Night of the Pumpkin

Made by ultra-low budget filmmaker "Bill Zebub" over five days in New Jersey for a budget of reportedly around $4,000, "Night of the Pumpkin" delivers exactly the level of quality schlock you'd expect for the price. I love low budget independent films, and if you've seen a Zebub film before you know what to expect. There is no question that the production is extremely cheap and amateurish, but for fans of ludicrously bad comedic horror, this could be an amusing film to watch once. Rating this is tough: it's obviously terrible, is poorly acted, has a ludicrous premise (which I would argue is the main element of charm it has going for it,) and extremely bad special effects. Everything's gratuitous, and the internal conflicts in the film don't work, which is interesting inasmuch as Zebub says in the "Making of" piece that the whole film is supposedly driven by group dynamics. I see how he intended that to be the case but few will appreciate that, and even fewer will critically watch for that element. Most people are watching this for the pretty girls (which are abundant, with the girl dressed in the vine being the prettiest) and the ridiculous pumpkin monster.The film opens with pretty babes playing Frisbee to some death metal by "My Dying Bride" and rapidly shifts to some of the worst acting ever filmed in a library. There's an amazing amount of ponderous debate about religion versus atheism by women on a sofa (it's hard to imagine a more boring exploitation movie.) Meanwhile, Barbara (Angelina Leigh) takes a shower and her boyfriend Peter is eaten by the pumpkin monster, prompting a painful discussion about "Pumpkin, pumpkin the Peter eater." (Who didn't see that coming?) There are scads of blown lines (just leave them in!) and all I can really recall about the middle third of the film is that it features the worst group of actresses on a sofa in history, featuring both the worst theological debate ever and the silliest global warming subplot in the last few days. What could follow that? A subplot about a witch in the apartment next door and local noise ordinances, perhaps? Brilliant! (If the inductive reasoning scene on the sofa seems ponderous, just you wait until the kitchenette witch interrogation scene!)Eventually the pumpkin monster plot truly swings into gear, and not a moment too soon. There is some interesting use of vines (which Zebub has interesting insights into during the "Making of" feature) and it turns out that the pumpkin monster is really just mad because of what humans are doing to the environment. I enjoyed the "Making of" feature more than the movie itself, and Zebub correctly identifies a flaw in the film, namely that it's too dialogue driven rather than action driven; I think he explains his thought process well and understands the problems with the movie. He has more talent than the budget, script, and shooting schedule can represent well. (If he ever gets to express himself with a better funded vehicle, it could be quite scary or at least entertaining.) He also makes some claims that you might expect him to steer clear of (e.g. he claims the day for night photography, which is the worst I have ever seen, was intended to look this way....)The film obviously has some negatives (and I was pleased that Zebub fondly owned up to them,) but the conclusion involving music to "soothe the savage beast" and a most amusing use of defensive poetry leading to the wonderful finale were hugely entertaining to me, and I thought were the best executed components of the film: I won't reveal how the film ends, but the last five minutes of the film were by far the best for a variety of reasons.The DVD has several extras, chief among them a feature of Zebub explaining his directorial choices. He seems like a clever guy with a lot of understanding of cinema (despite the preconceptions this film might engender,) although he does tend to ramble about pumpkin spores and group dynamics a bit. My favorite extra (easily) is a truly offbeat cartoon called "Painful Meow" which while truly disturbed and suffering from severe rhythm impairment, is hugely entertaining and indescribable."Night of the Pumpkin" is not high art (which Zebub makes no secret of) and is at times ponderous and tediously unscary, but Bill Zebub fans won't be disappointed. While Zebub explains this as a comedy, I look on it as a satirical comedic horror movie targeted squarely at those who truly love grade-Z low budget films. It's not always successful, but it definitely puts a weird new twist on the nature-gone-amok environmentalist cinematic wasteland.

What you can expect from this film:1. Laughs, both intentional (Bill Zebub himself has very good comic timing) and unintentional.2. Some incredibly hot naked actresses.3. Some of the cheapest home-made props and FX that you'll ever see in a movie.4. Ridiculous, overwritten exposition that bogs down the entire production and makes it almost unwatchable in parts.The first three points make "Night of the Pumpkin" great. With a title like that you'd better expect nonsense, and you get it here in spades. Most everybody seems to be in on the joke, even though for the most part they're playing seriously.The fourth point is what makes it bad. Not that you're looking for a plot summary here, but basically it goes like this: A pumpkin plant comes to life and starts enacting revenge by killing some people, although it's never exactly explained what the revenge is for or why it's going after these people particularly. And then there's also a crazy murdering rapist who shows up trying to blame his crimes on the pumpkin.I wish that the movie had made it that succinct. Instead we've got two hours of screen time that gets more bogged down in exposition than a European art-house film from 1993. Seriously, I don't know that I've ever seen another movie with more unbroken monologue/dialogue. Not what you'd expect from a movie that also has some of the hottest naked actresses that I've ever seen on screen.Zebub should have cut the screen time down by an hour, dropping all of that dialogue and leaving in all of the nudity (maybe even adding some because a couple of these chicks never get naked, and when seeing it you'll wish that they had). In a wonderful 30-minute behind-the-scenes feature he essentially admits that himself; he says that the exposition was an experiment that failed. You have to lend it to the guy for trying I guess. Also he seems far more likable and funny than you'd expect from a dude who calls himself "Bill Zebub."I know that Zebub's reputation is to make horribly offensive movies, but don't expect that from "Night of the Pumpkin." The most disturbing thing here probably is the soundtrack, which I had to mute in parts because death metal doesn't exactly lend itself to light afternoon viewing. The "rape" scenes are only suggested, with no physical contact, to the point that I wasn't even sure that that's what was being implied. Looked instead more just like a hot naked woman's rolling around in the grass alone.Did I mention that the actresses are scorching hot? Without a doubt, some of the best-looking women I've ever seen on screen together, and these are normal, natural women too...clearly Bill Zebub shares my tastes and likes big breasts but doesn't like breast implants. Good viewing angles and good lighting too.If you're looking for something kind of dumb to watch with some friends over a bowl of popcorn, this might actually be worth your while. I'd have given it four stars without the lengthy dialogue.

For all the naysayers, you just don't get it. B-movie horror flicks are amateurish take-offs on mainstream movies. They TRY to look professional and they often fail. Bill Zebub does take-offs on B-movies, take-offs on take-offs, and he doesn't even try to look professional. That's his whole schtick! This is Three Stooges with fake blood and boobs. Lighten up, crack open a brew, sit back, and laugh.I rated this higher earlier, but the ending just stuck with me. I watched it again and it was WAY too serious for Bill. The last several minutes fit with the way the character was portrayed, but from a viewer standpoint it was lame.

Ok folks I am giving this one three stars too many I think. I am giving it three stars mainly for the awesome pumpkin costume that was made for this movie. It would have been better if they would have made this more of a horror movie rather than a comedy. It's pretty stupid. Straight men will love this movie for all the pussy and boobs. Tons of full frontal nudity with the women...I actually sat through the whole thing but not sure i could get through this one again...it just wasn't my type of movie- it was strange..

Bill Zebub talks too much. Or rather his films do.What sustains is the absurdist, imaginative, even pantomime, humour. "Special" effects, of which there are many, might on the one hand be seen as amateurish and ridiculous or....or, on the other, symbolic, joyous and suggestive. I think Bill Z would want the second approach by the viewer. Plot - not much; nudity - plenty (and why the hell not?); fun/humour - loads (and why the hell not?); heavy metal soundtrack - disruptive, maybe, but it works; talk - far too much : there is too much approximate philosophizing, too much dialogue, far too much theorizing, notably in some attempt to wind up the movie, but still there is a unique voice there, and really a great deal to enjoy.Above all, the film is affectionate in its own way and the sheer good nature of the director and his hilarious cast carries everything through. You can tell that everyone enjoyed making the picture - it's quite obvious.