That's why I loved the original Pumpkinhead when it came out in 1988.  Here was a story that had both atmosphere and a pretty kickass monster in the titular demon of vengeance.  Set in a small town somewhere in the South, Lance Henrickson played a man who sought out the old witch woman in the swamp to help him seek vengeance for the accidental death of his son.  He raises a demon that systematically plows through all the people marked with the boys blood, but each death brings Henrickson closer to damnation himself.  His soul is tied to the demon's and there's no way back. 

The creature itself was created by Sam Winston, who made his directoral debut with Pumpkinhead.  It's a wonderfully old school creation that snarls, drips with unknown slime and oozes menace.  That alone made it a great addition to the horror canon.  This was not some CGI bullshit creation.  It had personality.

Unfortunately, Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes doesn't come close to being the movie that the original was.  However, its not without its charms.  Set in the same small town, the movie opens with a hiker's discovery of a particularly grisly section of swamp.  It seems that the local doctor and the owners of the crematorium have been dealing in harvested organs instead of burning bodies of loved ones. When the hiker tries to escape his kidneys are harvested also, but he's not dead.  Eventually he makes it onto a road and tells a passing truck what's happened before finally expiring.  The townspeople are outraged and as more and more bodies surface from the swamp and grounds of the crematorium, four decide to take matters into their own hands.  It's not long before the witch woman has been consulted and the demon of vengeance has risen to take those responsible to Hell. 

The thing that I love about this movie and this franchise is that they do a lot with a very small budget.  The atmosphere here is fantastic,  the sets are perfect, the camera angles are inventive and the acting is actually better than 90% of the straight to video titles out there.  Particular kudos go out to all but one of the cast members for holding down credible southern accents (a particular pet peeve of mine having grown up there).  Doug Bradley (of Hellraiser fame) does a great job as the doctor who is as slimy as they come.  The old pumpkin patch in the swamp is a marvelous creation that looks horribly creepy yet oddly familiar at the same time and the view of it from above as a man climbs up to dig out a body is just one example of the marvelous camera angles that keep this movie looking fresh.

The problem I have with it is two-fold.  First, it's paced horribly.  It starts out moving almost too quickly, racing through the story to get Pumpkinhead out and on the rampage.  Then all of a sudden it slows down so that we can follow the doctor and his partners as they try to figure out a way to escape their fate.  When the resolution does finally come around, its dragged out considerably longer than it needs to be.  My wife actually heard me say out loud, "There's 30 minutes left people.  Let's see some fucking blood here." 

I normally do not talk to my television.

The second problem I have with this is that Pumpkinhead, the creature, has lost his menace.  He looks less like the vicious creature from the first movie and more like something out of Gremlins.  That coupled with some really crappy CGI work (and I mean REALLY crappy) makes him seem more goofy than anything.   There are still some amazingly fun kills in this and they are all done with fantastic effects and buckets of blood.  It's just not the homerun that I was hoping for.

Presentation
This movie looks and sounds amazingly good.  It's got tons of atmosphere brought about mostly by inventive use of lighting and filters.  The world of Pumpkinhead has a color that borders on sepia-toned nostalgia but still seems modern.  It's obvious that the director and cinematographer on this film took their work seriously and this wasn't just some "let's throw it together for a quick buck" production.  On that point, you won't be disappointed. 

Extras
There is nothing here but a fuckload of subtitles (Portuguese,  Japanese,  anyone?) and a motherload of trailers for other movies.  Included in that pile are Attack of the Gryphon, Decoys 2, The Grudge 2, Incubus, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, Population 436, The Covenant, The Woods, Hostel and Night Skies. 

The Bottom Line
If you are a fan of the Pumpkinhead movies so far, you'll like Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes.  It doesn't rise above the horror crop but it's not at the bottom of the mix either.  It's well made, adequately acted and other than some pacing problems a right decent movie, which automatically puts it high above the other new offerings on the shelves of your video store's horror section.  However if you don't know anything about this franchise, pick up the first one instead.  It's definitely the better film.