Pumpkinhead (1988)

“Pumpkinhead” is a surprisingly great movie that stands the test of time! It’s been over twenty years since I last saw it from beginning to end, but watching it last night made it feel like I was seeing it for the first time. As a teen, I could care less about the setup in the beginning, all I wanted to see was Pumpkinhead killing people and seeing who lived and who dies and how. Now, I see a movie that is about a man’s journey and the choices he makes and how he’s forced to live with them. From the heart wrenching tragedy, to the wicked agreement to summon a demon to kill those responsible, and finally to the turning point when he realizes that what he did was wrong and takes the responsibility to end his agreement with the demon. I can only wonder if he would have had the moment of change if he didn’t know exactly what was happening to the teens as they died; would he have still felt the guilt or would his vengeance be satisfied? This film has very little to do with the teens that are chased and killed or the demon Pumpkinhead, it’s all about Ed Harley and that’s a wonderfully refreshing change.

Lance Henriksen shines as Ed Harley, a famer and store owner who lives alone with his young son and dog. He loves his son dearly and is devastated beyond belief when his son dies in a careless accident. In his grief and rage, Ed makes a pact with a witch and summons the local demon of vengeance, Pumpkinhead. The demon goes straight to work and begins killing the teens that were with the man responsible for the accident. But with every death, Ed takes a step closer in becoming one with Pumpkinhead, first by seeing what the demon sees, and then finally a physical resemblance between the two appears as the deal comes near its end.

 Ed Harley and his son Billy

Pumpkinhead, who reminds me of a xenomorph from "Alien"

Pumpkinhead turning into Ed Harley

Ed Harley turning into Pumpkinhead

Near Dark (1987)

“Near Dark” is a decent horror film that came out during the resurgence of serious vampires movies. It may have had a better run in the box office if it hadn’t been released just three months after the super fun movie “Lost Boys” in 1987. The cast of vampires in “Near Dark” include the always charismatic Lance Henricksen, Jenette  Goldstein, and Bill Paxton, who was cast as the sadistic Severen; I should point out that these three actors had major roles in “Aliens” and that the directors of these two films, Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, would eventually be married…for two years. With these great casting choices, I’m thoroughly confused why such an untalented unknown was cast in the lead role as Caleb. This actor had very little presence and wasn’t convincing in his part.

I personally feel that there should never be a cure for someone after they become a vampire, but if it must happen then it should be the one that Bram Stroker originally gave, which is to kill the lead vampire; this might cure you but it still leaves you pretty messed up for the rest of your life. I thought the cure in “Daybreakers” was cheesy and I downright do not like the cure in this movie; a simple blood transfusion! How does a complete blood transfusion cleanse your body from that state, and how did a veterinarian have enough human blood to make this transfusion…twice??

The other thing that really bothered me about this film is that the vampires healed from their burn marks way too quickly or the film crew’s make-up department was really lazy. If being exposed to sunlight for 90 seconds causes to explode, then I would imagine that the burn marks you receive after being hit in the face directly by middle-of-the-day sunlight might take more than a few hours to heal up. Am I wrong? This small detailed bothered me a few times throughout this movie.

Caleb is a young guy who meets a young vampire girl named Mae. He offers to drive her home and on the way we see that Caleb is just a horny boy who cannot take a hint that Mae is not interested. As dawn quickly approaches, Mae wants Caleb to get her home but he gets creepy by stopping the truck and hiding the keys, telling her that she has to kiss him first. She does so, for a while, before she gives him a bite on the neck and then jumps out of the vehicle to run the FOUR miles that she said her place was.

• -          Why did she bite him? Was it out of hunger? Was it as a punishment? Did she just have pointy teeth at the moment and it was just an accident?
• -          Why and how did she run four miles and not burn up? She was a full blown vampire and it looked awfully bright to me.

Caleb is now a vampire and begins to smolder as he walks home. He’s almost home, close enough that his sister and dad can see him all smoky. Then all of a sudden an RV comes racing through the field and grabs Caleb before racing away. It’s Mae and her “family” of nomadic vampires that travel back and forth along the southern US killing and burning stolen vehicles and truck stops.

• -          Why did they come and grab Caleb? Was it because they don’t leave any witnesses behind? Only Mae knew that he had been bit and none of them claimed to have had a slow night and needed a snack before getting some sleep.
• -          Why do vampires like the south? Do they like warm nights? Is it because the truck stops and rest stops are frequent and not very busy? At least Jesse, their leader, tells Caleb that he fought for the South during the Civil War.

No one is happy that Caleb is a vampire. Homer, the little boy who turned Mae is pissed off, Jesse just wants Caleb to prove himself, and Severen just wants to kill him. Caleb fails to impress the crew at a truck stop killing spree but redeems himself during a shootout with police in the morning. But just as things are looking up for the vampires, Caleb’s sister and dad find them at the hotel that they’re at. Caleb and his real family run out into the morning sunlight (the sun rise really quickly in less than two minutes!) and goes home for a good old fashioned blood transfusion in the barn. And BOOM, he’s normal again. But now he has to deal with four angry vampires who want to kill him and explain to Mae as to why he chose dad and sister over her.

Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

In the mid 1980’s, Lance Henriksen was offered the role of Uncle Frank in the original “Hellraiser”. He turned it down only because he wanted to star in the vampire film “Near Dark”. So almost twenty years later Mr. Henriksen is offered and accepts a role in the “Hellraiser” franchise, staring as The Host in ”Hellraiser: Hellworld”. This film also stars the yet unknown actor who would one day be the next Superman, Henry Cavill. “Hellworld” also marks Doug Bradley’s eighth appearance as Pinhead, a horror icon as timeless as Jason, Michael, or Freddy.  This is also Rick Bota’s third and final “Hellraiser” film that he has directed.

“Hellraiser: Hellworld” is considered by most to be the most disliked of the “Hellraiser” films, or at least it was until “Revelations” came along. I personally really enjoyed “Hellworld” because as I’ve mentioned before, I was a fan of the “Hellraiser” comics of the 1990’s and this feels like it could have been one of the stories. “Hellraiser” at its core it all about the human condition and what people are willing to do to fulfill their desires. In this instance, it’s not about pleasure or wealth but about revenge which as we all know is still one of the seven deadly sins.

The Host has lost his son after committing suicide, being driven to do so after becoming addicted to an online game based on “Hellraiser”, the Cenobites, and the Lament Configuration. The Host blames his son’s friends because they introduced him to the game and didn’t try to stop him from killing himself. So two years later he throws a party and invites the friends (who think they won the invites by beating a section of Hellworld”. They arrive at a house out in the woods that is full of sexy revelers, all who wearing masquerade masks. Each person is given a cell phone and a mask and is taken on a private tour by the Host himself. No one knows who the Host is so they don’t have any reason to be suspicious. Because of this, he is able to poison the friends before letting them join the party. The film continues with hallucinations of Pinhead and other Cenobites, waking up in a coffin buried alive, and dying from their terrors. Two survive and the Host meets his end when he solves the real Lament Configuration and learns that “Hellraiser” is not a game….