Pumpkinhead
by Stan Winston
from MGM (Video & DVD)
A starkly original visual treat, this Halloween-themed exercise in terror is uncommonly well made, seeking to add yet another creature to horror film lore. A group of teenagers camping in a remote mountain resort accidentally kill a boy and cover it up, and his aggrieved father (Lance Henriksen) vows revenge. Enlisting the help of a local witch, he conjures up a mythic demonic monster to kill those responsible for his son's death. The plot and dialogue are not very original, but the creepy mood and some fine work by director Stan Winston (the special effects whiz behind Jurassic Park) make Pumpkinhead an eerie gothic horror tale and great viewing for Halloween nights. --Robert Lane
Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Millenium ) stars in this vivid, stylish, atmospheric (The Hollywood Reporter) and heart-poundingly scary fright fest directed by four-time OscarÂ(r)winner* Stan Winston and written by Mark Patrick Carducci and Gary Gerani. When a group of rambunctious teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley (Henriksen) seeks the magic of a backwoods witch to bring the child back. But when she tells him the child's death is irrevocable, his grief develops into an all-consuming desire...for revenge! Defying superstition, he and the witch invoke 'the pumpkinhead a monstrously clawed and fanged demon which, once reborn, answers only to Ed's bloodlust. But as the invincible creature wreaks its slow, unspeakable tortures on the teens, Ed confronts a horrifying secret about his connection to the beastand realizes that he must find a way tostop its deadly mission before he becomes one with it forever! *1986: Visual Effects, Aliens; 1991: Visual Effects, Make-Up, Terminator 2: Judgment Day; 1993: Visual Effects, Jurassic Park
The Omega Code
by Robert Marcarelli
from Good Times Video
When it was released in 1999, The Omega Code surprised Hollywood by scoring $2.4 million in its opening weekend, following a promotional blitz on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The Christian televangelical outlet, which funded this chaotic biblical thriller, had built widespread awareness among its viewership, and the film attracted an appreciative Christian audience. While it's true that The Omega Code offers a wealth of biblical prophecy that Christians will study for years, it remains a pedestrian, headache-inducing movie that's too busy "decoding" the Bible to make any dramatic sense. With a cast that could populate an Aaron Spelling miniseries, it's too badly written to inspire serious religious discussion, and not terrible enough to qualify as entertaining schlock. It's just painfully, pretentiously bad.
Rife with snippets from the book of Revelation, the convoluted plot finds a famous motivational speaker and "Bible Code" expert (Casper Van Dien) under the influence of an ultra-wealthy philanthropist (played by ultra-hammy Michael York) who schemes to crack the Bible's secret codes and take over the world. He's a vessel for the Antichrist (with snidely Michael Ironside as his henchman), and by the time Van Dien gets a clue from a pair of resurrected prophets, The Omega Code has jettisoned any pretense of religious importance. Rather than dare a meaningful examination of faith and the power of evil, the movie opts instead for cheesy pyrotechnics, hackneyed action, and enough bad acting to make Arnold Schwarzenegger's End of Days look like a masterpiece. Do you want to feel closer to God? Just read your Bible, forget about the code, and avoid this gawd-awful movie. --Jeff Shannon
Campfire Tales
from New Line Home Video
Teenagers telling ghost stories while stranded in the middle of nowhere sets the scene for this collection of horror tales such as a girl terrorized by a psycho she "met" on the Internet and a biker visiting a haunted farmhouse.
A Girl of the Limberlost
by Burt Brinckerhoff
from Bonneville Ent.
Early in the 1900s, a rural Indiana girl seeks to get an education and follow her dreams in spite of the obstacles that surround her. Elnora Comstock's fascination with nature feeds her desire to get an education, but her widowed mother calls her goal of attending high school a foolish dream. Elnora finds comfort in the intricate world of the Limberlost and her friendship with wealthy naturalist, Mrs. Porter. When unexpected taxes come due on the farm, Elnora's mother needs help bringing in the harvest. Elnora must give up school to save their home. As Elnora fights to rescue her dreams, she discovers a world of opportunity and learns truth behind her mother's anger and her own mysterious past.
Mad Cowgirl (Special Edition)
by Gregory Hatanaka
from Cinema Epoch
Sarah Lassez (Nowhere, The Blackout, Until the Night) delivers a star-making performance as Therese, an ass-kicking health inspector with a failed marriage, an on-going affair with a creepy televangelist, nymphomania, and an obsession with old kung-fu movies. Further complicating her life is a very questionable relationship with her brother Thierry (James Duval from The Doom Generation and Donnie Darko), a meat importer who may (or may not) have infected her with mad cow disease. Mad Cowgirl is practically impossible to describe, but it's a Narrative - Experimental - Art - Comedy - Horror - Tragedy - Kung Fu epic that features multiple languages, a flying guillotine, the old ultraviolence and Walter Koenig (Cmdr. Pavel Chekov) as a slimy sex-addicted preacher. Great Scott!
Fade
by Anthony Stagliano
from Cinema Epoch
Arthur Dichter thinks he is dying from insomnia, but the reality is much more frightening. He wanders the streets, finding new ways to keep his body moving, even self-mutilation. Doctors think he may be suicidal. His wife, Anna denies it, knowing he is in a waking nightmare where delusions and reality become more and more indistinguishable. As his disease gives way to despair, loneliness and alienation, he and Anna hang on to their last shred of hope until the bitter end.
Pumpkinhead
by Stan Winston
from Tartan
A starkly original visual treat, this Halloween-themed exercise in terror is uncommonly well made, seeking to add yet another creature to horror film lore. A group of teenagers camping in a remote mountain resort accidentally kill a boy and cover it up, and his aggrieved father (Lance Henriksen) vows revenge. Enlisting the help of a local witch, he conjures up a mythic demonic monster to kill those responsible for his son's death. The plot and dialogue are not very original, but the creepy mood and some fine work by director Stan Winston (the special effects whiz behind Jurassic Park) make Pumpkinhead an eerie gothic horror tale and great viewing for Halloween nights. --Robert Lane
Trial By Fire
+++
