User reviews

This film begins with a man watching television at night when he hears a knock on the door. Upon opening it he finds a black jack-o-lantern on his porch and nobody else around. Since its Halloween he simply discards it as a prank. Minutes later he is stabbed in the head with an ice pick. Not only that, but when his daughter returns from work that night she is also killed by a shotgun rigged to go off when she opens the door. Ten years later another family has moved in with a pre-teen by the name of "Elliott Peterson" (Dogen Eyeler) and his best friend "Pork Chop" (Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick) doing some research for a school project about a supposedly haunted area near their town known as Diablo's Den. They are then warned by a man named "Alex Griffin" (Curt Clendenin) about a mysterious creature known as "Bloody Bobby" (Jo Osmond) who comes from out of nowhere and murders everyone he targets. Unfortunately, the warning comes too late as Bloody Bobby already has his sights set on certain victims. Now rather than reveal any more I kept wondering who specifically this film had as its intended audience. On the one hand it seemed geared toward a younger crowd but if so then some of the more violent scenes went a little too far. On the other hand, if it was geared toward an adult audience some of the scenes of a sexual nature were quite tame and rather uninteresting. That being said, I liked the manner in which the director (Ryan McGonagle) used suspense to sharpen the horror aspect from time to time. I also liked the addition of Ellie Patrikios (as "Laurie Peterson") who enhanced every scene she was in with her sexy demeanor. On the flip side, however, this film was plagued by slow parts and the lack of a consistent theme hampered the overall effect to a great degree. Perhaps if it had been less inconsistent I would have rated it higher.

Well, first of all I must say that I found the movie's cover to be interesting and somewhat offbeat and funny, and that was initially what lured me in to watch this 2018 movie from writer and director Ryan McGonagle.

Granted, I had never even heard about this 2018 movie prior to sitting down to watch it late in 2020, so I wasn't really sure what I was in for, nor what I should expect from the movie. So in that aspect, director Ryan McGonagle had every opportunity to impress and entertainment.

But that he failed to do.

"Black Pumpkin" was driven by a rather slow and rather pointless storyline; one that had mundane characters and offered nothing enjoyable to me. And I must admit that I didn't even finish the movie, as there was just simply nothing entertaining enough here to keep me interested in watching.

The characters in "Black Pumpkin" were flaccid and one-dimensional, and the actors and actresses were clearly struggling with a lack of proper script and dialogue, which ultimately reflected poorly on the movie as a whole.

While "Black Pumpkin" is not among the worst of horror movies that I have seen, it is surely not a noteworthy movie, nor is it a movie that I would recommend you spend your time, money or effort on. For a horror movie, "Black Pumpkin" just failed to deliver and impress.

My rating of "Black Pumpkin" shows a generous three out of ten once the innards of the pumpkin have been carved out and peeled away.

With jumpscares, fright and blood and gore, but its made on a mediated budget, and it clearly shines through that the ability is lower than the wish of competence. its like surviving in water, having learned to float you wont drown, but it doesnt make you a gold medalist in the olympics.

which brings me to the filmographic and audiographic impression and that really sucks an ice cube. with a nonsteady cam and a sound like living in a cardboard box makes this look so homemade and amateurish. so they are still on the learning curve.its shines through that this is a local production by some teater ensemble somewhere west usa.

story, plot and themes are generic for the genre, so are much of the acting, even though there are some talent among the young ones. i can tell that this one would have benefited some extra 5 mill ekstra $ to become rekcognized, so if you want a crappyfied halloween in front of the telly ,it wont be my primary recommend, but its ok if you like turkeys. a 5 from the grumpy old man.

Yes this is nothing but a sad run of the mill cheap, low budget movie. Move along folks, nothing to see here. YUCK. Boring.

With its soundtrack and general appearance, the film looks like a bad horror from the 80s. The actors deliver their dialogue in a bored manner and the characters are so clichéd that they cannot be taken seriously. Normally I watch films to the end to form a good opinion. I switched off this cheese after half an hour. The characters were so boring that I didn't care who lived or died. No development or interesting background.

For me the film was a waste of time, only the IMDB rating of almost 5 stars made me give it a chance. I guess the 10 star ratings are bought, or given by staff of the film.

Not an abhorrently bad film, just nothing new. Same old curse of Ye Olde Time gets brought back on halloween and ends at midnight, ooOOOOOoOO. You've seen it a million times before, but it doesn't even try outside of that.

It has the stock standard tropes, the same character archetypes, the same ambiguous ending for a sequel, this time provided that it's funded exclusively by people who still get scared at the concept of a monster in their closet.

The violence was largely off screen, and what was shown was incredibly tame. The deaths were very plain and a lot of subplot hooks were never followed up on, so when characters died it wasn't ' oh no, not that guy ' it was ' oh, look, that one died too '.

Ironically, it showed Night of the Living Dead on TV in the background numerous times - I really wish I'd just watched that again, and I'm sure you will, too, if you watch this. Don't bother.

Surely this was a film student's final project, right? I hope they got an F. Terrible.

Well, I tried but I know from past experiences with the filming and the cheesy background music this was most likely a dud. And it was, at least what I made myself sit through. Okay, I know I didn't see it to the end but for what? I can tell a badly made flick from a good one. This one wasn't even worth the effort to watch part of it IMO. Some may like it or find it entertaining. I did not. Honestly, wth is this supposed to be? Some 80's type style? Either way....no thanks.

The basic premise is a kid awakened an evil sprit. The kids are trying to uncover the legend as a school project. As the title say it's definitely a low budget film. Even though its a low budget movie, I found it very entertaining but flawed in the acting department (its props are not any better). Its a typical uncork'd entertainment movie. The company is known for cheap or bad movies. It a good slasher but has some slow moments because they talk way too much. As for the choreography it's actually pretty good. The kills are basic but its nice if you've see every well know horror movie. The sound quality (other then then montone voices) are good.

While filming a small documentary, a kid and his friends uncover the legend of the spirit of a young kid haunting their small town and inadvertently release it on Halloween night starting a bloody rampage throughout the town, forcing them to find a way to stop it before it strikes everyone.

This one was a pretty enjoyable effort. One of the strongest elements is the impressive setup that generates a lotto like about the small-town myth this one goes on. Offering up the local legend of the murderous kid who haunts the fabled part around the outskirts of town with a series of clues about his identity, the cause of the condition and his past antics in the opening attack that spells everything out. Given the actual documentary the kids produce and the later video report that gives the information needed for the pieces to fit together and fill in the story about the individual, this all works quite nicely. As well, the film has quite a lot to like with the actual ambush and attack scenes of the figure running around the town killing everyone. After the opening attack, nothing comes up until the massacre at the party on the grounds where he was resurrected, featuring a series of impressive attacks to knock them off one-by-one. The later scenes finishing off the friends in their home are really fun while the finale contains the massive assault on their home where everything comes to play in a series of fun stalking scenes, graphic kills and some wholly enjoyable stalking taking place. Combined with the stellar look of the killer, these offer up quite a lot to like while there are a few problems with this one. The main issue is the films' slow beginning that manages to hold off all the horror for so much of the beginning that it doesn't really register as one until it's quite a ways in. with the beginning half focused on the exploits of the kids filming their documentary and getting chased by the bullies, the backstory of the older sister and her friends with the other classmates and the general friendship between everyone, this series is quite enjoyable at immersing the viewer into their setup but otherwise not providing much else to bolster the genre feel here. The other issue to be had here is the rather overdone series of cliches and general familiarity that's featured here. The idea of the bullies tormenting the geeky kid brother, the local crazy person who spends the entire time telling crazy stories who's written off but is proven right, the dynamics between the family and the antics in the finale where it purposefully sets itself up for a sequel for no reason are all woven together into a story that's quite familiar and overdone. On top of that, the film's kills are wholly unrealistic with the graphic effects looking fake due to the bright red and unnatural blood used, rendering the effects comical as a result. These are what drag the film down as a whole.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and a clothed sex scene.

And that's about the best thing about the movie. That little tidbit of advice. Not really a good story. Not any good dialogue but that last line. Was pretty boring and uninteresting. Easily a pass. 3/10.

I have no problem with a cheap, low budget no movie star movie for Halloween, remember that was what "Halloween" was in the early 1980s! And "Night of Living the Death" was in the 1960s, but they had a good solid story and great performances by unknown actors. This movie has NONE of that!

The story line has so many unexplained portions to it that make no sense. One Example is that victims get a nosebleed before being attacked...no reason given and no connection to any aspect of the killer, the storyline or any event.

The cast is utterly devoid of any talent whatsoever and the horrible script makes their lack of acting talent all the more evident. The characters are cardboard cut outs with meaningless lines coming out of them.

The usual teen romance/sex is played so badly that it doesn't even look like the actors are enjoying it. Their deaths are not scary in the least, they elicit a ho hum response every time.

The two young boys and the kook warning them are laughably bad. The kook bugs his eyes out at several points which turns out to make him look like Weird Al Yankovich doing a parody expression.

And the boys look like they are reading their lines off of cue cards. The Pork Chop character seems to stumble over his lines and delivers them all in the same tone of voice, he is so inept that it is apparent he cannot even ride a bike. He struggles to pedal the bike and steer it - I might have assume this was a pretend matter to make his character look like an oaf, but it is too convincing to be an act.

The other boy is stiff and appears to very aware of the camera filming him. Sometimes his lines are garbled and you are not quite just what he just said.

By the ending you have NO idea who the killer is, what the killer is, where the killer came from, why it is killing people, how it got started killing and how it picks its victims.

The ending equally leaves you scratching your head wondering what it all meant...and why in the hell you didn't turn it off after the first ten minutes!!!

Black Pumpkin (2018) is a movie I recently watched on Amazon Prime and tells the tale of Bloody Bobby who is a about to be awakened in a small town and wreck havack on the local high school kids. This movie is directed by Ryan McGonagle (Legend of Fall Creek) and stars Ellie Patrikios (Snowfall), Matt Rife (Average Joe), Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick (Bad Girl) and Dogen Eyeler (Wildness). This film has a crazy bad intro and outro song that had me cracking up. Why did they add this element? The storyline is pretty cliche, the kills are mediocre, the blood and guts aren't well done and the masks/costumes are very cheaply executed. The acting is also bad and there isn't even good nudity to get excited about. Unfortunately this is another independent horror film that's a miss and not worth your time. I'd score this a 1/10 and recommend skipping it.

What a load of rubbish. Poor script, poor cgi, very poor special effects, but worst of all was the acting. The actor playing pork chops was the worst I've ever seen.

There is nothing I can recommend about this movie. It's one of them movies that all you want to do is fast forward to end to see how it finishes but once there you will wonder why you did

Think Penny on big band theory and the ape movie and the acting standards she portraits.

It would be hysterical funny if it wasn't supposed to be a authentic horror.

My advise would be to skip this and watch something like Seasame street as the characters in that are more scary and believable and act better.

The plot 7. The acting though besides the kid who played Porkchop is TERRIBLE. The main character Laurie is supposed to be 16/17 in the movie, it is so laughable that the actress playing her is 28 but looks well into her 30s.

Lame movie that could have been better if better actors were cast.

Obviously it's a low budget movie. That aside the movie itself was really good. Not a lot of depth as far as characters. But it's the kind of movie you could see yourself in as a kid. Not quite Stand By Me, but the kids were likeable. You've got nothing to lose but a little time.

Very fun, fast paced horror flick that doesn't try to be something this it's not. It's a funhouse of cheap thrills, jump scares, and Halloween fun. If you loved the 80s golden age of horror? You'll love this film.

Take it for what it is: a low-budget Halloween-style horror movie. With an unevent script, too many loose ends, story lines that lead nowhere, and dialogue that much of the time does little to help the actors.

But you know what? I give it a lot of points for making the best of its budget, for the obvious love of the genre and the 80s' horror,. And for Pork Chop who is definitely an 80s throwback and does some pretty good acting as well.

It won't win any Oscars, but I enjoyed watching it for what it is, not for what it isn't. And for that, it is above average.

I don't know if I was looking too hard for references to 80s horror, but I found quite a few. I just hope they were intentional and not me reading too much into it.

Yes it is a cheesy Halloween movie, yes it is made in the style of eighties movies, but it is a fun watch. The majority of the characters you like and root for. So sit back and enjoy a good popcorn flick for halloween.

I love horror films and have learned that low budget horror is usually a hit or a miss. Black Pumpkin doesn't try to be anything but a 90 minute funhouse ride, and that is why it is a hit.

After a kid goes missing in a Southern California town, the legend of 'Bloody Bobby' develops, fueled by some alarming slayings on a few Halloweens. Thirty years later, two You-Tubing boys inadvertently unleash the violent, malevolent spirit (?) once again.

"Black Pumpkin" (2018) is a low-budget Indie that comes in the tradition of the original "Halloween" and "Trick 'r Treat" (2007). It's similar to "The Barn" from two years prior, just with a more compelling script and better observance to the genre's staples. The trick or treat ambiance is great, as it was in "The Barn" and "Halloween," but this is the more entertaining movie, although "Halloween" is more artistic (naturally because it had John Carpenter and way more money with which to work).

Ellie Patrikios (Laurie) and Alix Lane (Ashley) stand out in the feminine department and the director doesn't fail to capture their beauty without getting too raunchy. Ellie was a little too old to play a high school girl, though, at 24-25 years-old during shooting, but that's not uncommon and this is just a cavil.

The antagonist is kinda reminiscent of Sam from "Trick 'r Treat," just fiercer. His violent streak coupled with a mischievous nature make for a memorable villain.

"Bloody Bobby" (2016) preceded this movie, but it's not necessary to see it to follow this one. A prequel came out in 2021, "Legend of Fall Creek," wherein the events take place after "Bloody Boody." This is the only movie I've seen in the franchise. It's self-contained.

It runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in Inglewood, California, which is 10 miles south of Hollywood.

GRADE: B.

Loved this movie took me back to 1980, it reminded me of Stephen King vs Goonies. Loved the kids Elliot and Pork Chop friendship. Elliot little sister was great. The story was well written