Pumpkinhead (Collector’s Edition) [Blu-Ray]
Director: Stan Winston
Cast: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D’Aquino
Release Date: Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray Now Available
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 8/10
Disc Rating: 10/10
Synopsis:
When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen, Aliens) seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life. But instead, she invokes “the pumpkinhead” – a monstrously clawed demon which, once reborn, answers only to Ed’s bloodlust. But as the creature wreaks its slow, unspeakable tortures on the teens, Ed confronts a horrifying secret about his connection to the beast – and realizes that he must find a way to stop its deadly mission before he becomes one with the creature forever. Also starring Jeff East (Deadly Blessing), Joel Hoffman (Slumber Party Massacre II) and Kerry Remsen (A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge), this “atmospheric, moralistic tale” (TV Guide) delivers demonic horror at its blood-drenched best.
‘Pumpkinhead’ marks the directorial debut of the incredibly talented Stan Winston, certainly known best for his numerous impressive achievements in effects. The film stars Lance Henrickson in the lead role of Ed Harley, a man who has lost his wife, but still lives a fairly happy life in a rural area with his son. After a group of careless teenagers accidently kill his son, he goes to a local woman known for using dark magic in the hopes she can revive him. While not able to get his initial wish, she resurrects the creature named Pumpkinhead to seek revenge on those who killed his boy. Once this evil demon begins to enact its bloody vengeance on Ed’s behalf he realizes just how wrong this truly is and attempts to help the teens in ridding the demon of this world, hopefully for good.
This Collector’s Edition marks the first time ‘Pumpkinhead’ has been released on Blu-Ray disc in glorious high definition and is surely a cause for celebration for fans of the series and Stan Winston. Scream Factory more than lives up to their impressive reputation delivering an absolutely phenomenal Blu-Ray release here. Not only does it include better video and quality than most likely imagined ever seeing this film in, it is overflowing with bonus content (detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). In short, fans will without question want to make certain to pick up a copy of this fantastic Blu-Ray release to add to their collections as soon as they’re able.
VIDEO:
The Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray release of ‘Pumpkinhead’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks absolutely magnificent, Scream Factory once again delivering a truly impressive transfer. The rich colors are sharp and everything is detailed and beautiful, even the numerous dark scenes look far better than one would imagine. This is a very impressive high definition video presentation that should have fans of the film thrilled.
AUDIO:
The Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray release includes both a lossless 5.1 & 2.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. I myself opted to watch with the 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA track which sounded pretty great overall. The audio is a tad quieter on this one than many Blu’s, so you may have to turn the volume up a bit from where you would normally have it, but nonetheless it sounds fantastic, all the effects and action sound discrete and clean, while never detracting from the audibility of the dialogue. As with the video presentation, fans should be very pleased with this DTS-HD MA soundtrack.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray release of ‘Pumpkinhead’ could not possibly be more jam packed with bonus content, including hours of behind the scenes content, new documentaries and so very much more. Included on the release is ‘Pumpkinhead: Unearthed’ which clocks in at over an hour and is compiled of multiple featurette’s including: ‘Evolution of a Demon’ ‘The Cursed and the Damned’ ‘The Tortured Soul of Ed Harley’ Razorback Holler’ and more. Also included is an audio commentary track featuring co-Screenwriter Gary Gerani & Creature & FXCreators Tom Woodruff Jr & Alec Gillis; Behind the Scenes footage from the film, the theatrical trailer, not to mention a number of brand new featurette’s and interviews newly created just for this release. These brand new features from Shout/Scream Factory include A New Tribute to Stan Winston with Lance Henrickson, Brian Bremer and a number of others; a featurette titled ‘The Redemption of Joel’ with John D’Aquino; ‘The Boy with the Glasses’ featurette with Matthew Hurley and believe it or not, even more. As you can see there is an insane amount of bonus content included on this Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray from Scream Factory that should have fans completely enthralled for hours on end alone.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
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