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Black Pumpkin is a cringe-worthy horror film that is also a comedy. It seeks too much dependability on nostalgia from the 80s. Even though there could have been some chilling scenes and kills, the acting and writing were far too subpar. Black Pumpkin revolves around a group of young kids who unleash an evil force in their town on Halloween. In order to survive, the entire town must battle the teenage incarnation of a serial killer known infamously as “Bloody Bobby.”
There are so many other aspects in which this movie could have been made scarier. The imagery of Bloody Bobby is not only horrifying, but his character completely shatters all the hope I had for the rest of this movie. During the opening, I was startled at a particular scene and thought I would be in for a treat, but that did not end up being the case. I appreciate the work done on the synthesizer track, which contributed to the overly obvious 80’s style, but regretfully, these are the only redeeming aspects I can find in Black Pumpkin.
To begin with, this movie literally suffocates you with all the references it makes to 80s and horror movies.
Apart from the soundtracks, the three main leads Ellie Patrikios, Dogan Eyeler, and Gemma Brooke Allen are named Laurie, Elliot, and Regan. I believe these are clear references to Halloween, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and The Exorcist. Another reference was a short chase scene on a bike and in a van that was very reminiscent of E.T. It was nice to see that the movie went in a slasher film direction instead of a creature/monster one like showcased in Stranger Things, but I did think that the filmmakers were trying to take advantage of the 80’s explosion from the show. Many of the deaths, and even Regan’s Halloween costume, seem to take inspiration from the Friday the 13th series. However, I found it a bit peculiar for the movie to give off strong eighties vibes throughout yet having the story set in the modern day,” with constant references to smartphones and YouTube.
Black Pumpkin was in general a disastrous creation. The speech was so appalling that there really is no other word to describe it, but on second thoughts, I wish to be charitable and say that perhaps the actors had little material to work which harmed everyone’s performance.
That thematic element was the weakest one and was more frightening than anything that they attempted to show on screen.
Even in the dialogue, I noticed and cringed at how predictable and cliché some jokes were. While the first half of the film was not gleeful, its remaining half was funnier, but I was not laughing. Although the creators of the film had the last laugh in an over-the-top cliche manner, they genuinely had no idea how to combine elements of comedy and horror. The reason why Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, and Piranha 3D were big hits was because they had a strong understanding of the genre that they were creating. The plot was very poor. This film failed to set ground rules for Bloody Bobby. The idea behind him was just so random, and the black pumpkin, which is how the film refers to itself, was very selectively shown. The creator’s explanation was extremely vague, and for some reason was not clear on Bloody Bobby’s intent. Why did this family catch Bobby’s attention? Why N Halloween? Why that house? So many questions were left unanswered and hardly any possible explanation was given.
The dialogue was as poorly constructed as the rest of the film.
Indeed, some of the jokes made no sense. Some conversations were simply too dull or embarrassing. The dialogues and the ADR were not synchronized at all. The overall production looked too much like a school project. Even some of the edits were strange. The fright scenes and kills were far too fast-cut, and too close up so it was hard to tell what was going on. Except for two kills that were well done, most of the kills bored me. The first one was a clear reference to slashers from the 80’s which was great. The second one was unique and nice, but unfortunately, ruined by a terrible joke.
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