One of last year's best surprises on Tubi just got a sequel - and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) is in it!

You never know how sequels are going to turn out, but I think R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2 is a worthy successor to the first film.

You can watch it here: https://tubitv.com/movies/100065059/r-l-stine-s-pumpkinhead-2

And if you haven't seen the original, which I highly recommend, watch that first!

https://tubitv.com/movies/100046939/r-l-stine-s-pumpkinhead

Needless to say (or maybe it does need to be said?), this has nothing to do with the other Pumpkinhead series that began in the '80s.

The lives of a devoted father (Victor Mature), a bickering couple (Richard Egan and Margaret Hayes), a bank manager (Tommy Noonan), three bank robbers (Stephen McNally, Lee Marvin, and J. Carrol Naish), and an Amish farmer (Ernest Borgnine) intersect on one "Violent Saturday."

I don't love melodramas, so the subplot between Egan and Hayes is my least favorite part of the film, but the payoff is tremendous.

Ernest Borgnine playing an Amish farmer sounds like a meme, but his portrayal in Richard Fleischer's dramatic 1955 crime thriller is subtle and realistic. There's a reason Borgnine won an Academy Award the same year for "Marty." Borgnine and Lee Marvin also appeared together in 1955's "Bad Day at Black Rock." Obviously, '55 was a banner year for Borgnine. It was also a highlight for child actor Billy Chapin, who had prominent roles in both this and the incredible "The Night of the Hunter."

The pacing of "Violent Saturday" could have benefited from being a bit more violent. It takes way too long to get to the bank robbery and aftermath. But those scenes are worth the wait. (Captions: Yes!)

Lenny (Mads Mikkelsen) is a fascinating character. Is he on the autism spectrum or at least autistic-coded? Or just a voracious film buff? The only thing he talks about in "Bleeder" is movies - even when he's asking a girl (Liv Corfixen) out on a date. Mads Mikkelsen's portrayal is said to be based on the director of this film, Nicolas Winding Refn. Is Refn as socially awkward as Lenny? I'd want to be their friend and talk about movies with them!

What at first seems like a charming Danish slice of life about a video store employee (Mikkelsen) and one of his customers (Kim Bodnia) soon becomes something much darker - as if the name "Bleeder" wasn't enough of a hint.

Leo (Bodnia) is a lazy boyfriend who punches and kicks his pregnant girlfriend (Rikke Louise Andersson). Her brother, Louis (Levino Jensen), goes on an unhinged racist rant against Blacks and Arabs inside a convenience store.

The third act is bonkers. Without spoiling anything, there is eventually a confrontation between Leo and Louis. Who the viewer "sympathizes" with - if anyone - is an interesting Rorschach test. I instantly detested both of them.

"Bleeder" is a cinephile's dream. Because of Lenny's job and sole interest, there are movie posters and VHS cases in the background of many scenes. I had fun pausing the film to take a closer look.

Check out my thoughts on the original Cape Fear (1962) here and the Week 317 Film Club discussion here.

Gregory Peck is a straight arrow with a happy family in the original "Cape Fear" and there are very few shades of gray. No one is happy in Martin Scorsese's pulpy remake and everyone exists in a murky gray area. 

The setup remains more or less the same: Lawyer Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) is sitting in his car when he's approached threateningly by ex-con Max Cady (Robert De Niro). The difference: Bowden is now a morally compromised character and even represented the criminal Cady in court 14 years earlier - unsuccessfully. In both versions, Cady goes after Bowden's wife and daughter (now played by Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis). 

Based on Mitchum's performance, it's easy to see why De Niro was cast in the role. Yet, De Niro plays him completely differently than expected. His Max Cady is a wild and colorful tattooed wannabe preacher who spits out Bible verses and literary references. One of his tattoos - depicting the scales of truth and justice - feels like an homage to Mitchum inking "love" and "hate" on his knuckles in "The Night of the Hunter."

The most haunting moment: A meeting between De Niro's Cady and Juliette Lewis's naive 15-year-old in front of a "Little Red Riding Hood" backdrop inside the theater of her school. It's obvious who "The Big Bad Wolf" is. Both were deservedly nominated for Academy Awards - with Lewis's performance, in particular, likely recognized based on the strength of this scene.

The best part: Scorsese's reverence for the original "Cape Fear" and its actors. Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, and Martin Balsam return for the remake playing different roles. It's fun to see the main characters from the first film switch alignments, with Mitchum as more of a good guy and Peck as a shady lawyer representing Cady.

Even though Mitchum was arguably more chilling as Max Cady, De Niro is more entertaining and generated the greater cultural footprint. Pro wrestlers Waylon Mercy and Bray Wyatt were both clearly inspired by the Hawaiian shirts and silver tongue of De Niro's interpretation.

Both versions of "Cape Fear" conclude with a confrontation on a houseboat in the middle of the river. It's smaller in scale but grittier in the 1962 film and a big budget special effects extravaganza in the 1991 remake - almost likely a mini-"Titanic." They're equally effective endings.

Bodacious!