Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) Blu-ray review

Preface: For better or worse (usually worse), I am a child of ‘90s horror. Born in ’81, my formative viewing years were the mid-‘90s, when weekends were spent walking a couple miles to the nearest Wherehouse where I’d peruse the shelves for an entire afternoon. Those halcyon days before I developed discernible taste meant that any new release on the horror shelf was ripe fruit for picking. I rented with impunity. Many of those titles were so bad no one has even bothered to release them on DVD, but one of the “prestige” (comparatively speaking) titles I kinda loved was the sequel to one of my favorite childhood horrors: Pumpkinhead (1988). Not having great taste (when you’re still a kid, of course) is actually pretty awesome because the film world is your oyster; you tend to be less judge-y regarding what you’ll watch. And I watched Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) - a lot. But upon receiving Scream Factory’s latest Blu-ray it dawned on me that I haven’t seen the film in probably ten years… which may not have been such a bad thing.

It is not a good movie.

For starters, the script – which suffered at least four different writers – more or less ignores everything that made the first film so great, retconning Pumpkinhead’s history and giving the enigmatic demon one of the dumbest origins ever. This is mostly because it started off life as a non-Pumpkinhead vehicle. Here, he’s actually the father (let that sink in for a minute) of a young mentally-challenged boy named Thomas who likes to play with toy trucks. Back in the ‘50s, a group of hooligan kids thought it would be fun to chase Thomas through the woods, hang him from a hook over an old mine, beat him up and kill him. How else would you spend your afternoon? Thomas’ caretaker, an old witch not named Haggis (for whatever reason), watches over him and, eventually, over his grave after he’s killed. Cut to modern day, when Sheriff Braddock (Andrew Robinson) and his daughter, Jenny (‘90s horror heartthrob Ami Dolenz), move to town. He’s got a wife, too, but she’s basically wallpaper here. Jenny immediately strikes up a friendship with the local gang of misfits, led by Danny (J. Trevor Edmond), the son of local Judge Dixon (Steve Kanaly) and wearer of dated ‘90s bad boy outfits.

The group - which also includes former Punky Brewster, Soleil Moon Frye - goes out for a night of drinking and driving. Fun stuff. It ends poorly when Danny hits the old witch, Ms. Osie (Lilyan Chauvin), as she’s crossing the road. Concerned, they head over to her cabin and, rather than help her, Danny punches her out and steals a vial of blood so they can perform a ritual one of the girls read about literally seven seconds earlier. It works, and now Pumpkinhead is unleashed upon the town. Instead of killing the teens first, though, the creature stalks and kills a number of townsfolk who may or may not be related in some way (spoiler: they are). Sheriff Braddock seems to be their only hope, as he has a really lame connection to this malevolent demon that will surely come in handy during the climax.

Any shred of decency this film has should be chalked up to the tenacity of director Jeff Burr, a.k.a. the man you call when your horror film needs a sequel. After debuting with the creepy little anthology, From a Whisper to a Scream (released theatrically as The Offspring) (1987), Burr spent the next five years of his career helming sequels aplenty. I’ll always respect him because, even though it was hacked up by the studio, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) rocks. Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings was no different from his other projects in that he was brought on board with precious little time to make sure his film was, you know, good. Burr even admits in the bonus features he felt the script needed a lot more work, but movies have deadlines and he had two options: make the film, or don’t. Who knows what he could have accomplished with a few more weeks to polish the script.

At least Burr makes his cast interesting. Andrew Robinson can always be counted on to do good work. Dolenz proves she’s more than just a pretty face; maybe not all that much more, but she’s got some decent chops. The smaller roles were hyped up most on the VHS back cover, including Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III alumni R.A. Mihaloff and Joe Unger, former (then current) Jason Voorhees, Kane Hodder, and scream queen Linnea Quigley. But the real player everyone came to see is the brother of Bubba, Roger Clinton, making his feature film debut. Why Burr didn’t just cast him as the lead is anyone’s guess…

For as much crapping on the film as this review has done, it is admittedly pretty entertaining. The Pumpkinhead design was tweaked a bit here, giving the beast a little more muscle and a menacing set of white eyes. Plus, unlike the recent abominations (read: sequels) that are now part of the series this creature was done practically; no CGI here. The kills look a little clunky at times, but Burr keeps the crimson river flowing freely enough that it’s all good fun. The dual revenge is a nice touch, too, ensuring we get a number of deaths across all demographics. And, to wax a bit nostalgic, there’s a certain feeling of childhood comfort that comes with watching it again all these years later. Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is by no means a masterpiece (although compared to the third and fourth entries in the series…) but it’s entertaining enough that horror fans should have some fun watching it.

What was not entertaining was “Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge”, the PC game released for DOS in 1995. You are welcome to seek out those YouTube clips at your own risk.

For a low-budget ‘90s picture, the 1.85:1 1080p picture looks relatively strong. Despite having no restorative work done, detail is slightly above average and there’s a nice, fine grain structure that provides a filmic appearance. Colors look faithfully reproduced, even if they tend to lack vibrancy and pop. Black levels, however, are dark and stable. Some medium and wide shots look a tad soft, likely issues inherent to the source. It looks like a ‘90s DTV title, which isn’t such a bad thing. Also, this is the first time the film has been released in its original aspect ratio, as the previous Lionsgate DVD was full-frame.

The English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track is passable, though it’s certainly lacking any sort of real presence or range. Dialogue sounds a bit “canned” at times, but it’s presented clearly with no defects. Voices and discreet effects pan effectively across the front speakers, adding some sense of immersion to the soundtrack. There isn’t much support from the subwoofer, which remains mostly dormant throughout. It’s a competent, unimpressive effort that, much like the picture, is in keeping with the ‘90s DTV origins.

Director Jeff Burr is a fast talker on the audio commentary track, regaling listeners with stories from every step of the production. Burr has a wonderfully candid, unvarnished approach that is refreshing and makes his commentary tracks absolutely worth listening to for anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of low-budget filmmaking.

Interview with director Jeff Burr runs for just over an hour. Just as with his audio commentary, Burr is never at a loss for words. He speaks for the entire duration of this interview virtually non-stop. Some of the information is redundant if you’ve heard the commentary, but his frequent anecdotes and honest storytelling will have most viewers hooked in from the start.

Re-creating the Monster – Interview with Special Effects Artists Greg Nicotero, Gino Crognale and actor Mark McCracken - The FX guys talk about watching old behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Pumpkinhead so they could see how the previous animators brought the creature to life, then making subtle changes to that design to make their beast unique. McCracken, the man under the suit, talks about his work, which from the stories they tell involved a lot of on-set humor.

Behind the Scenes Footage is entirely camcorder footage of Pumpkinhead being operated and shot on set, along with some of the on-set gags Nicotero & co. spoke of in their interview.

This Blu-ray doesn’t carry over a featurette on the making of the film found on Lionsgate’s previous release, though what is included here mostly makes up for that. Still, it would have been nice to get some interviews with the cast just to hear their thoughts on the film twenty years later. I’m sure Roger Clinton would’ve been available.

GODZILLA-THON #20 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

Keeping on with the once-a-year cycle Toho preferred, Godzilla was set to get back into action with one of his most powerful adversaries of the Showa era: his evil robotic clone, Mechagodzilla. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) brought back some old faces, introduced new concepts that would be further utilized in future films, and saw the return of a new incarnation of the series' most divisive character: Baby Godzilla. He isn't called Minya, or Minilla, here, though he does share the same basic origin. Despite the fact that they were a year early, Toho declared this the "40th anniversary" film for the series, also making note of the fact that this was Godzilla's twentieth big screen outing. At this point, he had done more films than James Bond. With all the fervor behind this picture, the intention was to make it very special by moving up the permanent retirement date of Big G. Director Ishiro Honda was even reported to have been approached to return to the series, but his death prevented any further activity. In the end, all of the grandiose plans were shelved, and Godzilla got a standard sequel that has surprisingly good continuity, more excellent battles, and a strong return for three long absent monsters.

Humans have finally gotten smart! The U.N. has created a branch called the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (UNGCC), whose sole task is to find a way to stop Godzilla. Again, using their brains the U.N. decides to salvage the scrapped remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah and use the futuristic technology to build things that can (hopefully) kill Godzilla. The first one they build is a flying ship, Garuda. The second (which probably should have been the first just in case they ran out of space metal or something) was Mechagodzilla. Meanwhile, a group of scientists visits a a remote island and finds what appears to be a large bird egg. Soon after, Rodan shows up to defend her turf. Just as the team is running for cover, Godzilla appears out of the ocean and begins to fight with Rodan, badly wounding the bird. The research team manages to abscond with the egg back to Kyoto, where it hatches to reveal... Baby Godzilla! This little guy is "Minya is Godzilla's Revenge" sized, but he's definitely cuter. Minya looked like a dirty circus freak wearing a rubber body suit. Baby Godzilla looks like, well, a baby Godzilla. Anyway, he gets attached to the female scientist who happens to be there when he's hatched, forming an immediate bond. He acts like a big puppy, really. And he whines, which attracts Big Daddy. Godzilla shows up and trashes the shit out of Kyoto before Mechagodzilla hits the scene, but the technological titan malfunctions during battle, giving Godzilla the win. Figuring that adult is responding to baby's calls, the team shields Baby Godzilla away to discourage Godzilla.

Once he's in captivity, researchers run a few quick tests on Baby G and determine he has a second brain located in the lower spine area. Deducing Big G must also have the same brains, the UNGCC devises a plan to destroy the second brain, rendering Godzilla paralyzed and able to be easily defeated. Baby calls out again, but this time the cries draw Rodan. The UNGCC is forced to send both Garuda and Mechagodzilla into early battle with Rodan, a skirmish that ends with Rodan critically wounded. Godzilla soon shows up and does battle with Mechagodzilla, but just as the bout looks like a stalemate Garuda combines with Mechagodzilla to create Super Mechagodzilla. This new incarnation is equipped with the G-Crusher, projectiles which can be fired into Godzilla's hide and used to annihilate his second brain. Super MechaG fires and hits, jolting Godzilla's second brain and causing it to explode. Godzilla is writhing in agony and about to receive a death blow when Rodan sacrifices itself on top of his body, fully imbuing him with all of his radiation and energy. Godzilla is instantly revived and fucking pissed. Explosions of nuclear energy are occurring all around him when he unleashes his new weapon, courtesy of Fire Rodan: the Spiral Fire Ray. That just sounds like something that fucks shit up. Sure enough, MechaG can't stand the heat and his ass gets fried like a bucket of chicken. Just as Godzilla is about to leave, Miki Saegusa (a returning Megumi Odaka), contacts Godzilla via ESP and convinces him to be Baby G's daddy, since it was implied earlier that Baby G might be from someone else. Whoever that is, the film never speculates. He takes the little tyke, and the film ends with them heading toward the ocean. It's a very typical and fitting ending.

I read that the original plan for this film's ending was to have Godzilla killed,  but his energy would then be transferred to Baby Godzilla, who would in turn grow into a large Godzilla. There was also the idea to have Godzilla killed, but a damaged Garuda would leak nuclear energy that revives Godzilla. Toho seemed to be intent on killing off Godzilla for his "50th anniversary" feature (even though it was a year early), a plan they didn't make good on until a couple years later, when the "energy revival" concept was used, too. Personally, I think the ending works great. It's typical of the Showa era films, and I loved the idea of a dying Rodan's energy being used to not only revive Godzilla, but to make him even more powerful, too. There hasn't been much fluctuation in the Big G's powers over the years; nice to see him get a new toy to play with.

The series decided to bring back the idea of a child in Godzilla's life. Baby Godzilla isn't all that annoying of a character, even if his appearance is a bit goofy. He's sort of cute in a retarded puppy kind of way. One thing is for sure - he actually looks like he could be Godzilla's kid. Unlike Minya, who looks like what would happen if Godzilla screwed his own sister. Baby G looks like an anime character come to life, and he's far less annoying than the Raptor Zillas from Emmerich's 1998 debacle. The scenes with him and the female scientist, and Miki, are... dare I say... cute.

What the film lacks in story - because, really, it lacks plenty since the entire plot is basically "let's build MechaG and kill Big G" - it makes up for in monster battle action. Godzilla and Rodan are shown early on, with lots of big skirmishes taking place periodically during the film. Godzilla and Mechagodzilla have some serious showdowns, which are very reminiscent of their fights in the '70s. This film has a few callbacks to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), most notably the double-beam-explosion that wounded both monsters during their first encounter. This new MechaG is powerful, but it isn't until he's paired with Garuda and able to take down Godzilla's second brain until he can gain the upper hand. I've always felt that the most dangerous robotic incarnation of G was his '70s clone. It seemed like such a crazy futuristic killing machine. So ruthless. I never got that feeling from Mechagodzilla II, or Kiryu.

Rodan makes a series comeback here, having been absent since 1968's Destroy All Monsters. The film originally was going to feature Titanosaurus in this role, but for whatever reason Toho replaced him at the last minute with Rodan. We get two distinct versions here - regular, and fire. The difference being that Fire Rodan is more powerful and looks cooler. Baby G hatched from an egg left in Rodan's nest, so there's a bit of a link between the two of them. Rodan responds to Baby G's calls, which is why MechaG and Garuda are forced into an unexpected early battle. Rodan isn't much of a fighter outside of the ability to blow like an industrial fan and run into things. It's not like it breathes fire or has laser eyes or anything. Well, not until the final fight with MechaG, when Rodan has become Fire Rodan and gained the ability to shoot an energy beam. Makes sense. This is the '90s. Can't be flapping wings and hoping for the best anymore; you need some serious power. It doesn't last all that long, though, before MechaG pretty much obliterates Fire Rodan.

My personal favorite moment in the film comes when Fire Rodan, critically wounded, lays atop a paralyzed Godzilla and not only regenerates his second brain, but also imbues him with all of the additional nuclear powers it had received earlier in the film. Godzilla gets a super recharge, like he just did all the cocaine and is crazy full of energy. The real kicker is that Rodan's sacrifice gave G a new form of atomic breath, one which MechaG can't even begin to attempt withstanding. His new Spiral Fire Ray is devastatingly powerful, easily melting the synthetic diamond exterior on the new MechaG. At this point, after twenty films, it's high time Godzilla got a few new abilities that didn't involve him flying or doing a super kick.

Koichi Kawakita once again made some modifications to the Godzilla suit. This iteration, the RadoGoji, looks nearly identical to the previous suits, only the head has been widened a bit and the shoulders and legs are a bit slimmer than before. He doesn't have the extreme bulk on his legs the last couple of suits employed. Honestly, most fans (myself included) would be hard pressed to see a difference in suits from the last picture. Kawakita's Godzilla has a very defined, iconic appearance, and it never deviated much from that aesthetic aside from the final film of the Heisei series.

Akira Ifukube once again returned for scoring duties. His work here seems to be revitalized after the mostly ho-hum score to Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). Classic themes are once again reprised, but Ifukube puts enough of a new spin on the compositions to give them a new feel and a new life. As ubiquitous as it is, I never tire of hearing Godzilla's trademark theme lumber through the soundtrack. Ifukube would bow out of the next entry as composer, but he did make a return for the "final" Toho Godzilla picture, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).

But before that could happen, he'd have to fight yet another clone. This one from outer space...

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

 You may be asking yourself, "Why, of all the films in the legendary Friday the 13th franchise, would this jackass pick one of the most reviled?" And you'd be right to do so. But hear me out. I am a product of 1981, and on this film's release date - Friday, August 13th, 1993 - I was a mere 11 years of age. By that point, however, I'd drunk in every tale of Jason Voorhees on a nearly obsessive level. My favorite film has always been Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). Most fans of the series would be likely to agree with me since it is arguably the best one, but I also had to good fortune to have seen it when I was really young. And it scared the fucking shit out of me. Once that dread wore off, and I attained my Horror Fanboy Badge of Desensitization, I rabidly consumed every film I could get my little hands on. This wasn't terribly easy back in the analog age, though. I had to resort to sneaking rentals of the series on VHS down at the local Wherehouse (god, I miss that place), where my Dad would distract my Mom long enough to let me get what I came for. Or, barring that, I'd have to make due with whatever hacked-up version was showing on cable late at night. Point being, I had to be crafty and sly if I wanted to get my fix.

Which leads me to Jason Goes To Hell. I only have vague recollections of seeing ads for the film. I'm not even 100% sure if I caught a trailer anywhere, but that hot-as-shit poster spoke to me. It told me to get my Jason-lovin' ass into a theater. The problem was that MY parents wouldn't take 11-year-old me to see R-rated Jason. But my friend Donny's parents were more than happy to oblige.And so, thanks to their own brand of lax parenting, I was able to finally see my first Friday the 13th flick in a theater.

And that's the problem.

I'm sure all of us have movies near and dear to us that, in a more objective setting, would be rightly torn to shreds by critics and fans alike. Hell, you'd probably join right in. But you can't. Because you watched that damn movie when you were still young enough not to know any better. And it wound up sticking with you. Chances are you have many of these films in your roster.

For better or worse, JGTH is one of those for me. I just barely understood how much it sucked in my adolescent mind. For starters, that fucking poster. That thing was an eye-catching, demonically fiery slice of horror ephemera that could have convinced any Friday fan to see the movie. Jason's mask, now all chromed-out and looking rather spiffy, with some weird snake/worm/baby graboid demon thing slithering out of it, presented in front of a wall of flame. Sounds bitchin', no? Except none of that is in there. Sure, there's some shitty little creature that is probably supposed to be the thing on the poster, but where's that damn mask? I was hoping that Jason, now without a mask thanks to his toxic sludge bath in the Big Apple, would manage to find himself with the mask he's always deserved. You know, like how Leatherface earned that fucking magnificent chainsaw in Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990). Freddy even got an updated glove (which, frankly, was totally overdone and ridiculous) in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). [Side note: I took a group of friends to see that film at the Fashion Island cinema in Newport - this would've been my 13th birthday - and I hated it then; still hate it now. I just don't get why anyone would give it a pass. Have you seen Bob Shaye's acting? My god...]

So Jason doesn't get his mask we were (sort of) promised. The film also neglects to mention how ol' sackhead got back to Crystal Lake from the sewers of Manhattan. I realize canon elements such as this aren't all that important. We fans just want him to get back to doing his day job, regardless of however the current filmmakers want to get him there.  I thought it would've been cool to pull a reverse of his exit from Crystal Lake as used in the Jason vs. Leatherface comic (which features insanely killer covers from Simon Bisley), where a submerged Voorhees is scooped up by a waste company cleaning up the lake and dropped into a barrel, which is then loaded onto a train out of town. Here, they could've had Jason barreled up as part of someone dumping NYC's toxic waste, at which point he'd be "disposed of" in Crystal Lake and - BAM! - he's back. See, easy. 

Anyway, I was shocked when the extremely stereotypical (even for a F13th film) opening turned into... the FBI blowing him up? Uh, isn't this supposed to happen before the end credits, guys? I came to see Jason, and 7 minutes later he's a side of smoked brisket. Great. You know the rest... coroner eats his black heart, dude starts spewing up blood and moaning like the shark in Jaws: The Revenge, he's now possessed by Jason. Spew and repeat a few more times until we finally get the big guy back in the picture with a whopping 11 minutes left in the film. Whereupon he gets his ass kicked by the least-convincing tough guy lead (John D. LeMay) I've probably ever seen. And then he goes to hell. And then Kane Hodder's arm, playing the role of Freddy Krueger, snatches his mask.

Once it was over, I had that sinking pit of disappointment in my stomach. That same feeling I got after my first viewing of Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning, when I learned an EMT had been playing Jason Fauxhees the entire time. I felt cheated. Clearly, with the film's tried-and-true formula more worn than Jason himself, the filmmakers wanted to do something noble and inject fresh life into the decaying series. They obviously forgot this is often met with extreme fanboy hostility. At least screenwriter Dean Lorey will admit they may have been wrong. He penned a great read on the film's production history that all fans should read - check it out here. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and director Adam Marcus' film is now seen as one of the worst Crystal Lake has to offer.

So why the hell do I like it? More than anything: it takes me back to a happy place and time. It reminds me of the people I saw it with, the now-long gone theater I saw it at (the old El Toro 1-2-3/4-5-6!), and a time in my life when new horror - regardless of probable quality - genuinely excited me. The cockamamie mythology retroactively ascribed to the Voorhees family is embarrassingly horrid. There's a Voorhees mansion. Jason is actually some kind of sperm-y red demon thing that can only be killed by a Voorhees. He's got a sister that never received a mention until now. Evil Dead's Necronomicon is curiously - and conspicuously - placed in one of the main rooms. They have to use a... magic... dagger... to kill him. Christ, typing this out, it all sounds so cliche and callow. Magic dagger? You gotta be fuckin' kidding me...

There's at least some good gore. You wouldn't have seen it in the theatrical cut, but once the 4-minutes-longer director's cut was released on home video there was a noticeable amount of crimson glory restored. The most glaring omission to Jason's body count - wait, does it still count as Jason if it's just a guy possessed by Jason? God, that sounds so stupid... - was the infamous tent spike sex scene bifurcation. In a somewhat ironic twist, that scene never existed before the film started test screenings. Audiences complained there wasn't enough of the expected teen sex and drug use the series was known for, so they added in a scene where Stephen picks up a trio of hitchhikers and drops them off by the lake. He declines an invite to stay with the single cute blonde, they all die. And the one who gets it the worst - a girl just about to enjoy a post-orgasm decompression - gets spiked through the chest and viciously torn in half. It's one of the goriest, nastiest deaths in the series. That might not have been true if the MPAA hadn't torn most of Jason's adventures in the '80s to pieces, but they did.

I also have a bit of a soft spot for Harry Manfredini's score. After eight films of the same ki-ki-ki/ma-ma-ma and overused cues, JGTH shook up the compositions to produce something that works quite well in the context of the film. I'd love to have a copy of the score for myself, so I can hear how it plays without the aid of a film overlaid. Manfredini, oddly enough, turned in his worst score for the next installment, Jason X, which is just atrocious. I don't know what the hell happened, but whatever sound he was going for there he failed epically in achieving. Or maybe he succeeded and I just hate it.

Despite the film clearly blowing chunks, I can still watch it whenever it's on. Maybe I'm a bit of a masochist, maybe I'm too nostalgic for crappy things. It's never one of my go-to films in the series, that's for sure. But there's just something there, for me. I find a certain comfort in watching it, and it isn't half bad if you can view it and pretend it isn't really a Friday film, which is fairly easy since you almost never see Jason. Of course, when you're viewing anything through an old set of rose-tinted lenses there's bound to be some elevation to the material.