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Page 10 - The Michigan Daily- Fr
'Tis the
season
for
horror
BY MARK SHAIMAN
WITH the approach of Halloween,
it is only natural that films about the
supernatural should seem to appear
out of nowhere and fill the local
movie screens. Pumpkinhead is the
first movie of this genre so far to hit
town for the holiday, and as far as
films concerning demons that rip
humans apart, this one is as good to
take a date to as any.
A group of city kids on their way
to a vacation in a backwoods town
accidently cause the death of a small
boy. The boy's father, played by
Lance Henriksen (better known as the
Sigourney-Weaver-saving android Bi-
shop in Aliens) invokes a demon to
take revenge on the guilty parties.
The demon's name is Pumpkin-
head, which sounds very childish, but
this is intentional. The demon is
supposed to be the incarnation of a
"monster-under-the-bed" like creature
that parents invent to scare their
children into doing good. As the
legend goes, the demon comes to life
in a local pumpkin patch cemetery
- definitely not the place where
Linus stays awake each Halloween
Henriksen hits
with Head role
BY MARK SHAIMAN
In Pumpkinhead, this unfortunate woman finds out that there is a Great Pumpkin.
Eve to greet the Great Pumpkin.
Pumpkinhead looks much like the
creature from Aliens, but the
coincidence is not surprising. Stan
Winston, who won an Oscar for his
special effects work on that film, not
only served in the same capacity on
this movie, but also developed the
story and directed the picture.
The major physical difference
between the two creatures, apart from
the fact that this demon is only about
8 feet tall, lies in the facial features,
especially the mouth. Whereas the
alien has a set of incisors rivaling
those of Jaws, Pumpkinhead has
only an evil grin, and even though
this is not life-threatening, it is often
as frightening.
The one twist to this story is the
presence of a direct link between the
father and the demon. With the help
of a backwoods witch, who looks
like something right out of Macbeth,
the demon is called upon in the name
of the father, and from that point on
the fates of the two are inextricably
linked. Thus, as Pumpkinhead begins
his killing rampage, the father
realizes what exactly he has caused3
and, more importantly, that revenge
is not sweet.
Fortunately the film does not
place much importance on this mes-
sage. Instead, it relies on the special
effects, and the production values are
quite high, especially for a film that
cost only $3.5 million. Pumpkin-
head is much scarier than his name
would imply, and Winston is skilled
enough to never allow the audience
the opportunity to doubt its reality
Where the film falls short is in
the supporting cast. Lance Henriksen
is deft at being both a caring father
and then a vengeful man, but the
actors who portray the group of city
kids almost deserve the fates of their
characters. Then again, it doesn't take
much talent to be brutally murdered.
Pumkinhead is a visually plea-
sing film if you like to see good
special effects and mangled bodies
But there won't be much to see if
you are looking for story or character
development because once the demon
comes to life, these elements suffer a
quick death. And so do most of the
cast.
Lance Henriksen is best known for his role as the android Bishop in
Aliens, but in his new film,Pumpkinhead, he has the lead role.
"It was a real odd thing. My agent sent me the script and said 'Listen
Lance, you don't have to take this movie seriously, but it's a movie called
Pumpkinhead. And she was real snobby about it. And I said 'No, give me
the script, I want to read it.' So I got the script and when I read it I saw Stan
Winston's name among five writers." Winston had been head of the special
effects crew on Aliens, so he and Henriksen had previously worked together.
Henriksen plays Ed Harley, the father of an accidently murdered boy, who
invokes a demon to avenge his son's death. The father-son relationship in
the film interested Henriksen enough to pursue the matter and he contacted4
Winston. "So I said 'Stan did you have a part writing this thing?' And Stan
has a real wry sense of humor and he says to me 'Well, yeah, do you like
it?' And I said 'As a matter of fact, yeah I do like it.' And he said 'It's yours'
and he hung up.I
"The next day I'm walking around the house and I'm thinking 'Wait a
minute, what did I do? What did I say?' So then we started working on it and
it was great.sBut I got an immediate case of "What am I going to do with
this? What is it? What am I going to play? You simply begin, one little
piece at a time, and you start building the guy. The first thing I did was go
out and get some workboots. And I got out a pick-axe and started digging a
hole in my backyard. I swear. 'Cause I wanted blisters, I wanted my hand
ruined for the part."
But a little physical work is not new to Henriksen, who has done some of
his own stunt work. "The worst stunt I ever did was jumping out of a
helicopter from about 45-50 feet into the ocean fully dressed. I'll never forget
it as long as I live. You step out on the runner and the prop wash is making
a vortex that is dead silent ... And I stepped off and I was still falling. I
couldn't believe it, I'm still falling. And then I hit the water. Fully clothed,
I had to swim to this boat with boots on. I was trying to swim, and I had
the wind knociked out of me hitting the water. Turns out they dropped the
camera in the water and I had to do it again anyway."
.In Pumpkin head, he was also called on to do unexpected work. "I did thel
voice to the monster, too. It was synthesized. I loved finding the voice for
him. I didn't know what it was going to soundt like."
1And when acting in a film that is effects-oriented, the performer
sometimes doesn't know what it's going to look like either. But this doesn't
bother Henriksen. "I love it. It's creating a new mythology. And that's very
exciting. It's not a rubber suit anymore." But he admits that "it is ponderous
sometimes because of the amount of time it takes to set up a shot and you
have to be really ready and you have to get that chance because it will take
the same amount of time to set that shot up again. With cables and this and
that. And finally they say 'Action. Lance, get in there. Your kid's just died.'
And then this rubber head comes running at you."
The sense of fatherly protection found in his characters may actually stem
from his own life; when asked if he had any children of his own, Henriksen
was quick to pull out a picture and display his 14 month old daughter,
Alchemy - so named because she is a mix of he and his wife.
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Trees
Continued from Page 8
sixtoid punkly thrash, the lyrics pile
up, cascading headlong into one an-
other until you think that the singing
just can't continue of the wailing of
the band. It does however, and this
creates a constant tension, a feeling
that each song is on the verge of
falling apart, that is simply amazing.
It's weird; but when I listen to
Screaming Trees, I'm gripped by a
need to listen to each song again and
again just to make sure that what I
heard is as really great as it seemed a
second ago. This phenomenon is
most evident on the deeply layered
Invisible Lantern. Tunes like "Walk
Through to This Side," "Grey Dia-4
mond Desert," "S mokerings," and
"Invisible Lantern" have a mysteri-
ous, uplifting quality that makes
them seem like songs the feelies
would play, if dusted and cranked full
of methamphetamine.
The Screaming Trees are without
a doubt one of the best aggros n
America.:In the conventional but in-
tensely burning genie, the Trees are
right up there with the Texas Instru-
ments and Dinosaur. I shit you riot,
they are that good.
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W. W.