After the well-crafted production and stylish production of the first "Pumpkinhead", I have to say that this one was extremely disappointing. I can understand its appeal with the gore and violence that far exceeds the first one. Not to mention that it's also more fun than the original, I guess. But I can't say that it's even all that great of a film, much less a sequel.
The story has absolutely no continuity to the original. In fact, this is not even the same creature that was in the original film. Rather, it's the spirit of a dead boy who was rejected for being seriously deformed- think Rocky from "Mask" (1985). He is evoked from the dead by some teenagers screwing around for a good time.
What's insulting to me about the movie is that these are just the typical, sex drugs and rock'n'roll kids in all the slasher movies. Whereas in the first Pumpkinhead, there were kids, but they were smart, down-to-earth kids that were looking for a wholesome, good time.
There were also undying clichés in this film- the busty blonde standing motionless and screaming at the monster's advance, running and tripping repeatedly in the woods and the unavoidable "reasoning with the beast" formula. And they weren't really done with any interesting twists of any kind that might have allowed us to forgive them, either.
The creature effects, themselves, should have been filmed more sparingly for how much of a step down they were from the original. Granted, this was a made-for-TV movie, but it shows weak cinematography.
In short, it's a sequel that makes absolutely no sense. It feels rushed and obviously shows itself as far less of a labor of love than the original. Its gratuitous nature can make it fun at times and that's undeniable, but it's missing the real genuine touch that made the original so worthy of being cherished by aficionados of the genre of dark fantasy.
The story has absolutely no continuity to the original. In fact, this is not even the same creature that was in the original film. Rather, it's the spirit of a dead boy who was rejected for being seriously deformed- think Rocky from "Mask" (1985). He is evoked from the dead by some teenagers screwing around for a good time.
What's insulting to me about the movie is that these are just the typical, sex drugs and rock'n'roll kids in all the slasher movies. Whereas in the first Pumpkinhead, there were kids, but they were smart, down-to-earth kids that were looking for a wholesome, good time.
There were also undying clichés in this film- the busty blonde standing motionless and screaming at the monster's advance, running and tripping repeatedly in the woods and the unavoidable "reasoning with the beast" formula. And they weren't really done with any interesting twists of any kind that might have allowed us to forgive them, either.
The creature effects, themselves, should have been filmed more sparingly for how much of a step down they were from the original. Granted, this was a made-for-TV movie, but it shows weak cinematography.
In short, it's a sequel that makes absolutely no sense. It feels rushed and obviously shows itself as far less of a labor of love than the original. Its gratuitous nature can make it fun at times and that's undeniable, but it's missing the real genuine touch that made the original so worthy of being cherished by aficionados of the genre of dark fantasy.