The Dark & Pumpkinhead Movie reviews
Last night was a last second choice to watch movies. We watched Pumpkinhead and The Dark.
We watched Pumpkinhead first, and we were split on the rating. Seth gave it a 3, Mary gave it a 4, and after a little discussion I also gave it a 4. The basic plot is a man seeks revenge on some city slickers after they accidentally kill his somewhat handicapped son. This is a tale of revenge and "be careful what you ask for". It's dated by the clothes that the "city slickers" wear, and a little by the special effects. Pumpkinhead is still an amazing costume, and I'd put it in the "Classic best" category any day. The special effects are pretty basic and rely mostly on setting a mood with colored lights, wind, and a specific sound for Pumpkinhead. This film is a classic mostly because it employs all of the "classic" horror film tricks. One scene you see Pumpkinhead walk by a window at the same time the camera follows one of the victims. There are also a few "snatch & grabs", a couple of "sneak up behinds" and a few other classic scare techniques. This is NOT a complex film. There are no plot twists. But in that simplicity comes it's charm and it's high rating from Mary and I. This is a great film to watch when you are tired of "everything else that's out there". Plus it has Lance Henriksen in it, and I just love that guy! If you like flashy CGI, tons of gory effects, and so many plot twists you need a diagram, don't watch this film. If you can enjoy something for not trying to be any more than what it is, you'll probably love and appreciate Pumpkinhead.
The Dark got 2 from all of us. The gist of the plot is that a mom will stop at nothing to get her daughter back after she goes missing. The thing is that the daughter drowned and another "mysterious" girl has taken her place. Or so you think! The first problem with the film is that it's slow, and not in a good way. I ALMOST asked to fast forward a few times, and that's a really bad sign. The next problem with the film is that they try to mix too many mythologies and legends together, explained them just enough for a plot device, but after that not very well so as to leave you guessing. If you have to feed us the lore to make a story, then you had better give it all to us. The third problem with this film is that it tries to do that "oh here's the end! PSYCH! Here's the end! NOT! Ok, really this is the end... maybe!" I hate that. Plus there is even an alternate ending to the film on the disk, which we did not watch. If we care so little about your film that we don't even want to see the "other" ending, that's not a good sign. I do like that the ending was not entirely a happy one though. But it also leaves some things unanswered, and that always pisses me off. Overall the acting was pretty good, and managed to save the film from utter destruction. Sean Bean was really good and it's nice to hear his voice. He was in The Lord of the Rings. The child actors were also reasonably good, which was a shock. The film was set in Scotland (maybe?) and that means beautiful scenery and some amazing views. Of course that doesn't make it a good horror film, but a beautiful one to look at. Some scenes were sufficiently creepy, but not really scary. It is completely possible that this film could scare someone, and I'm sure someone out there would disagree with our ratings, but I doubt it. Watch this when you want to see some beautiful scenery that just so happens to have a story that goes with it.
We watched Pumpkinhead first, and we were split on the rating. Seth gave it a 3, Mary gave it a 4, and after a little discussion I also gave it a 4. The basic plot is a man seeks revenge on some city slickers after they accidentally kill his somewhat handicapped son. This is a tale of revenge and "be careful what you ask for". It's dated by the clothes that the "city slickers" wear, and a little by the special effects. Pumpkinhead is still an amazing costume, and I'd put it in the "Classic best" category any day. The special effects are pretty basic and rely mostly on setting a mood with colored lights, wind, and a specific sound for Pumpkinhead. This film is a classic mostly because it employs all of the "classic" horror film tricks. One scene you see Pumpkinhead walk by a window at the same time the camera follows one of the victims. There are also a few "snatch & grabs", a couple of "sneak up behinds" and a few other classic scare techniques. This is NOT a complex film. There are no plot twists. But in that simplicity comes it's charm and it's high rating from Mary and I. This is a great film to watch when you are tired of "everything else that's out there". Plus it has Lance Henriksen in it, and I just love that guy! If you like flashy CGI, tons of gory effects, and so many plot twists you need a diagram, don't watch this film. If you can enjoy something for not trying to be any more than what it is, you'll probably love and appreciate Pumpkinhead.
The Dark got 2 from all of us. The gist of the plot is that a mom will stop at nothing to get her daughter back after she goes missing. The thing is that the daughter drowned and another "mysterious" girl has taken her place. Or so you think! The first problem with the film is that it's slow, and not in a good way. I ALMOST asked to fast forward a few times, and that's a really bad sign. The next problem with the film is that they try to mix too many mythologies and legends together, explained them just enough for a plot device, but after that not very well so as to leave you guessing. If you have to feed us the lore to make a story, then you had better give it all to us. The third problem with this film is that it tries to do that "oh here's the end! PSYCH! Here's the end! NOT! Ok, really this is the end... maybe!" I hate that. Plus there is even an alternate ending to the film on the disk, which we did not watch. If we care so little about your film that we don't even want to see the "other" ending, that's not a good sign. I do like that the ending was not entirely a happy one though. But it also leaves some things unanswered, and that always pisses me off. Overall the acting was pretty good, and managed to save the film from utter destruction. Sean Bean was really good and it's nice to hear his voice. He was in The Lord of the Rings. The child actors were also reasonably good, which was a shock. The film was set in Scotland (maybe?) and that means beautiful scenery and some amazing views. Of course that doesn't make it a good horror film, but a beautiful one to look at. Some scenes were sufficiently creepy, but not really scary. It is completely possible that this film could scare someone, and I'm sure someone out there would disagree with our ratings, but I doubt it. Watch this when you want to see some beautiful scenery that just so happens to have a story that goes with it.