R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025): A Spooky, Safe Gateway to Horror for the Next Generation

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025): A Spooky, Safe Gateway to Horror for the Next Generation

"Tubi's original delivers genuine scares and high stakes for a young audience, without forgetting the fun." — 3/5 Stars

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025) Tubi Original Movie Poster - Gateway horror film for kids and families starring Adeline Lo, Bob Frazer, Matty Finochio

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025) review: Tubi's October 2025 original understands its assignment perfectly—this is gateway horror, designed to give a new generation of viewers the same spooky thrills that Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? once delivered. It's great for a bit of nostalgia, or a genuine scary-fun time for younger horror fans—and it's not afraid to get genuinely tense.

The film starts strong, grabbing its young audience's attention right away with a theme reminiscent of The X-Files: a kid is chased by a shadowy creature through fields and woods. It's a classic, effective opener that immediately establishes the stakes and the tone. This isn't a film that talks down to its audience; it dives headfirst into the spookiness.

Scares Without the Sleepless Nights

Parents can breathe easy. Besides the central scary themes, the film is pretty much suitable for all ages. The filmmakers are notably cautious—there's one use of the word "ass," and the script is self-aware enough to have another character chastise it immediately. The focus remains on atmospheric chills and creature-feature fun rather than gore or profanity.

And make no mistake, there are real scares to be had for the target audience. The stakes get surprisingly high, and the film deserves credit for not being afraid of a not-so-perfect ending. This adds a layer of consequence often missing from modern children's horror, teaching young viewers that in a good scary story, the monster can't always be neatly vanquished.

A Cast of Fresh Faces

You won't find any A-listers here, and that works to the film's benefit. The young, unknown cast—led by Adeline Lo, Bob Frazer, and Matty Finochio—delivers some great performances, bringing an authenticity that helps sell the supernatural premise. While the acting isn't always the very best and the effects have their budgetary limitations, the commitment from the cast sells the scares.

"A film that remembers the thrilling chill of your first scary movie."

This is the kind of film you put on for a Halloween sleepover. It's paced well, understands its core audience, and delivers exactly what it promises: a solid, spooky adventure. It may not reinvent the genre, but it respects its young viewers enough to give them a real taste of horror, training wheels included.

Final Verdict: A perfect gateway horror film for kids. It's fun, genuinely scary at moments, and unafraid of darker consequences. The acting and effects are occasionally rough, but the spirit is spot-on. 3/5 stars.

Official trailer for R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead (2025)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rumpelstiltskin (2025): A Grimy, Retro Fairy Tale from the VHS Crypt

Image
Rumpelstiltskin (2025): A Grimy, Retro Fairy Tale from the VHS Crypt "A cursed bargain, a demonic imp, and a film that feels like it time-traveled from 1999." — 3/5 Stars Andy Edwards’ Rumpelstiltskin (2025) resurrects the Brothers Grimm classic not with new polish, but with a CRT feel, muddy grays, and a 4:3 aspect ratio that screams late-night Sci-Fi Channel rerun. Clocking in at a lean 87 minutes, this UK-certified 18 horror-fantasy feels less like a modern release and more like a lost artifact from the golden age of B-movie fairy-tales on the Sci-Fi channel, terror—complete with demonic pacts, period costumes, and a devilish imp who’s far more unsettling than his poster suggests. The story remains largely faithful: a miller’s daughter (Hannah Baxter-Eve) promises the king she can spin straw into gold. With the help of a sinister, otherworldly imp (Adrian Bouchet), she suc...
Read more

They Were Witches (2025): A Grounded, Grief-Soaked Horror Rooted in Mexican Myth

Image
They Were Witches (2025): A Grounded, Grief-Soaked Horror Rooted in Mexican Myth "A grounded, grief-soaked slasher that feels rooted in Mexican myth." — 3/5 Stars They Were Witches (2025) review: From its chilling opening—a woman chained to a chair, suffocated with a plastic bag, her breath siphoned into a jar by a man with a hammer— Eran Brujas announces itself as something far more primal than a standard horror film. Directed by Alejandro G. Alegre ( Ánima , The Devil Told Me What to Do ), this Mexican indie doesn’t rely on jump scares or digital spectacle. Instead, it builds dread through atmosphere, folklore, and a deeply personal mythology that feels ancient—even if it’s largely the filmmaker’s own invention. The story follows Mia (Tania Niebla), a paranormal radio host and self-proclaimed witchcraft expert, who stops at a rural motel en route to a therapy session. Ther...
Read more

Borgman (2018) A Sinister Masterpiece That Deserves Wider Recognition

Image
  'Borgman': A Sinister Masterpiece That Deserves Wider Recognition "Dutch auteur Alex van Warmerdam crafts a haunting surrealist thriller that's been criminally overlooked" — 5/5 Stars "And they descended upon the Earth to strengthen their ranks." Borgman (2013) review: As it opens we are met with those eerie biblical words (in Dutch), and van Warmerdam pulls us into a world of equally eerie images. We see a hunting party, looking like they've stepped out of another century, moving through the woods. They're armed with spears, accompanied by a barking dog, and one of them—a priest, no less—carries a shotgun. It's immediately clear they're hunting something wicked, and that this thing lives underground. It's a fever dream beginning that immediately signals we're not in familiar territory—and it's only the tip of the iceberg in what stands as one ...
Read more