Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings Review
Although I've essentially seen both of these movies I'm choosing to review this one first. It's not because it was neither that popular enough to warrant a theatrical release (much like the sequel to Tremors) nor even because it was better than the first one. In fact my reason may even be debatable if not personal: the way Blood Wings handles the outcome of its tragedy works better as a horror film than the first. The first one was a mixture of the wrong kind of Alien cash-in with a precursor to the Pet Cemetery adaptation. It also starts and ends like your average revenge/horror flick. This is where Pumpkinhead 2 does what I can only deduce was a less successful (albeit still effectively unnerving take) on what 2007's Sweeney Todd did with revenge. Basically they both showed how it was a double edged sword by the end, Pumpkinhead 2 just goes to heartless yet sensical extremes, in order to underline that horror within the tragedy, by juxtaposing the line between victim and victimizer in order to destroy it. Obviously when I first saw this movie it didn't resonate with me as well as the first one. It's not that it's no longer uncomfortable to think about, it just isn't that bad compared to any other installment which wasn't even worth looking forward to. This is still just a movie that tries compared to the first one which legitimately accomplishes. And yet considering the decade it was released, if not the ones that followed, trying is more than one could be grateful for.