The 80s horror movie Pumpkinhead is to get the reboot treatment. The 1989 movie, which was directed by the legendary Stan Winston, will get an overhaul very soon, so reports Entertainment Weekly.
Saw franchise executive producer Peter Block has bagged the rights to the property and shooting is set to kick off in 2017.
Here’s the plot of the original.
After his son dies in a hit-and-run accident, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) seeks revenge against the teenagers responsible. With the help of a local witch (Florence Schauffler), Ed summons the vengeful demon Pumpkinhead to hunt and kill the group of friends. But when Ed discovers a bond between himself and the creature, he begins to have second thoughts about employing the vicious monster, and he fights to end Pumpkinhead’s murderous rampage before it is too late.
Block spoke with EW about his plans.
“Pumpkinhead is one of my favorite horror films of the late ’80s, early ’90s,” he said. “Stan Winston sits on that Mount Rushmore of iconic filmmakers because of his creature designs, and that was his first directing effort. The creature’s great but the emotional story is wonderful as well. I got the rights to Pumpkinhead, and hooked up with a great young writer called Nate Atkins, and we developed our script, which is really solid.”
Block also revealed his plans for the tone and content of the new movie.
“There is a similarity of theme and a similarity of story. There’s a lot of Easter eggs for people who know the original — iconic shots and iconic lines that we’re going to use. But we’ve enhanced the setting, and we’ve expanded the characters somewhat, to give it a different kind of experience.”
The hunt is now on for a director for the new movie, but Block is adamant that the new film will be light on CGI and use practical effects as a respectful nod to Winston, the pioneer in creature effects. More at the end of the link above.
