On Halloween 1993, the staff of a historic Pioneer Village attraction must work together to survive the attack of a monstrous killer pumpkin set on revenge. A film by Justin Harding, starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Corey Fogelmanis, Carla Jimenez, Elvis Nolasco, Jonah Lees, Wyatt Lindner, Sasha Mason, Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur, Jackson Kelly, Matty Cardarople, Ted Ferguson, DJ Qualls, and Chris Elliott.
CARVED
Justin Harding
(2024)
On Halloween 1993, at the Cedar Creek Pioneer Village, general manager Bill Brown (DJ Qualls) and grounds supervisor Kevin Turner (Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur) agree to give an interview to UP24 news reporter AJ Campbell (Elvis Nolasco). Their goal is to promote their annual Pumpkin Fest as a family-friendly tourist attraction.
However, AJ is more interested in the town’s harrowing recovery from a tragic event the year prior – a CLIONYX train derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill, killing several employees. When Bill realizes AJ is trying to turn his Pumpkin Fest into a pity party, he becomes upset and storms off.
One of Bill’s employees, Clint Craven (Matty Cardarople), stumbles upon a strange-looking pumpkin in his family’s farm, Craven Hill Farm. Clint decides to cut the pumpkin, pull it from the ground, and take it with him on the back of the Corn Wagon. He then drives the wagon to the Pioneer Village.
Meanwhile, AJ interviews the young staff, including aspiring director Kira (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), her actor boyfriend Cody (Corey Fogelmanis), actress Maddie (Sasha Mason), and actor Shane (Jonah Lees). When Kira learns from AJ that Cody has auditioned and been cast in a new musical without telling her, she becomes frustrated and feels betrayed, as it has been their shared dream to leave this town, attend Juilliard and then go to Broadway together.
Clint’s colleague Wes (Jackson Kelly) spots the strange pumpkin in the back of Clint’s Corn Wagon. Intrigued by its appearance, Wes asks if he can use the pumpkin for the pumpkin carving contest, confident that he could win with this unusual specimen. Clint agrees to let Wes have the pumpkin.
Kira had initially prepared a pumpkin to enter the contest herself. However, when she learns that Maddie, her younger brother Trevor’s (Wyatt Lindner) crush, is also entering the pumpkin carving contest, Kira decides to give her own pumpkin to Trevor so he can enter it instead. However, Trevor mentions that it is going to be tough to beat Clint’s freak pumpkin.
During the pumpkin carving contest, Clint’s strange pumpkin suddenly springs to life and witnesses the other contestants brutally and violently carving into their pumpkins. The chemically mutated pumpkin becomes enraged by this horrific scene and begins to attack the contestants, killing them one by one.
The surviving people attempt to flee, but only a handful manage to escape. They take refuge in a nearby barn, attempting to evade the murderous rampage of the killer pumpkin. Trapped inside, they must work together to find a way to survive the pumpkin’s relentless quest for revenge against them all.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Justin Harding, CARVED is based on a teleplay he co-wrote with Cheryl Meyer and his 2018 5-minute short film of the same name. This impressive comedy-horror film is both entertaining and hilariously funny, filled with blood and gore. It’s delightfully campy, and I loved it.
There are several memorable kills, marvelously achieved by practical effects. The CGI is also surprisingly well-done. Of the characters, Kira is probably my favorite – she stands out from the rest of the cast with her logical, sensible, and convincing reactions. I particularly enjoyed the scene where she is surprised to see Cody and Trevor running towards her as she’s fleeing, questioning their reasoning for running towards the sound of gunshots and screaming.
CARVED has the potential to become a cult classic and could spawn a sequel, perhaps exploring the killer pumpkin’s origins – it might not just be a mutated pumpkin, but one that came from outer space or another dimension.
CARVED began streaming on Hulu on 21 October 2024 in the United States, as part of the service’s Huluween event. It was made available on Disney+ in other territories on the same day.
