Bill Zebub refers to "NIGHT OF THE PUMPKIN" as the anti-horror horror movie.
The story begins with summer fun at a beach. The merrymakers come upon a pumpkin that has washed ashore, and in a typical careless action, they crush it underfoot. Surprisingly, blood seeps through the cracks. Months later, a pumkinman attacks.
So how is this the ANTI-HORROR horror movie?
To begin, the lead character in the movie is a woman. Unlike other women who are lead characters in horror and action movies, Jen (played by Shoshana MacCullum) is strong, but with FEMININE traits. If you look at most movies that feature a strong female lead, she is usually endowed with masculine traits: she swears, has a MALE arrogance, fights like a man (or weields weapons like a man), and generally behaves with MASCULINE ego.
In NIGHT OF THE PUMPKIN, the female lead has no compulsion to appear strong - that's a masculine tendency (and if you really think about it, arrogance and pride should be considered obstacles in a character, not as traists to be reverered).
Jen uses logic, not empty bravado, to solve problems. But in revealing this we come close to spoiling some surprises.
Another reason why this is the ANTI-HORROR horror movie is because it is dialogue-heavy, not action-heavy. This was done as a direct insult to the people who call themselves horror fans but who are really nothing more than action-movie imbeciles. They can't handle anything deep.
This movie follows Bill Zebub's tradition of being high brow and low brow at the same time. Shallow viewers will find enough visceral material, like the nude scenes and campy gore, to find worth in the movie, while people with deeper comprehension will enjoy the rich plot, symbolism, philosophy, and art. 
A final word about being the ANTI-HORROR horror movie, the villain in the movie is a short, fat, and slothful monster, not a huge, menacing, and steroid-poisoned oaf..
SPOILER ALERT (the following content should not be read until after you have seen the movie)
When the beachgoers smashed the pumpkin that washed up on shore, they killed the "children" of an ancient pumpkin race that had recently reawakened. The seeds had been frozen for aeons in glaciers, and global warming released them. No longer dormant, the seeds floated in the ocean. They were to repopulate the earth. A species of pumpkin that had mobility, and a capacity for mimicry.
Similar to ant colonies in which members assume various roles, the pumpkin species had a soldier class. The pumpkin man in the movie is of this class. He tracks his victims via a scent, and he is relentless. The scent was created by the smashed pumpkins. What appeared to be blood was actually a chemical marker that meant "enemy" to the soldier-pumpkin. When the beachgoers were stained with this "blood" they were marked for death.
There are may philosophical questions raised. The soldier-pumpkin has the semblance of a man, but it is a plant. People who encounter it attribute human qualities to it. In a sense, it IS taking revenge. But it is not an emotional vengeance. Rather, it is a survival mechanism. Conversely, it does not forgive, or show mercy. There is an emotional scene in the movie that appears to be a depiction of forgiveness, but it is just a simple matter of the would-be victim NOT being contaminated with the chemical marker. Beauty really is in the eyes of the beholder. You can watch this scene, moved by the beauty of the music, poetry, and outpouring of love and sorrow. Or you can tune everything out and see it for its base science.
The horror in this movie is not provided soley by the plant monster. Much more horror is provided by humans. Bill Zebub wanted to show how personal beliefs color perception. Beliefs are limited to religion. Even an atheist has beliefs. What you think about another person is a belief. The reason why it is a belief is because what you think about a person isn't precise. You can actually IGNORE (albeit without actvely trying to) facts about a person that contradict what you presume to be true.
A recurring message in Bill Zebub stories is that "confidence" does not correlate to "intelligence." When people want to lead in a situation, it is necessary for a good reason. The Jen character does not have the confidence that her friends have, but she is the best problem solver. Everyone else is caught up in his/her own agenda, and their ideas are part of that personal belief. Grou dynamics are much scarier than any plant monster.
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