Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings [Blu-Ray]
Director: Jeff Burr
Cast: Andrew Robinson, Ami Dolenz, Soleil Moon Frye
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
When five teenagers unwittingly resurrect a demon, nobody is safe from the creature’s bloody rampage. But this monster is different – inside its demonic form 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.
The sequel to Stan Winston’s well revered classic monster film ‘Pupkinhead II: Blood Wings’ may be very different from its predecessor in a number of ways (surely in large part due to the fact Winston, Henrickson and most others didn’t return for the sequel, as well as it being a straight to video release I believe), but it nonetheless remains a great deal of fun in its own ways. Jeff Burr (director of ‘The Stepfather 2’; ‘Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III’ and a number of others) takes the reigns as director for the sequel and the cast includes a number of well known individuals, including the likes of Andrew Robinson, Kane Hodder, Linnea Quigley, R.A. Mihailoff and a few others. While the acting is significantly worse than the first time around (at least in regards to the main cast) and the atmosphere isn’t nearly as menacing or visually stunning, ‘Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings’ still delivers a fun and often times funny (even if unintentionally) horror film, complimented by some solid blood, gore and creature effects.
Following their release just a short while back of the original ‘Pumpkinhead: Collector’s Edition’ on Blu-Ray (click here to read my review of that release), Scream Factory now brings home the sequel to the classic creature feature to join its predecessor in beautiful high definition video and audio; finally available to own on another great Blu-Ray release from Scream/Shout Factory. In addition to gorgeous high definition video and audio, the release includes a number of fantastic bonus features you won’t want to miss out on, including Behind The Scenes Footage, a detailed interview with the director clocking in at over an hour and more (detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below) making this an absolute must own for fans of the franchise; they will definitely want to make certain to pick up a copy of the Blu-Ray release as soon as possible to join its predecessor in their collection.
VIDEO:
Scream Factory’s Blu-Ray release of ‘Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty fantastic with the colors and movement, along with background detail and everything else present on the screen looking sharper than ever, detailed and just overall pretty gorgeous. No notable faults could be found within on my end and fans should be more than content with what is yet another impressive high definition video presentation from the folks over at Shout/Scream Factory.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release includes a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo Soundtrack which sounds pretty solid and impressive as a whole. The film’s score along with the screams, cars rumbling and gunshots ringing out all sound smooth, crisp and clean; better than I would have imagined this film ever sounding to be honest. The dialogue is always easily audible throughout any scene and as a whole this is a mostly solid DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack that should keep most folks quite pleased.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Scream Factory’s Blu-Ray release of ‘Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings’ includes a number of impressively detailed, entertaining and informative bonus content. The Blu-Ray release includes Commentary with Director Jeff Burr as well as an incredibly lengthy and informative interview with Burr running over an hour in length titled ‘Making Movies with Jeff Burr’. Also included is ‘Re-Creating the Monster’ which includes over 30 minutes of interviews with a number of the individuals responsible for bring the creature Pumkinhead (back) to life for the sequel. Lastly we are treated to 17 minutes of ‘Behind the Scenes’ footage from the film which should be a treat for the fans.
*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.