A boy finds a strange book and reads the Latin, bringing about a small army of Pumpkinheads in the damned good, but lesser, sequel R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2. The Jem Garrard film is a Tubi Original.
Last year, writer-director Jem Garrard surprised me with their R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead, adapting the Goosebumps author’s short story (from The Midnight Hour anthology) into a straight-to-Tubi feature. It’s a great dash of kid-friendly folk horror with some surprisingly dark moments (and an ending). I’m glad to say the quick sequel is pretty damned solid. It might not be as strong overall; it’s a much smaller film in most ways, but it continues with good characters, strong kid performances, more impressive monsters, and a heaping dose of the Queen of Halloween herself: Cassandra Peterson, known to the normies as Elvira! [It should be obvious; I’ll say it anyway: there’s no connection to the four-film series of the same name, as much as I’d love to see Henriksen.]
It’s been a year since Sam and Becka broke Redhaven’s yearly ritual of sacrificing a kid to become a pumpkin, erasing the town’s memory of said kid but bringing about a bountiful harvest. The curse was gone, and so was the book of spells, but Sam is left with his family forgetting him, now living with last film’s exposition hermit and comedic relief, Rusty. With it still bothering him (of course it would), Sam keeps looking for the book to see if it can reverse just enough for his family to remember him. It’s going to be hard to find, as it’s now in the hands of lonely Evan, who is also reeling from family issues (with Becka permanently mad at her dad for starting the curse, lots of family threads here), orphaned and now abused by his uncle; he is desperate to find friends. Reading the Latin (uh oh), he brings about a collection of mute kids with pumpkin heads, who want more raised along with their vines spreading over town, or the portions of it we see. Samm, Becka, and Rusty research and regular-search, with help from the school’s new librarian, Cassandra, who hints she might know more than she’s saying.
If you were disappointed that “Pumpinhead” in the previous film was a weird-looking gourd in a barn and the monster rampaging around was a scarecrow (and an impressive physical performance at that), you’ll be happy to know this time features multiple actual Pumpkinheads. They, and their vines, are a fantastic set of physical and practical effects. I loved seeing the mass of present and real creatures doing their thing. The visuals of the vine-choked locations are effective, as is the film’s overall look. They set up fantastic shots of characters working through fog-choked woods, with plenty of autumnal goodness. Garrard gets the most out of the limited budget and, while “straight to Tubi”, never slumming. Like last time, it’s never overly scary, aimed at the younger crowd but not in a condescending way. A fine entry point, family-friendly feature.
However, in comparison to the first, Pumpkinhead 2 is smaller and more insular, which makes it feel more like an extended Goosebumps TV episode than a full movie, even with everything Garrald gives it. With the town and its folk-horror cult citizens left off-screen for most of the film and the focus on our pair, their helpers, and Evan and his Pumpkinheads, it could feel unrelated to the previous year’s events, aside from a few notes and character details. Additionally, there’s a story issue: we know Evan has the book and is raising these creatures, but Sam and Becka are unaware, leaving us watching them spin their wheels looking for a solution.
However, although the overall scale is diminished, the insular nature allows more character. Evan’s loneliness, connected and compared with Sam’s, is a strong driving force, and Sam’s struggle with his family’s forgetfulness gives actor Bean Reid more to chew on. I’m surprised he’s only been in these two films, as he’s very good. They all are. Adeline Lo is so good, and she only has these two and some shorts.. As Evan, Sebastian Billingsly-Rodirquez has a much longer resume and brims with natural talent. As for the adults, Matty Finochio walks the line between worried adult and relief, given his own moments. I loved seeing Cassandra Peterson as her Witch Librarian (don’t we all want to be one of those), far from the Elvira persona. However, her readings were rather wooden, which saddened me.
R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2, written and directed by Jem Garrard, continues the family-friendly folk horror of the first film, though scaled down in some ways (losing the town aspect and self-contained story) and up in others (more, rather impressive monsters) and characters. WIth rather good kid performances, a slew of monsters, and good-natured but not dismissive kid-friendly horror I can recommend the film. And another is already teased for next year, now with clowns! I’ll be there! Check out the film on Tubi!