R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead (2025)
R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead is a new Halloween offering for the younger crowd. It’s about a kid named Sam (Bean Reid) who moves to a small rural town with his mom Cassie (Kendra Anderson) and older brother Finn (Seth Isaac Johnson) after their dad passes away. If you’re wondering, this movie has no connection to Pumpkinhead (1988).
It’s right before Halloween, and the locals are having an annual pumpkin tradition that they believe grants good fortune to their crops each year. Town patriarch Farmer Palmer (Kevin McNulty) grows impressive prized pumpkins in his barn for each event. How does he manage to achieve this feat year after year? Nobody seems to know.
Sam is pissed off about moving to this seemingly boring place, although his attitude brightens somewhat after meeting spunky Becka (Adeline Lo), a local girl who becomes his friend and potential future love interest. These characters (and actors) are a bit too young for a full-fledged romantic storyline to develop, though.
Sam steals a pumpkin from Farmer Palmer’s shed. Finn attempts to return it, but he mysteriously disappears. Even weirder, all of the adults (including Sam’s mom!) have no memory that Finn ever existed.
Sam has suddenly become an only child. Oh my gourd, what is going on here? Sam and Becka begin an investigation that leads them to the reclusive and eccentric Rusty (Matty Finochio), an adult who has the emotional maturity of a tween. He harbors terrible secrets about the town’s past.
As the bumbling trio attempts to find Sam’s brother, they are menaced by a scarecrow monster that’s connected to a sinister local conspiracy. Why is this movie called Pumpkinhead if the villain is a scarecrow, you ask? Well, a pumpkin head does indeed play a key role later in the film, but I don’t want to get too spoilery with the details.
It’s Mostly Okay for Older Kids
Tubi is advertising this as a family friendly horror movie. For the most part, that’s true. There is no explicit onscreen violence and I don’t believe there’s any profanity. There certainly isn’t any sexual content.
That said, this movie has dark themes including grief, child abuse, ritual sacrifices, and the prospect of being forgotten and abandoned by one’s family. It also has a surprisingly grim twist which appears to set up a sequel. I would have preferred a more conclusive and satisfying ending.
R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead is technically not part of the Goosebumps franchise (although the intended audience is much the same), but Tubi is apparently hoping to turn this into a Halloween tradition.
This movie is too intense for little kids. The target audience is clearly people in their early teens, like Sam and Becka. It’s way too tame for adults who are looking for something scary. Making a horror movie intended for kids is tough. It’s not horror if you don’t have dark subject matter, but there’s a fine line between including creepy stuff and scaring off your target audience.
I will say that people who enjoy Carved, which I reviewed and included in my pumpkin horror movies list, may like this one. The setting and sense of humor are similar, but Pumpkinhead is more juvenile and far less violent. The gore and sexual innuendo of Carved is nowhere to be found here.
R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead pretty much accomplishes what it sets out to do, but it doesn’t offer much originality. This is a very simple, broad, and derivative movie. I would be surprised if this turns out to be a cult favorite like Hocus Pocus. It’s not original or quirky enough.
rating
R. L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead is a decent Halloween treat for tweens and passable entertainment for older folks if they are desperate to see a new pumpkin horror flick.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 6.5
