Pumpkinhead

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For other uses, see Pumpkinhead (disambiguation).

Pumpkinhead

Directed by	Stan Winston
Produced by	Bill Blake
Written by	Stan Winston Richard Weinman Ed Justin
Starring	Lance Henriksen Jeff East John D'Aquino Kimberly Ross Joel Hoffman Cynthia Bain Kerry Remsen Dick Warlock
Music by	Richard Stone
Cinematography	Bojan Bazelli
Editing by	Marcus Manton
Distributed by	MGM United Artists
Release date(s)	January 13, 1989
Running time	86 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$3,500,000 (estimated)
Followed by	Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings
IMDb profile

Pumpkinhead (1989) is a supernatural horror film, combining elements of fable, fairy tale, and morality play. It was the directorial debut of noted special-effects artist Stan Winston.

A group of teenagers camping in a remote mountain resort kill a boy in a dirtbike accident and cover it up, and his aggrieved father (Lance Henriksen) vows revenge. Enlisting the help of a local witch, an old woman named Haggis, he conjures up a demonic monster, nicknamed "Pumpkinhead" by the local rural mountain folk because of the "Pumpkin Patch Graveyard" it's buried in, to kill those responsible for his son's death. When the monster starts killing the teenagers, the man sees visions of the murders, feels the victims pain, and believes the monster went too far, and attempts to aid the teenagers.

A sequel, entitled Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings, was released in 1994. Two additional sequels, titled Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes and Pumpkinhead: Love Hurts, were filmed in 2006 as made for television movies to be aired on the Sci-Fi Channel with possible limited theatrical releases being considered. Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes aired in October of 2006 with Pumpkinhead: Love Hurts airing at some point in 2007 [1].

The horror-punk band The Misfits wrote a song inspired by this movie, entitled "Pumpkin Head", that appears on their album Famous Monsters.

Dark Horse Comics also published a Pumpkinhead comic book series called Pumpkinhead: The Rites of Exorcism. The comic was supposed to be a four part mini-series but for some unknown reason, only two issues were published...the second one leaving readers in a cliff hanger with the prospect of a winged Pumpkinhead (ala Jeepers Creepers) appearing in the third issue.

Pumpkinhead was inspired by the following poem by Ed Justin:

"Keep away from Pumpkinhead,
Unless you're tired of living,
His enemies are mostly dead,
He's mean and unforgiving,
Bolted doors and windows barred,
Guard dogs prowling in the yard,
Won't protect you in your bed,
Nothing will, from Pumpkinhead."