Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994) is a horror movie and the first sequel to Pumpkinhead.
A group of thrill-seeking teenagers accidentally run over an old witch who once sought to resurrect her dead son, but realized that he would come back as an unstoppable demon. The teenagers steal her book of spells and resurrect the demon, which proceeds to go on a killing spree.
It's also the basis for the FMV videogame Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge, perhaps because of the presumably cheap license.
This film provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Both Judge Dixon and his son Danny.
- Big "NO!": Two instances of it:
- The first is by Tommy when the Red Wings drop him down the mine for being physically deformed.
- The second is by Sean when the judge's posse shows up and starts opening fire on Pumpkinhead.
- Came Back Wrong: Pumpkinhead was originally a mentally disabled boy who was killed by a group of teenagers in the 1950s. His distraught mother researched witchcraft to find a way to bring him back, but opted against it because it would revive him as an unstoppable demonic killing machine. Of course, our stupid main characters decide to do just that.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: After being riddled with bullets and hung at the end of the film, Pumpkinhead explodes into a ball of flame.
- Dolled-Up Installment: Blood Wings was retooled into a Pumpkinhead film overnight by its writer according to director Jeff Burr.
- Human-Demon Hybrid: Tommy was an orphan who the witch took in, and she reveals the he was a product of Pumpkinhead by some random human woman.
- In Name Only: The only thing this and the first film have in common is the titular Pumpkinhead creature itself, and even its origins are different from before.
- I've Come Too Far: This is Danny's reasoning for summoning Pumpkinhead, even though there was nothing stopping them from just walking away.
- Laser-Guided Karma: A man organizing cockfights gets his head rammed into his chicken coop, where the terrified chickens peck out his eyes and slash up his face.
- Milking the Monster: Mayor Bubba tries to stop the sheriff from killing Pumpkinhead because he thinks having an unstoppable demon rampaging around the town would be good for tourism. Though he at least says that he doesn't believe in demons and seems under the impression that they're just dealing with some sort of wild animal, which he presumably thinks they could put down in case it became too dangerous.
- Numbered Sequels: The only one of the three sequels to actually have a number in its title. The following two sequels didn't bother doing this, probably so as to make it easier to consign this film to Canon Discontinuity status.
- Only Sane Man: The Sheriff. It helps that he's played by Andrew Robinson, who may be letting his own incredulity at the script seep into his performance.
- Pet the Dog: Pumpkinhead spares the Sheriff's daughter because he befriended him back when he was Tommy.
- Seeks Another's Resurrection: In the backstory a disabled teenage boy is murdered by a group of greasers. His distraught mother then researches witchcraft for the next several years (she's completely unrelated to the woods witch from the first film, btw) to bring him back from the dead, but decided against it when she found out that his restless spirit would be reincarnated as an unstoppable demonic monster, making her a subversion. But rather than destroying any of her work, she just leaves the spellbook lying around in her cabin so a bunch of drunk assholes (our main characters, folks) can steal them and revive Pumpkinhead anyway.
- Suit with Vested Interests: Mayor Bubba opposes the plan to kill Pumpkinhead because he thinks it could be the next Bigfoot or Loch Ness monster and put their town on the map.Sheriff Braddock: People have DIED here! You do realize that, don't you?Mayor Bubba: Tragedy, ain't it? Well, so is the budget of this here town.
- Teens Are Monsters: This movie's Pumpkinhead started out as human, who was brutally beaten and hanged by a group of rowdy teens. A different group of rowdy teens ends up being responsible for the death of his adoptive mother several decades later.
