Last month we learned that the Saw franchise is finally ready to return after a 6 year hiatus, but even as that project comes together, Saw producer Peter Block has slightly older horror franchise that he is looking to dust off for today’s moviegoers as well. The 1988 film Pumpkinhead is best known as the directorial debut of special effects guru Stan Winston, but despite the fact that it spawned a handful of sequels, it was never a particularly huge hit. Now Block is looking to reboot the franchise and pay tribute to it while avoiding a straight up remake. Here’s what he had to say about the project:

“Pumpkinhead is one of my favorite horror films of the late ’80s, early ’90s… Stan Winston sits on that Mount Rushmore of iconic filmmakers because of his creature designs, and that was his first directing effort. The creature’s great but the emotional story is wonderful as well. I got the rights to Pumpkinhead, and hooked up with a great young writer called Nate Atkins, and we developed our script, which is really solid.”

Atkins is best known for writing the Donnie Darko sequel, S. Darko, but has also written a bunch of other genre stuff and also worked as an assistant editor on Masters of Horror and 24. They are currently in search of a director who has a love for the genre and an appreciation for what made the original great. Block promises a similar story but with an enhanced setting and more characters. Most importantly, however, he seems intent on using practical effects. Do you think the time is right for a Pumpkinhead reboot? Who would you like to see direct?