Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) is a simple country man. With his young son Billy (Matthew Hurley), he owns and operates Harley Country Store. One day Mr. Wallace (George Flower) stops at the store to pick up some items. Ed was missing the feed Wallace expected. Ed told him he would pick it up and deliver it to his house.
Also at the store are a bunch of teenagers from the city with their dirt bikes. Joel (John D’Aquino) and his brother Steve (Joel Hoffman) begin riding their bikes in the fields around the store. Also along are Kim (Kimberly Ross), Chris (Jeff East), Maggie (Kerry Remsen) and Tracy (Cynthia Bain). While Ed is picking up the feed, Joel accidentally runs over Billy. Everyone takes off except for Chris who stays by Billy until Ed returns.
Devastated at the death of his son, Ed wants revenge. He delivers the feed to Wallace and asks him about an old witch named Haggis (Florence Schauffler) that lives somewhere in the mountains. Wallace refuses to tell him where Haggis is. Wallace’s grandson, Bunt (Brian Bremer), hearing who Ed is looking for, agrees to show him the way.
He finds the old witch’s cabin and gives her several silver pieces. She tells him to go to the old graveyard in Razorback Hollow and dig up an old artifact that is in a pumpkin patch. He brings the misshapen item to Haggis where she performs a ritual over it turning the relic into the demon the locals call Pumpkinhead. Then the killing begins.
“Pumpkinhead” was released in 1988 and was directed by Stan Winston. The film was originally inspired by a poem by Ed Justin. It is an American horror movie that spawned three sequels, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994), Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (2006), and Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud (2007). There is also a graphic novel about the character.
Despite its lackluster results at the box office, it is one of the better “B” pictures and fully deserves its cult following. The movie is dripping with eerie atmosphere, violent images and gore.
Although Stan Winston had been making monsters since 1972, this was his first directorial debut. He even had a hand in writing the story. His team was responsible for not only the look of Pumpkinhead but for Haggis as well. Her costume weighed 65 pounds.
The Pumpkinhead character was played by Tom Woodruff Jr. Pumpkinhead is at least nine feet tall. He has a skeletal appearance with sharp claws and teeth. He also has three toed feet, a tail and a penis. The dog Gypsy’s real name was Mushroom. Mushroom also played Barney in “Gremlins” 1984. Mayim Bialik has a bit part as one of the Wallace children.