Inspired by R.L. Stine's beloved The Haunting Hour, R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2 follows Sam (Bean Reid) and Becka (Adeline Lo) as they race to stop a new Pumpkinhead curse from claiming the entire town of Redhaven. The movie arrives on Tubi on October 9.
Cassandra Peterson, famously known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, plays a mysterious witch named Cassandra in the movie. She needs little introduction to horror fans, having spent decades cementing her place as one of the genre's most recognisable figures.
Joined by filmmaker Jem Garrard in this exclusive interview, Peterson reveals what brought her back to horror and reflects on working with the movie's young cast. Garrard, meanwhile, opens up on expanding the Pumpkinhead mythology with its new creatures.
They also look back on their favourite days on set, though Peterson has some very specific thoughts about filming overnight in a forest during pouring rain.
You can watch our conversation with Peterson and Garrard in the player below.
Cassandra, you’re already a horror icon, but I’d love to know what about this movie and the character tempted you back to the genre that’s made you so beloved
Cassandra: I love this kind of movie. I love that it’s sort of for younger people. It’s even family-friendly. I always thought of Elvira that way, believe it or not. It’s hard to believe, I know. And it’s kind of like Elvira without the cleavage, but it’s a very family-friendly story. And it really appealed to me in that I could play a character who was a witch and was named Cassandra. And it was like, 'Oh my God, typecasting, this is so awesome.' So I don’t know... I don’t know if I answered your question. I kind of got sidetracked there. Sorry.
No, that was fantastic. Thank you so much. And Jem, this is a family-friendly movie, as Cassandra said, but those Pumpkinhead creatures… what a fantastic horror creature design. What was the process for you bringing those to life in this sequel?
Jem: Yeah, I mean in the sequel we wanted to kind of push the horror, push the adventure, make it kind of bigger. And we had such a fun character in the first one with the scarecrow. So when we were kind of figuring out what the creatures would be in this one, I was like, well, now this would be a great time to bring the actual pumpkin heads to life and kind of have a horde of creepy pumpkin heads that expanded on the first movie and hopefully give a lot of jump scares too.
Cassandra, you’re in so many great scenes in this film, particularly with the younger cast members. What did you enjoy most about working with them and maybe almost acting as a mentor to them as well as they navigated this film?
Cassandra: They were adorable. I loved those two, Bean and Adeline. They were so smart, so interesting. I mean, I had a really good time just hanging out with them and talking in between scenes. And they remembered all their lines, which is incredible because I couldn’t remember. I swear to God… I never could remember lines, but now I’m really old, so it’s really hard. And they helped me with that. They were smart. They were funny. They were cute. I just adored them. They weren’t like a lot of child actors I’ve worked with who get a little too big for their britches. These two were so down to earth and amazing. And in between, they’re doing their damn homework like from school. I mean, in between, I’m just sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. So they were an absolute joy to work with.
And Jem, having to shepherd this young cast, what was that experience like for you?
Jem: It was great. I love working with young actors. There’s so much kind of energy on set, and it’s so kind of fun building those characters together. And obviously with Bean and Addie, they’d done the first movie together. So they sort of had this friendship and this relationship which they brought into the second movie. They knew their characters already, and so we got to kind of play and explore a little bit more in the sequel than we did in the first movie because they’d already done it. And as Cassandra said, they’re so easy to work with. They’re just having fun, and I hope that that shows on screen.
What was your favourite day on set together? There are so many great scenes that Cassandra’s in, and I’d love to know what you both enjoyed about that.
Cassandra: Ah, my favourite day was when we worked during the daytime and not all night. [Laughs] Oh yeah. And indoors. Yeah, that was my favourite. Woo! Indoors.
Jem: Yeah. The first day Cassandra showed up on set was absolutely incredible. And you know, obviously, as a director I’m like, 'Wow, this is one to remember.' But there was a day when we shot at night in the forest in the pouring rain, and that might have been the day that Cassandra said, 'No more movies.' And I was like, 'Oh great, I’m the director that… stop movies.'
Cassandra: I honestly said to Jem, 'Okay, you just scared me of ever doing movies. Unless Steven Spielberg calls me up, offers me a million dollars to star in a movie, I’m not doing any more movies.'
Jem: But it has to be indoors.
Cassandra: Yeah. In the warm, in the day. [Laughs] In comfortable clothes. With only one line, maybe even only one word.
R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2 premieres exclusively on Tubi on Friday, October 9.