homecoming8 "Pumpkinhead" (1988) was directed by Stan Winston, special effects wizard and creator of The Terminator. It starred Lance Henriksen and was certainly a good movie in it's genre. "Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) was directed by Jeff Burr. His sequels can be good (Stepfather II, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) or really bad (Puppet Master 4 & 5). Pumpkinhead II was in between and ignored a lot of the facts from the original."Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes", this time directed by Jake West, totally ignores the second movie and is a follow-up to the original. So we do get to see Pumpkinhead's original grave (was not in the second movie) and some characters return, like veteran actor Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens, Alien 3, Hard Target, Millennium) in a smaller role. It is also nice to see horror-icon Doug Bradley in a decent movie, since the latest Hellraiser sequels were just plain bad and awful to watch.The acting is OK, the story is entertaining with lots of special effects and some bloody gore. They were smart enough to keep the CGI effects to a minimum in just a few small frames, because that could have totally ruined this movie. No KNB effects group this time (Kurtzman, Nicotery and Berger handled the effects in the second one) so it is amazing to see how well it is done when you see the deaths and the creature effects in full. This time no irritating thunder and lightning strikes to hide the effects. The Pumpkinhead creature is original and amazing to watch, although it does look a lot like the "Alien" creature but that was also the case in the previous ones. If you like the genre, you certainly have to check this one out. Be sure to at least have watch the original one first. You'll find them better than expected.

suspiria10 Rating…3 / 5 Genre…Horror, Pumpkinhead Series Director…Jake West Stars…Doug Bradley, Douglas Roberts, Lisa McAllister, Tess Panzer, Emanuel Parvu, Ioana Ginghina, Lance Henriksen, Radu Iacobian, Catalin Paraschiv, Dan Astileanu Synopsis…The Demon of vengeance once again crawls out of the swamp when he is summoned by village folk seeking retribution for a doctor (Bradley) who found a unique work around for keeping his fellow townies safe. By selling the organs of their loved ones on the black market. The ghost of Ed Harley (Henriksen, returning from the 1988 original) tells them not to do it but you know they will do it anyway.Thoughts…Jake West (Evil Aliens, Razor Blade Smile) does a pretty decent job getting the third film of the series back in line with the original after a rather bad sequel. The special effects also beat out the second outing. Doug Bradley (Pinhead from the Hellraiser series) is always fun to watch as a baddie and it was cool that they worked Lance Henriksen back into the mix even though it was more of an afterthought than anything else.In Conclusion…If you thought "Blood Wings" was bad but did enjoy the late Stan Winston's original Pumpkinhead than give this one a shot. For a SciFi Channel original it's not half bad.

insomniac_rod Well I expected the least from a direct for t.v. sequel from a forgotten early 90's slasher.The truth is that I got more than expected. The atmosphere was adequately creepy and it fit with the sinister plot, the gore was pretty good for it's budget and the acting was just regular. So, is this a typical direct to video effort? Yes. It doesn't delivers expectations in terms of quality but at least it does it's principal job : entertain and keep a franchise alive.The Pumpkinhead monster was not that cheesy although it left a lot to desire but the correct lightning and suspenseful scenes made him look creepy.The Witch also returned and was creepy in terms of make-up.For me, the highlight of the movie is when the monster comes to town and slashers everyone around.Doug Bradley delivers a decent performance and tries to put the movie on his back.This sequel is just regular and deserves to be watched only if you catch it on late cable night. Don't waste your money on it.

kclipper I am a long time fan of the original Pumpkinhead. Its dark, moody theme and awesome creature effects by Stan Winston are top notch. Lance Henrickson maintains a good screen presence in the horror genre which leaves this new sequel questionable for fans. For an original T.V. movie, this was entertaining enough and surprisingly gory. Horror icon Doug Bradley (Pinhead) is interesting as a sinister surgeon performing operations on townsfolk in order to sell their organs. When a woman finds that her family was murdered by Bradley and his clan, she summons the demon to get revenge. Plot keeps true to the original, but the creature looks cheap and hokey due to the CGI effects. It really falls flat in comparison, but not bad considering the long wait for a third sequel.