4 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. NEW EDITION-FINEST FILM COLLECTION EVER ASSEMBLED LI L OPERS a Not Available on Video Never Shown on TV THE KEVOLUTION WILL BE LIVE!I!! ALL 3 OUTRAGEOUS BLOOPER REELS, IN COLOR es se***** S 00000000 PLUS! mooooo oo-oooo * * a * WITH BLOOPERS5 REELS) Dick Van Dyke, Monty Python, Ronald Reagan Reels Angell Hall Auditorium A Thursday - Friday Oct. 13-14 7 and 9 p.m. Each Night GIL SCOTT-HERON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 8:00PM MENDELSSOHN THEATRE, ANN ARBOR CHARGE BY PHONE: 763-TKTS DETROIT AREA: 423-6666 TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE MICHIGAN UNION TICKET OFFICE AND ALL ___5 sna ECLIPSE PROGRAMS ARE MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY GRANTS FROM: Nehlenel ,/!Endowment " re "e ( ee fp the 4nArli aNn .-\ 0 ,£|-.I- 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. RIIIAI:::::: :Mij igljgs; x.000. "k., W rp W. W.