Students whose pumpkin cravings were not satisfied by the muffins from the Blue Room certainly got their fill Friday evening. To kick off Halloween weekend, the Arkham Film Society and Malachi's cafe presented a screening of the 1988 horror flick "Pumpkinhead" in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.
The film's plot was original if not thrilling — teenagers accidentally kill a man's beloved son while drunkenly riding dirt bikes. The man wants revenge on the teenagers, so naturally he goes to a witch who magically connects his vengeful wishes to a giant pumpkin-headed demon. Pumpkinhead destroys each teenager until the man, disgusted by what this brutal extension of his psyche is doing, puts an end to the monster in one last gory scene.
It is easy to see how the film has garnered a cult following: It is a movie about a giant pumpkin-headed demon that hunts down annoying teenagers. But it is equally as easy to understand why the general public gave it a lukewarm reception: It is a movie about a giant pumpkin-headed demon that hunts down annoying teenagers.
The film's main problems are that it is too sad to be fun and too unrealistic to be scary. Almost all of the movie's scenes are slow-moving and darkly lit. But rather than creating an aura of suspense, they create one of gloom. The scene of the son's death is depressing, not foreboding.
That said, "Pumpkinhead" manages to entertain. The startling bursts of creepy music coupled with the main character's chilling stares of hate are enough to induce shivers, while some of the monster's scenes have enough blood to satisfy the gore-crazy.
The highlight of Friday's event though, was the half-hour trailer show preceding the film. The trailers, selected by the film society, included unsettling previews for 1970s and 1980s cult horror films such as "Three on a Meathook" and "Critters." The snapshot of each film gave viewers both a sense of the genre and the creeps.
Josh Gravel, co-founder of the Arkham Film Society, said he and a friend established the society, devoted to "cult horror and exploitation films," after helping independent local filmmakers set up screenings and working at The Rhode Island International Film Festival.
"We decided we wanted to do something on our own," Gravel, 34, said. The society's name pays tribute to Rhode Island native H.P. Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham, a location in many of his horror and science fiction stories.
Gravel said in addition to hosting two or three events in Providence, the society also consults with smaller film festivals in the area.
This was their first event at Brown. Gravel works as a projectionist in the Granoff's auditorium. Not wanting the space to go to waste, he asked to show screenings on nights when the theater was not booked.
"Pumpkinhead" was presented in its original form on 35 mm film. "There's something warm and old-fashioned about actual film," Gravel said. "There is an advantage to seeing films with an audience. Every money shot that we remember seeing — a big part of that was also the theater experience. There's something really communal about that."
He said he also plans to screen "Night of the Hunter" on 35 mm — rather than digital — film Nov. 12 and is in talks to bring Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton to campus in December to show his films and speak.
For students who missed the screening but still want to enjoy themed movies before the holiday's end, Gravel recommends the 1978 "Halloween," "Trick or Treat," "Suspiria" and the 1931 "Frankenstein."
