Written by John Edward BetancourtCaution: This article contains minor spoilers for the motion picture, ‘Black Pumpkin’. What’s truly fascinating about the urban legends we hear about in our youth, is that we tend to take for granted how helpful they are in forming who we are as adults. Because despite the scares they tend to send our way, they oddly offer up some fascinating lessons about life. Take for instance the age-old story revolving around the poor driver that is seemingly being chased by someone that keeps blasting their high beams as they follow them home, only for the driver to discover that their pursuer wasn’t trying to scare them or cause them harm. Instead, they were working to save their lives since there is a maniac hiding in their backseat, one that tried to hurt them and only backed off when the high beams came into play. Which is at its core, a story that is designed to remind us to take a moment and check out our surroundings, so that we don’t find ourselves in a precarious or dangerous situation and that is quite the important lesson to learn for certain, and that's not the only urban legend that offers up a little life learning for us. But rather than spend our time breaking down the messages of the endless urban legends that are out there, for the sake of today’s discussion, it’s more important that we reflect upon the fact that they leave one important lesson out of their overall structure. In that… what exactly do we do to truly combat the evil they speak to? Because they simply end once the big lesson has arrived and well, sometimes the ending of these tales, leave the main character in a supremely dangerous place. Which makes these stories slightly flawed for certain, since a quick lesson on what to do with the evil in question… could also serve us well down the line and really, all of this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because there is a brand-new horror film on the market, that takes the time to explore how this lack of closure in an urban legend can cause more harm than good, in Black Pumpkin. Now in this particular film we are introduced to pair of kids named Elliot and Porkchop, who are working hard to put together a fascinating video, that revolves around the shadier aspects of their hometown. For a place on the outskirts of town known as ‘Diablo’s Den’ has quite the storied history, one that they definitely believe is worth sharing with the world. And while they do a phenomenal job of chronicling its twisted history, Porkchop’s desire to add some aesthetics to the video has inadvertently caused some trouble. For an urban legend known as Bloody Bobby lurks within the shadows of Diablo’s Den and if by chance his name is invoked and there is an invitation toward violence placed within his domain, he can awaken and murder with glee and unfortunately for Elliot and his family, Porkchop's overzealous desire to assemble the coolest video ever, has indeed awakened this monster from its slumber. So, the first thing that really allows for this movie to stand out, is the solid job that it does in regard to building up the legend of Bloody Bobby.. Because he is indeed a grand and sweeping mystery, and has all the rules and regulations and problems that one might expect from an urban legend of his caliber and that allows for all kinds of gory hijinks to ensue. But there was mention of the fact that this movie explores the consequences of how urban legends offer little closure or guidance on how to truly conquer the monsters they create and that's really where this construction comes into play. For there is zero understanding, in regard to how to stop his rampage, outside of just surviving until midnight and that makes him quite the unique villain. Because often times in horror films, the monster has a weakness, or there is a process for removing their evil from the face of the earth. But here, Bobby is nothing more than a force of nature, one that loves to make people bleed and scream in pain and that makes this a violent and visceral and hopeless horror film for certain, one that pays great respect to the genre. Because there are a lot of Easter eggs present in this film, the kind that tip a proverbial cap to genre greats such as George A. Romero and John Carpenter. In fact, Romero’s work is featured and referenced often in this film, with the movie even going so far as to offer up echoes of Night of the Living Dead in the third act and even feature snippets of the film, and of course the lovely homage to Halloween early on in this story serves as a lovely treat. But while it is wonderful to know that this motion picture takes the time to provide the audience with a chaotic monster and homages galore, none of those elements answer the million-dollar question on everyone’s mind. Specifically, whether or not this film is worth your time, and the answer to that question, is a resounding yes. Because at its core, Black Pumpkin is a good old fashioned slasher flick, one that straight up knows how to please its target audience. For this one features plenty of gore and quality kills, the kind that make you cringe, since the splatter is top notch here. Plus, it also knows when to use humor to break up the tension and the scares, and that allows for some delightful banter to take place between the characters, the kind that feels organic and real and it also puts the audience in stitches since some of the cracks are downright hilarious for certain. If anything, this is just a fun horror film through and through. One that offers something for every horror fan out there and one that definitely keeps you entertained as you wait to see if these poor kids can figure out Bloody Bobby’s weakness before things get out of hand. As to whether or not that happens, well, we won’t spoil that here. Because it’s best you experience the finale of this film firsthand, so you can properly bask in a story that reminds us of the power of urban legends and the lasting terror they instill in all of us.
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