Pumpkinhead 3: Ashes to Ashes (2006) Review

Dead and buried... but back with a vengeance!

Pumpkinhead 3 is a Sci-Fi original and a direct sequel to the original Pumpkinhead . Pumpkinhead 2 actually had nothing to do with the original storyline, it was just a random standalone movie that was made to be forgotten (think Nightmare on Elm Street 2 or Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4). Ashes to Ashes, however, is a direct sequel and even features the return of Lance Henriksen, the horror icon who played Ed Harley in the original. And speaking of horror icons, the crooked mortician is played by Doug Bradley who is better known as Pinhead from Hellraiser .

The setup for this movie is actually pretty good. There's this rural backwoods crematorium that's cutting out organs and dumping the bodies out back in the swamp (according to the story their cremation furnace was broke). During one particular dumping a guy walking his dog sees everything, makes a run for it, gets caught, has his liver cut out, somehow lives, makes another run for it, finds help and manages to rat out the body dumpers before croaking. Cops swarm the place, make arrests and send a team of people out to crawl the swamp looking for remains. Well, one guy wanders out a bit too far and finds the pumpkin patch that Pumpkinhead happens to be buried in and digs him up thinking he's a victim of the crematorium. Meanwhile, one local woman freaks out when she finds the remains of her own kid, crosses paths with the witch and begs her to resurrect Pumpkinhead to exact her revenge.

From this point the movie follows a similar path as the original, which is what I really liked about it. Ed Harley is back, the same witch from the original is back, even the catchy score is back. Overall I really liked this movie, it captured the vibe of Pumpkinhead perfectly and made for a fantastic sequel to a fun 80's creature feature . Sure, it's not the biggest budget horror movie you'll ever see, it's a Sci-Fi original after all, the same network that cranked out 6-Headed Shark Attack . But it gets the job done and is a movie I'll probably watch again someday.

Worth Watching?