Director: Ryan McGonagle
Writer: Ryan McGonagle (Screenplay)
Starring: Kamilla Alnes, Lily Keene, Connor Weil, Matt Rife, Jordyn Lucas, Alix Lane, Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick, Dogen Eyeler
Plot: On October 31st, two preteens in a small town accidentally awaken an evil that has lain dormant for decades. They are forced to survive through a terrifying Halloween night of cat-and-mouse, from the monster known as “Bloody Bobby.”
Tagline – Evil comes knocking this Halloween.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Black Pumpkin starts when two kids, Elliot (Eyeler) and Lawrence (Kilpatrick) are working on a projected about the local myth of Diablo’s Den and Bloody Bobby, which will see their project going viral. Elliot’s sister Laurie (Patrikios) is dealing with the high school politics along with the babysitting duties put on her at Halloween.
The figure of Bloody Bobby has returned now and is looking to go on his Halloween killing spree, targeting the friends of Laurie with only the local crazy resident Alex Griffin (Clendenin) knowing the way to stop the killer.
Thoughts on Black Pumpkin
Characters – Elliot and Lawrence are the two pre-teeners that are doing a project on the Diablo’s Den area in their local town, they become a hit with their project, only it unleashes the monster known as Bloody Bobby, the two must figure out how to stop what they released. Laurie is Elliot’s big sister that is dating the high school football star and doesn’t take any nonsense from any of the school bullies picking on Lawrence, she is looking for a party but is left with babysitting duties on Halloween, becoming the target of Bloody Bobby.
Performances – The performances in this film are strong enough, the young stars bring the innocent approach to the film, while the high schools give the naughtier side of the film too blending the style of the slasher horror.
Story – The story here follows two pre-teeners who are doing a project for school, which will accidently see them bring an evil spirit back to life, to go on a new killer spree through the town, targeting the loved ones of the two boys. This is a story that does seem to get caught up in what it wants to be, the Laurie side of the story brings the high school slasher story to life with plenty of blood, but the over targeting on what the two boys are up to seem to target more on the younger horror audience, only the violence won’t get seen by them. When we look at just the slasher side of things, we get an enjoyable horror that is similar to what we have seen before, with a unique killer in Bloody Bobby too.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from the slasher blood kills, which works for the tone of the film, with one kills being planned for so much it might well have just happened then instead of waiting for the obvious to happen.
Settings – The film does give us a small-town setting which will show us the myths and legends a town can always shave about them.
Special Effects – The effects are basic, with the close ups of the injuries, with the big, planned kill not looking great as it is planned for.
Scene of the Movie – Trick or treating night.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Gets caught up in the middle of being an entry level horror and a full blown slasher.
Final Thoughts – Black Pumpkin is a fun little slasher, with a fresh killer that could be enjoyed every Halloween.
