Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Jeff Burr
Starring: Andrew Robinson
Rated: R/Region A/1:85/1080p/Number of Discs 1
Where to get it: Scream Factory
When five teenagers unwittingly resurrect a demon, nobody is safe from the creature’s bloody rampage. But this monster is different: inside its demonic frame dwells the soul of a boy murdered years ago. Can the evil creature be killed without destroying the innocent boy trapped within? Starring Amy Dolenz (Witchboard 2, Ticks), Andrew Robinson (Hellraiser), Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster), Hill Harper (CSI: NY), J. Trevor Edmond (Lord of Illusions), Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead) and Kane Hodder (Hatchet), Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings unleashes a non-stop barrage of gruesome gore from one of horror’s most iconic monsters.
Pumpkinhead 2 is a fun little creature feature that comes with some unlikeable teens and some very interesting camera angles. It makes it a bit of an odd film, even more odd than you’d think from a film about a vengeful beast coming back for revenge against those who killed him only after an old lady he was friends with gets hurt. The story is a story of revenge and with the effects and gore tossed in you end up with a very fun even if slightly flawed horror film overall. The movie doesn’t take much from the original outside we have characters that kind of seem like characters from our last film. In this film the guy who does something awful holds his friends at gun point to keep them from going to police just like someone did in the last movie. I found that interesting as it seems a character clever designed just for the enjoyment of seeing what happens to him seems to be more close to what we saw before than Pumpkinhead. In the original, whoever calls on Pumpkinhead for revenge has to die before Pumpkinhead can be done away with, that doesn’t seem to be the same rule here. Not that it really matters at the end of the day, but it is an interesting change.
That being said, I think the movie keeps things interesting with the characters we have. Our cop is an interesting chap. He runs around with apparently the only smart lady in the town trying to figure out what is going on as he also tries to keep his daughter from the town hooligans who drink, do drugs, and overall annoy you a bit when they are on the screen. Of course the daughter does the same bad things, but she seems to have better intentions and she’s also really hot which never hurts for helping the tolerance level of a character. Overall, Pumpkinhead 2 might not rank above the original to most, but there is enough to see to put it up there with it in my eyes. There’s some blood, some cool camera work, and it also has some humorous moments as well. The transfer here looks better than the original film’s transfer did for those keeping score. This is one of the better looking releases from Scream Factory this year in my opinion.
- Audio Commentary with director Jeff Burr
- RE-CREATING THE BEAST featuring new interviews with special effects artists Greg Nicotero, Gino Crognale and actor Mark McCracken (Pumpkinhead)
- MAKING MOVIES with director Jeff Burr
- Behind-the-scenes footage
