PUMPKINHEAD II: BLOOD WINGS

Pumpkinhead himself

PUMPKINHEAD II: BLOOD WINGS (1995). Director: Jeff Burr.

In 1958 a deformed orphan boy named Tommy (J. P. Manoux) is killed by a bunch of nasty high school bullies. Decades later a new group of teens manage to call up this dead boy -- whose father was the original demonic Pumpkinhead -- from his grave, and he sets out to revenge himself upon the men who killed him. Caught up in the horror is Sheriff Sean Braddock (Andrew Robinson of The Drowning Pool), his daughter, Jenny (Ami Dolenz),  and her naughty new boyfriend, Danny Dixon (J. Trevor Edmond), son of Judge Dixon (Steve Kanaly of Dallas), one of Tommy's original tormentors. Pumpkinhead II is hardly a great horror film, but it is somewhat better than the original Pumpkinhead, having a more involved plot line, a faster pace and more suspense, and some decent action-slay scenes at the climax. 

J. Trevor Edmond and Ami Dolenz

There is a surplus of amateurish actors in the picture among the supporting cast and bit players; however, Hill Harper wound up on one of the CSI shows years later, and veteran actress Lilyan Chauvin [Lost, Lonely and Vicious] plays the old witch, Miss Osie. Former president Bill Clinton's half-brother Roger plays the mayor and is abysmal. Gloria Hendry [Live and Let Die] is appealing, if at times a bit stiff, as a crime scene lady who surveys Pumpkinhead's carnage while J. Trevor Edmond makes a charismatic bad boy. This is more graphic than the original, which gives it a little more grisly zest. Followed by a couple of cable sequels. Jeff Burr also directed From a Whisper to a Scream. 

Verdict: Despite many flaws this direct-to-video sequel -- which could have been called Son of Pumpkinhead -- plays a bit better than the original . **1/2. 

LIVE AND LET DIE

LIVE AND LET DIE (1973). Director: Guy Hamilton.

Always one of the lesser Bond flicks, this pic has improved with age, although it will never be top-drawer Bond. The first half is quite good, both suspenseful and intriguing, but then it briefly turns into a Smoky and the Bandit clone with way too much screen time given over to a fat, supposedly comical Southern sheriff trying to get a handle on a boat chase between Bond and his Black pursuers. The movie never quite recovers from this, winding up with a so-so climax in an underground grotto. Jane Seymour as Solitaire and Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga (he merely masquerades as the novel's Mr. Big in this) are comparatively colorless and make little impression; Gloria Hendry does better as Big's double agent. Kananga is in the heroine trade instead of smuggling Bloody Morgan's treasure as in the novel. Never as thrilling as it could have been, but not awful; the only stand-out sequence, however, is when Bond is cornered by a bunch of hungry gators. Quarrel's son, Quarrel Jr., shows up to lend a hand (in the book it was Quarrel himself, but he was killed off in the first Bond movie, Dr. No). In his first outing as James Bond, Roger Moore is excellent. The photography is first-rate as well. The theme song by Paul McCartney is fairly wretched. The novel's best sequences wound up in later Bond movies. NOTE: To read a review of the novel by Ian Fleming, click here.

Verdict: Mediocre Bond. **.