Pumpkin Guts
Directed by Bryan Feruson
Starring: Becca Murphy, Scott Abel, Vari Ferguson,
Isabelle Mc Iver.
Channel: Bryanmferguson
Uploaded October 29, 2024
Official Selection Fantastic Fest 2024
S/W 2024
Beyondfest 2024
And many more...
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Watch our review on Pumpkin Guts
Logline: It happens to someone every Halloween. Follow the rules. Don't get pinched.
Stills taken from Pumpkin Pincher (2024) Review by Paul Catalanotto
Pumpkin Guts by Bryan Ferguson is a delightful horror short that is not just scary, but a lot of fun. Equal parts Evil Dead 2 and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, 80s nostalgia runs rampant through every frame of the film’s brief 14 minute runtime. Ferguson’s movie opens with Becky, a young teen babysitting on Halloween night. If it were not for her accent, one could easily believe this film takes place in Haddonfield rather than the U.K.
While the child she is babysitting watches television, Becky talks on her oversized cordless phone with her best friend Jess. Yes, at one point in our history, teens were forced to talk to each other instead of text. Ferguson cleverly uses this conversation to deliver exposition and place the audience directly in the middle of the story. We quickly learn that something is targeting teens, and many have disappeared over the years.
When the doorbell rings, Becky immediately grows nervous, and Ferguson’s music video instincts elevate the film from a simple 80s love letter into something with genuine style. Her friend advises her to ignore it. It is probably just trick-or-treaters, but people do not play it safe in horror movies. More importantly, we do not want them to. Becky grabs a knife and investigates. She opens the door and finds an ugly pumpkin, which in this world feels even more terrifying than a killer in a white mask.
Jess tells her to carve open the pumpkin. If there is nothing inside, she is safe, but of course there is something inside. Becky finds a card with a name, an address, a request for an ear, and an electric knife. Her mission is suddenly clear. She hops on her bike and heads toward the address.
Finding her victim alone, she breaks into the house. Things go poorly. Becky kills the boy and claims his ear, only to discover he is the wrong person.
Defeated, she returns home without the ear. Her friend suggests she simply give the pumpkin her own instead. Unfortunately, that is not enough, as the film concludes with the Pumpkin Pincher snatching the poor babysitter away in front of the young child’s parents.
The last image takes place a year later. We see Becky among the missing, and her ear is absorbed into the ugly pumpkin as it sits waiting for its next victim.
Pumpkin Guts works because it is, by definition, a crowd pleaser. It is fun, scary, and thrilling. The cinematography shines with deep orange tones. The editing is snappy and fast paced, but never chaotic. The music is heart pounding. The direction is confident. Ferguson keeps the camera and story moving, never allowing the audience a chance to settle down. The story unfolds quickly and naturally, but it is the style and technique that allow this movie to be successful.
Yes, this movie is nostalgic and is a love letter to 80s horror, but it does not live there completely. Ferguson views the 80s through a modern prism that keeps the film fresh and accessible.
Ferguson wrote Pumpkin Guts as a pitch for a larger project. If it ever happens, I will happily be in the theater opening weekend.
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