A deformed kid named Tommy, who lived with his mom in the woods, was murdered by some punks long along. Fast-forward to present time, and a bunch of reckless teenagers steal some raise-the-dead-potion from an old witch (that just so happens to be Tommy's mom) and manages to raise her dead son who comes back in the form of a demon that is Pumpkinhead. Not only that, but the teens also manages to set the old lady's house on fire and leaves her in there to burn as the flames devours her home. Now, since Pumpkinhead's the demon of vengeance, he sets out to catch and kill those who once killed Tommy and after he's all done with them, he goes after the kids that brought him back to life and messed with his mom.
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is just as stupid as it is entertaining, and while it is pretty entertaining, it's obviously also pretty stupid; a lot of that due to that it's filled with plot-holes. If you're a fan of the original Pumpkinhead and horror flicks in general, then there are two ways to watch this film, with the first one being to complain about all its faults, errors and the fact that it seems like Jeff Burr and c/o never watched the original film, or at least that they didn't pay attention when they watched it. The second one being to just watch it for what it is, and that is a fairly entertaining horror film from the mid 90's that has a little of this, a little of that to offer, while trying not to be too bothered with all those holes it gets stuck in along the way.
Even though we're dealing with a sequel here, the movie pretty much ignores the story of the first film, borrows whatever it feels like and re-writes the rest the way it feels like. All that aside, I must still say that Blood Wings is a pretty fun movie to watch, it's easy to get into, has good pacing, and while it might not be very rewarding in the end, at least the 88 minutes spent doesn't feel like a complete waste.
 
The intro of the movie is something really special though and I had forgotten just how brutal it was. It starts off with a flashback to the 50's something where we get to see a deformed kid hanging out in the forest. A minute later a bunch of punks shows up and starts chasing the little guy and when they catch him, they cut him up, hang him to die and then drops the body into an old iron mine. It's brutal stuff and with it being pretty darn graphic as well, it's actually a bit shocking to watch. Now, since stuff like that is somewhat of a turn-on for a lot of horror fans, it of course gets your attention and you find yourself waiting for what will come next. But there's not too much horrific content after that very scene, of course Pumpkinhead rips a few people apart, but you never get to see much and it's never that interesting anyway.
The cast of the film is actually not too bad, but I wonder what the hell Roger Clinton (yes, ex-president Bill's brother) had to do in it. He has his usual mullet on and plays the mayor of a small town, but neither looks nor acts like a mayor in a very convincing way. He's not in the film much though, and when he appears, just take it for what it is - some cheesy fun. Trevor Edmond (Return of the Living Dead 3) is pretty darn great as one of the reckless teens, well, infact the one who's the most reckless of them all. Andrew Robinson (The Puppet Masters, Child's Play 3, Hellraiser) does an all right job as the new sheriff in town, although he doesn't seem to be aware of that you're not supposed to discuss police business in your own home with your family being present. Ami Dolenz does a good job playing the sheriff's daughter who's one of the teens - although she a bit more concerned about things than the rest.
Blood Wings is definitely not a great film, but it does provide some good horror entertainment. While it might be way off at times, it still has a few things going for it with the very intro of the film also being the highlight. Good enough to rent on a slow sunday afternoon or something like that.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Pumpkinhead 2: The Demon Returns
The Revenge of Pumpkinhead: Blood Wings
MOVIE YEAR: 1994
DIRECTOR: Jeff Burr
WRITING CREDITS: Constantine & Ivan Chachornia
GENRE: Horror
CAST: J. Trevor Edmond, Ami Dolenz, Andrew Robinson
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 88 min
RATING: 5/10
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings Website/IMDB Click here
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings Trailer Click here
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