exploitative b-movie character that "Pumpkinhead 3" deliberately embodies. The sober direction is by Jake West, who already directed the low-budget splatter film "Evil Aliens." The cast also includes Lance Henriksen, who was the protagonist of the first film. Nothing transcendent, but it is entertaining to watch. It is followed by a fourth episode in 2007 with "Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud." It deserves half a vote more.

Perhaps a better sequel than Blood Wings, but still not a good movie. Those who are invested enough in practical effects might enjoy the return of the titular creature itself, but if you're looking for success in plot, acting, direction, etc. then seek it elsewhere.

Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.

A lukewarm and unmemorable resurrection for a horror monster who spent too much time asleep.

It's been many years since Pumpkinhead 2, a movie that virtually ruined any prospects for short-term continuity, with a frankly weak story. The introduction of new technical resources, such as CGI and others, allowed this to be rethought and eventually led to the production of this film, which largely ignores its immediate predecessor and seems to be trying to be a continuation of the initial film, from 1988.

The film takes place in a rural American area where the Pumpkinhead is a legendary creature that some believe. The creature will be awakened to kill the owners of a local crematorium, after it becomes public that they were also heads of an organ trafficking business made at the expense of the locals' corpses, which were not cremated, as previously thought, but abandoned there, rotting in muddy ponds or in a half-abandoned tool shed. What follows is a bath of blood and mutilated bodies, in which the dialogue is poorly written, the situations are quite cliché and the lack of logic reigns. Indeed, how could all those bodies be there without there being, all around, the smell of a nauseating and incriminating corpse? If just one corpse exhales a terrible odor, dozens make a place, even outdoors, unbearable.

In addition to the script flaws, the film is also not particularly happy in the performance of its cast. Almost all the actors stand out for their exaggeration, for their bizarre way of acting, for their surreal or histrionic ways or even for an erasure that almost seems to ask to be taken out of there. The exceptions to this truly embarrassing panorama are veterans Doug Bradley and Lance Henrikssen. Bradley was very convincing and competent in the role of the doctor, the film's true villain, and his performance was only marred by a costume that looks recycled from a spaghetti western. Henrikssen, for his part, returns to the films that made him minimally famous, again in the shoes of Ed Harley, the protagonist of the first film.

Technically, it's clearly a cheap movie and in which money doesn't abound. Even so, the film manages to fulfill the minimum prerequisites. It never truly scares us, but gore connoisseurs will find some carnage enjoyable. Cinematography is not the film's strong point, the filming work feels quite amateurish at times and there are clearly ill-framed scenes. The editing is mediocre, the effects are acceptable but not particularly brilliant, and the costumes are decent enough. The best are the sets, even though some of those houses are too European for a movie that wants to be set in the USA.

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PUMPKINHEAD: ASHES TO ASHES