The Correct Order To Watch The Pumpkinhead Horror Franchise
Special effects master and creature creator Stan Winston is best known for making the monsters seen in such hit films as "The Terminator," "Invaders from Mars," "Aliens," "Alien Nation," "Predator," "Jurassic Park," "Congo," and "The Relic." He also provided makeup and other eerie beings for "The Thing," "Starman," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," and "The Island of Dr. Moreau." He received an Oscar nomination in 1982 for his work on the robot comedy "Heartbeeps." His monsters indelibly changed genre cinema for decades, and his death in 2008 was an immeasurable loss.
Winston also directed a few notable projects. He directed the music videos for Guns N' Roses and Michael Jackson. Winston also helmed the amusement parks-only 3-D "Terminator" interquel "T2 3-D: Battle Across Time" in '96. Winston only ever directed two feature films: the very, very, very odd cop-teams-up-with-a-gnome comedy "A Gnome Named Gnorm" in 1990, and the horrifying monster revenge thriller "Pumpkinhead" in 1988.
"Pumpkinhead," while not terribly well-reviewed, contains one of the coolest horror movie monsters from its decade. The film is about a mourning father named Ed (Lance Henricksen) who lost his son to the reckless actions of a local biker gang. Ed goes to a local witch (!) hoping to find a supernatural revenge tool to use against the bikers. The witch uses her magic powers to transform a recently dead corpse into a spindly demon called Pumpkinhead. The monster proceeds to kill the bikers, allowing Ed to see the kills through the monster's eyes. Ed is a little overwhelmed by the violence, though, and aims to stop Pumpkinhead. The monster, however, will happily kill Ed too; its mission cannot be interrupted.
There was a straight-to-video "Pumpkinhead" sequel in 1994 and two additional straight-to-Syfy sequels in 2006 and 2007. Here are the four films in order.
The release order
The release order is as follows:
- Stan Winston's "Pumpkinhead" (1988)
- Jeff Burr's "Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings" (1994)
- Jake West's "Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes" (2006)
- Michael Hurst's "Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud" (2007)
"Pumpkinhead II" does not feature Ed, the Lance Henricksen character from the first movie, although the casting director seems to have wanted to build up a Fangoria-recognized genre imprimatur by hiring multiple actors best known for high-profile horror roles. Andrew Robinson plays the lead character in "Pumpkinhead II," and horror fans might recognize him from his role in Clive Barker's 1987 classic "Hellraiser." The film also features small roles for celebrity scream queen Linnea Quigley and longtime Jason Voorhees actor Kane Hodder. "Pumpkinhead II" also stars Ami Dolenz, Soleil Moon Frye, and the film debut of Roger Clinton, Jr., the younger brother of President Bill Clinton.
The sequel also spawned an obscure video game called, natch, "Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge." Clinton, Dolenz, and Frye all recorded scenes for the game.
Henricksen returned for the third and fourth Pumpkins Head. "Ashes to Ashes" starred British actor Doug Bradley, the lead Cenobite from "Hellraiser." "Blood Feud" is about a fued by two families literally named Hatfield and McCoy, although they are not the same people as the real-life Hatfields and McCoys.
A remake of "Pumpkinhead" was announced as long ago as 2016, but it has yet to manifest. Some reports came out in 2021, however, that the project was still in the works. Time will tell if another "Pumpkinhead" is in our future. If it is, that's a long way to carry a film notable mostly for its really cool monster. But then, historically speaking, horror sequels have been made on less.