There’s nothing like a really good feature film about Halloween, but sometimes there’s also nothing wrong with short but sweet Halloween tales. “Pumpkin Man” from Director and Writer Alex Magaňa is a simple and short horror tale that works wonderfully as a treat for the holiday.
On Halloween Night, three teenage girls are pranking one another and decide to start smashing pumpkins. One of the friends warns that smashing pumpkins before midnight is bad news, as it’ll conjure up the Pumpkin Man, an ancient deity who takes human souls as replacements for the smashes pumpkins. Despite her protests, the smashing ensues as they dismiss her warnings as goofy urban legends.
“Pumpkin Man” is deep down a lot about respecting rituals and certain spiritual ideas. While it is definitely a horror movie first and foremost, it feels very inspired by RL Stine, who often writes stories about people that get comeuppance for show clear lack of respect. I wish the narrative could have been longer, and allowed the concept to breathe more with a better run time. Build up counts for a lot. But Alex Magaňa works on a small budget, so she pulls off some clever feats with such a small window.
Thankfully, the movie gets its point across well and does a great job giving us a horror monster that we never quite see. Despite that, the effect of the Pumpkin Man is fun and the pay off is deliciously spooky. Alex Magaňa has a talent for working with small budgets and limited settings, and “Pumpkin Man” is yet another really good horror tale.