------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating : 3/10
Directed By : Jake West
Doug Bradley (Hellraiser)
Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead)
Douglas Roberts (Gryphon (TV) )
Lisa McAllister
Supplied By : Sony Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Mar. 27, 2007
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PLOT When the residents of a small town discover that their local mortician has been dumping the corpses of their loved ones into a swamp, rather than properly cremating them, they seek the assistance of a witch named Haggis to mete out justice. The witch summons the demon Pumpkinhead to enact their revenge - but there's a deadly price to pay! |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| THE REVIEW In PUMPKINHEAD : ASHES TO ASHES it turns out that a small southern town's Doctor, instead of cremating the bodies of the dead is selling off the organs of the deceased for his own personal gain. In a simple story, once the town's cremation furnace breaks down, the town's well respected Doctor "Doc Fraser as they call him, - along with a couple of assistants decide to selfishly sell the organs of those who pass, while doing away with their bodies. When the hidden bodies are miraculously found, this of course angers a few people in the town, most notably Molly so whom lost her only child to the madness. So like any other Pumpkinhead story, Molly Sue along with 2 others track down the old witch, to find out how to summoned the creature of the film's title. Also like any other time, before Pumpkinhead is said and done as far as carnage goes, they all wish they hadn't called on the monster. I for one am a fan of PUMPKINHEAD especially the first and second installments. And to tell you the truth, I may be one of the only people to really really like PUMPKINHEAD 2 : BLOOD WINGS, I thought it was a fun movie...albeit cheesy at times, but fun. So when I head of the two new sequels being released under the Pumpkinhead banner I was excited. But being honest here, after seeing PUMPKINHEAD : ASHES TO ASHES, that excitement as basically been demolished. In continuation to the original film, ASHES TO ASHES completely ignores BLOOD WINGS without mention. It is supposedly set in the same country town as the original we are to believe, but right from the start it just doesn't feel authentic seeing as it was shot in Romania....and believe me it feels like it. The plot is nothing new by now, as it seems just like with the recent zombie craze, films are now taking the route of having plots that have to do with the selling of human organs on the black market, thanks in big part to HOSTEL. We have films like LIVE FEED, TURISTAS. and now this, a third film that has seemingly followed HOSTEL's lead in delivering such a story - but having organ trading in a PUMPKINHEAD film is about as awkward as having a pitcher's mound on a basketball court to me... This film continues trying to look and feel like the original by having a few returning character's from the said film, those characters are; the old witch, Bunt Wallace, and even the ghost/spirit of Ed Harley, original's main character. In the first film the old witch was genuinely creepy as she had the appearance of a wrinkled old soul, whose face was covered by the darkness sparing a few scars on her face. In Ashes to ashes she looks ridiculously cheesy and unbelievable, instead of looking human she kind of looks zombified herself - to me the make-up team went a little overboard, when trying to make her look "scary". Bunt Wallace was the young boy who first lead Ed Harley to the old which when his son was killed by a group of misfit teens. Now he's older and struggling with what happened years ago, he is also a part of the evil Doctor's crew. Instead of being brave, Bunt is in this one a little "dumbed down", he almost doesn't seem like the same character - he knows he is doing wrong and still afraid of evil Pumpkinhead. Ed Harley also pops up every now and then in the film to remind Bunt of the past and the fact that he is marked for death by the creature - unfortunately, Lance Henriksen's screen time is limited - his scenes, as well as footage from the original PUMPKINHEAD are really the only redeeming things about this film when recounting the time lost while watching it. I won't waste the time on the acting, but I will say that the acting is probably the film's biggest fault. The film is supposed to be set in the south, yet the accents are especially bad, even moreso when the person is trying to be dramatic, they aren't any Southerner's I know. Unlike the previous two Pumpkinhead films, the filmmakers here have decided to CGI animate the creature to do things that would be impossible to do in the suit. The previous films didn't show Pumpkinhead climbing buildings and such, simply because they couldn't which is really a good thing. But for ASHES TO ASHES they have him climbing and doing these things simply because they can...but why not stick to the old format that worked the first time - I mean an elephant couldn't climb a tree before, so now does that mean now we should animate one doing so? Besides none of it looked realistic unlike the original film, not even Pumpkinhead "himself" (itself) appeared to be genuine as he moved a bit too fast and lost all of the mannerisms that once made him a force to be feared. Overall, the plot was a bit slow and murky, really feeling out of place and nonsensical. The filmmakers, try to make a sequel that feels authentic to the original, but the shooting location just didn't give off that some feeling of atmosphere, not to mention the characters are all one dimensional and uninspiring to the viewer. | ||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| GORE
METER 4/10 Multiple impalements, slit throats, organ removal, nothing we haven't seen, some of the gore looks good, while over times it looks cheap. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| MUSICAL
SCORE 2.5/10 Wasn't a big fan of the score, just the typical ambiance music. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM This film, feels like exactly what it is, a low budget sequel that was unneeded, but made to cash in on a cult favorite. The plot was just written to pick up on the latest craze, and in the process, not written very well to be honest. The plot is barely explained in full detail in explaining the motives of the villains so you have to basically assume things. It's good to see a Horror figure like Pumpkinhead brought back, but not in this way, a way that in the end a lot less enjoyable or as memorable than it should be. I have yet to see the 4th Pumpkinhead film, PUMPKINHEAD : BLOOD FEUD...and after this, I can't say I am very excited to do so anyway.... This DVD will be released on March 27, 2007 |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| STILLS | ||||
|
