Justin Harding’s Carved is a schlocky creature feature straight out of the 80s. A dedicated B-movie at its core, this horror comedy is full of horrifically hilarious kills by our monster of the hour: a mutated pumpkin hungry for revenge. 

 

As a horror-comedy, it peculiarly doesn’t quite deliver effectively on the scares or the humor. It does however deliver on an inventive creature that holds its own against a group of knife wielding carvers. Not since Jaws: The Revenge  have we seen a revenge plot so ridiculous, yet it’s bloody madness works. 

 

The kills do grow a little tedious after some time, watching a pumpkin decapitate its victim can really only hold so much shock. The characters expel cheesy dialogue, conjure predictable and flawed decisions, and they lack any real depth beyond the basics. However, that’s what makes a B-movie so great is its ridiculous concepts brought to light. A slasher film featuring a pumpkin killer is a wild, silly idea on page and it’s just as much when translated to screen. 

 

Similar to a feature within the Friday the 13th franchise, the killer is the draw for people to tune in as the survivors (“Campers” in Friday the 13th terminology) are taken down with little to no character development. The one thing this film does suffer from is a lack of inventive kills, recycling some styles over and over to lesser appeal. 

 

For all intents and purposes, Peyton Elizabeth Lee is the film’s lead, taking on the role of a director, steering the fellow survivors to a hopeful escape. The biggest fault of the film is in its choice of tone, swaying back and forth into sincerity and camp. Lee deals with this the best, providing a performance that finds a proper medium between the tones. 

 

A killer pumpkin movie shouldn’t work and it doesn’t entirely - but coming into it with the perception of a B-movie will exponentially heighten the experience. Don’t expect grand character building, terrific performances or bombastic set pieces, this is a simple, small scale revenge story about a mutated pumpkin on a mission to squash those who seek to carve into their kind.