Pumpkin Guts

Director - Bryan M. Ferguson (Bloody Bites, Earworm)

Starring - Scott Abel, Vari Ferguson (Ladytron: The Island, Insecticide), and Isabelle McIver 

Release Date - 2024

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Don't get pinched"

Format - Streaming (YouTube)

Rating (out of 5):

    It's the beginning of September and I'm already in the mood for Halloween.  Most assume that Halloween is my favorite holiday because of my obsession with horror and they would be wrong.  Christmas will forever by my favorite holiday but god damn do I love Halloween.  Every year around this time I start looking for as many Halloween-centric horror titles I can find for my annual October horror binge.  While on my search I found a horror short from last year titled Pumpkin Guts.  I reviewed a short last year with the same title and was curious how this Pumpkin Guts would play out.  I went ahead and hit play on it instead of waiting an entire month.  

     The film follows a young woman on Halloween when she finds a pumpkin randomly in her home while she is on the phone with a friend.  A friend reminds her of a Halloween tradition where she has to appease the Halloween spirits in an hour or she will get "pinched."

     Pumpkin Guts is a short in a long line of shorts that perfectly captures the nostalgic Halloween vibe of the late 80s that many of us genre fans grew up on.  It was a solid short and made great use of it's short run time.  The acting in this one is solid.  The cast is extremely small but everyone is fully dedicated to their rolls.  I really liked the cast and was very surprised how most of them had no other credits on their IMDB.  They did a phenomenal job with no prior experience.  The story for this one is short, sweet, and to the point.  It focuses on a Halloween tradition that I'm not familiar with.  I don't know if it's something created just for this short or a regional tradition.  I liked it but I would like to more about it or what inspired it.  With that being said, the film makes great use of the film's run time and does a great job at holding the viewer's attention. Finally, the film has some simple effects along with solid visual effects.  The visuals do stand out but they look great.  I would have loved some gore but this one doesn't necessarily need it.  Overall, Pumpkin Guts is a great throwback to 80s Halloween horror in the same vain as Stranger Things and any of the films from Witching Season Films.  I highly enjoyed it so check it out.