Pumpkinhead

Pumpkinhead works as an opulent demo for Stan Winston and his costumes and special effects, as well as for the cinematography, lighting and set-design departments – in all of these aspects, Pumpkinhead is maximally effective. The visuals, superbly supported by colour filters, are actually revolutionary for their time, anticipating by a few years the trend of pastel colours popularised in the early 1990s by the music videos of David Fincher and Michael Bay and the feature film Kalifornia, on which Bojan Bazelli was also in charge of the cinematography, as he was on Pumpkinhead. It’s a pity that the screenplay isn’t nearly as well developed as the visual aspect of the film and makes do with an extended, run-of-the-mill fairy tale. Film connoisseurs will enjoy the film as one of Lance Henriksen’s few starring roles, despite the fact that he doesn’t exactly get much space here, as he plays second fiddle to the effects, costumes and sets. (03/04/2021)