I had a lot of fun with Pumpkinhead 1. I always welcome more kids’ horror both out of nostalgia and for providing a gateway “drug” for kids to get interested in my favorite genre. The first one was “kids on bikes” style adventure that had the classic trope of kids handling things on their own because nobody believes them. The scarecrow monster was a good design and scary liteTM. When I saw that Pumpkinhead 2 was releasing, I kept it on my radar. Now that I’m watching 31 new-to-me horror movies this October, it was the perfect time to check it out. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Sam, Becka, and Rusty (and Becka’s dad) are the only ones who remember the fates of the missing kids in Redhaven. On top of that, they’re the only ones who remember Sam since he was magically forgotten at the end of the first film while saving his brother from Pumpkinhead and the town’s deal-with-the-devil-style curse. Sam and Becka are desperately trying to find the book of spells they lost to reverse the curse and get Sam’s family to remember him. When a bullied new kid at school, Evan, finds the book he inadvertently resurrects the missing kids as pumpkinhead monsters. They promise him friendship and love if he will use the book to turn the whole town into pumpkinheads. Becka and Sam race to stop him and recover the book. They may even get some answers from a local witch (Cassandra Peterson!).
This may spoil the rest of my review paragraph, but I didn’t like this one as much as I liked the first one. There is plenty to like in this one though, so it’s not a total write-off! My biggest complaints are the shift to a selfish motivation for the curse and not giving Matty Finochio’s Rusty more screentime. In the first movie, the curse was in place due to the continued actions of people who were trying to keep the town thriving. It started as an almost understandable deal – your child for a greater good. I can actually see how someone would make that choice. In this one, it’s a kid who is bullied at school and by his caretaker. It takes quite a leap of logic to see why he would choose literal monsters over, say, Sam and Becka who were nice to him. It’s not a dealbreaker, it just makes the stakes a little harder to care about. I mentioned in my review of part 1 that Finochio was a stand-out. His kooky hermit character was a ton of fun. He is immobilized by pumpkinheads in the first third of this movie. What a shame. The funnest parts of this movie are the ones that he is in. But, like I said, it’s not a total write off. Especially with the addition of Cassandra Peterson (Elvira). She is perfectly cast as the witch of local legend who may be an ally or another enemy. It’s good spooky fun for the young’uns with plenty of adventurous peril. The pumpkinhead kids are threatening but probably won’t be giving tweens nightmares. Overall, it’s a fun, funny, and a spooky Halloween good time that could have been a bit better.
The Final Cut: R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 is a fun-enough kids’ horror movie that could have been a lot more enjoyable with just a few small changes.
