Pumpkinhead
2: Blood Wings (1994, dir: Jeff Burr; cast: Andrew Robinson,
Ami Dolenz, Soleil Moon Frye, J. Trevor Edmond, Hill Harper, Alexander
Polinsky, Mark McCracken, Steven Kanaly, Gloria Hendry, Lilyan Chauvin,
Caren Kaye, J.P. Manoux, John Gatins, Roger Clinton, Linnea Quigley, Kane
Hodder, R.A. Mihailoff)
An aggressively
average horror film, mildly enjoyable but forgettable, its few smallish
rises matched by some minor dips. What distinguishes Pumpkinhead
2 is its journeyman cast of minor "names." No real stars, just
the B-list and Z-list. But ... so many of them!
Click
any cast member at the Internet Movie Database and a ream of credits follow. Part of the fun of watching Pumpkinhead
2 is trying to remember where you've seen this or that familiar face
before. I knew I'd recognized the sheriff from somewhere. Turns
out he appeared in Hellraiser -- though I confess, I probably recognized him from the ABC soap, Ryan's
Hope, which I watched for about a year in the 1970s.
Most of Pumpkinhead
2's cast has soap credits, daytime and nighttime. Dallas fans will recognize Steve Kanaly, who plays a corrupt judge in Pumpkinhead
2. Soleil Moon Frye ("Punky
Brewster") is a surly teen. Roger Clinton (brother of Bill) has
a few lines as the mayor. Z-starlet Linnea
Quigley (whose minor cult following baffles me) has a few lines during
her topless cameo.
Much of
this "name cast" only has a few lines. Just enough to grant some
bragging rights. The video box brags: "Featuring Cameos From Horror's
Hottest Cult Faves! KANE HOLDER as Hockeymask in Friday
The 13th Part VIII. E.A. MIHAILOFF as Leatherface in Texas
Chainsaw Massacre III."
I didn't
even know that Kane played "Hockeymask" in Friday
The 13th Part VIII, much less that he was one of "Horror's Hottest
Cult Faves!"
But, peruse
this cast and you may discover some of your own personal favorites. Mine is Caren Kaye. Back when I was a teen in the 1970s, I'd predicted
Kaye would soon be big. It was the Age Of Farrah, and Kaye had that
layered blond "look." She appeared in several TV pilots but, defying
all odds, they all flopped. Her longest regular gig (as best I recall)
was on Celebrity Charades, a syndicated game
show, sort of a cross between The Gong Show and The Hollywood Squares. That lasted
a few months. Kaye was a recurring TV guest star in the 1980s (Fantasy
Island, Love
Boat, New Love American Style). She is probably best known as the "older woman" in My
Tutor, although horror fans might know her from 1990's Satan's
Princess.
As the
title implies, the film is an (unnecessary) sequel to the respectable but
unremarkable Pumpkinhead (the object of another minor cult following that baffles me). Both
films feature a demon named Pumpkinhead, the stuff of mountain lore (Appalachian,
I suppose). If someone wrongs you, you can summon Pumpkinhead to
take vengeance. But afterwards, Pumpkinhead goes on a killing spree,
attacking innocents, and you'll be damned for eternity. Something
like that.
The plot
is jerrybuilt from the flotsam and jetsam of a hundred mediocre horror
films. There is the shunned freak living in the woods. There
are fratboy bullies. The "prank that goes wrong." The mountain
witch in a cabin. The small town legend. The respectable town
elders "with a dark secret in their past." The "bad girl" daughter
who rebels against her straight-laced folks. The drunken teens. The sex in inappropriate public places. The redneck vigilantes in
pickup trucks. And against this rustic tableau, there is Pumpkinhead,
trouncing about and ripping off everyone's heads.
I'll give
the film points for this: not all its gun-crazed redneck vigilantes are
white. And director Jeff Burr does create a few nice visuals. Atmospheric sepia shots to evoke the 1950s. Colorfully glowing mist
to convey demonic magic. The gore is generous and well-done. Pumpkinhead's hands and feet are stiff and rubbery, but one can live with
it. Horror films have a long tradition of "rubber suit monsters."
More problematic
is the witch's pointless makeup. One wonders ... why? I'm guessing
Burr wanted the witch to appear old. Well, why not just cast an old
woman? Maybe he did, but we can't see it. The actress playing
the witch is heavily layered with "age makeup," making her indiscernible. Her face looks like a plaster mask. Maybe Burr wanted the witch to
look really, really old. She doesn't. She looks really, really
weird.
Pumpkinhead
2 is an enjoyable but unremarkable gorefest, as watchable as a hundred
other horror films out there. And if you get bored between killings,
there are plenty of minor "names" to keep you playing "Where have I seen
him before?"
Review copyright by Thomas
M. Sipos
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