The 8 Biggest Differences Between Hulu’s Sculpted Film and the Original Short

Warning: Spoilers for Carved’s 2018 short film and 2024 film.

Hulu Black Comedy Horror Movie Carved is based on a 2018 short film, and while it has the same premise, there are some big differences between them. In 2018, the winner of Huluween’s short film contest was Justin Harding Carvedwhich has now gained a long version. Co-written and directed by Harding, the complete version of Carved features a unique serial killer when an unusually large and strange pumpkin suddenly comes to life during a carving contest. The pumpkin goes on a killing spree, making Halloween a true nightmare.

After escaping the carving contest, Kira (Elizabeth Peyton Lee) leads the rest of the survivors as they all try to come up with a plan to escape, get help, and possibly kill the pumpkin as well. However, the killer pumpkin turns out to be a much more dangerous and intelligent villain than he seems, so Kira and company have to be very creative with their escape and attack plans. Although 2024 Carved takes the same premise and villain as the short film, made some significant changes that were ultimately for the better.

8

Pumpkin is sold in Carved’s short film

The pumpkin gains a new family in the short film

In both CarvedIn the short and feature film, the killer pumpkin is found in a field – what changes is who finds it and what they do with it. In the short, the pumpkin is found by a farmer while he picks pumpkins. After picking up some normal-looking, medium-sized pumpkins, he comes across a very large pumpkin, darker in color and with a rougher texture that makes it look like it is starting to rot and that has eyes, a nose and a mouth.

The farmer then sells the pumpkinswith a very loud and spoiled boy demanding that his father buy him the “disgusting” pumpkin, which is hidden behind a trash can. The farmer sells the pumpkin to the family and they just smile. In the 2024 film, the pumpkin is found by Clint (Matty Cardarople), a local man who smokes marijuana while walking through the field, where he nearly trips over one of the pumpkin’s tendrils. Clint drives and frequents the Corn Wagon, and takes the pumpkin to the village, storing it in the wagon until his friend Wes (Jackson Kelly) sees it and takes it.

7

The pumpkin is not taken to the carving competition in the short film

There is no sculpture contest in Carved’s short film

How pumpkin is sold to a family in 2018 Carvedhe is not taken to a sculpture competition like in the feature film version. Once the spoiled kid gets what he wants and his dad buys the “ugly” pumpkin, they head home. The family also takes some regular, inanimate pumpkins to carve into pumpkin lanterns. The family begins preparing the pumpkins and saves the “ugly” one for last, so the pumpkin simply witnesses the massacre of the other normal pumpkins.

In CarvedClint doesn’t have a clear plan for the pumpkin, but Wes does. Wes decides to take the pumpkin and enter the carving contest, and Clint doesn’t object. Wes is already high when he gets the pumpkin, so when the competition starts it takes him a little longer to start carving. When the pumpkin comes to life, he believes he is having a bad trip, but the pumpkin is actually alive and ready to kill him and everyone else.

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Carved from 2024 gives rise to the pumpkin

There’s a reason there’s a killer pumpkin

The time constraints of a short film don’t leave enough space to explain things and answer the biggest questions left by the story. In case of CarvedThe short film definitely fulfills its purpose of introducing a unique and unexpected serial killer, but his backstory and, above all, why he comes to life and kills people so easily are unknown. Fortunately, the long version of Carved resolves this and gives a believable (and somewhat predictable) origin to the killer pumpkin.

In early 2024 Carvedit is explained that the village is recovering from a chemical spill caused by a derailed train the previous year. As confirmed by Maddie (Sasha Mason), the chemical spill is the origin of the killer pumpkin, meaning it’s a deadly mutation. Because of this, the killer pumpkin is not the only one of its kind, as is revealed in the third act, near the end of Carvedwhen the descendants of the killer pumpkin are introduced.

5

The pumpkin has a clear motif in the 2024 sculpture

Killer Pumpkin Doesn’t Kill Randomly

The pumpkin appears to kill at random, but it actually has a clear motive and a specific list of targets – or, at least, it does in the 2024 film. For the same reason explained above about the time constraints of a short film, the 2024 film 2018 Carved it doesn’t explain what the pumpkin really wants and why it kills – it simply kills, and that’s enough for a 5-minute story. However, the film not only gave the killer pumpkin an origin, but also a motive, and it actually makes a lot of sense within the silly concept of Carved.

The feature-length version of Carved he sees the pumpkin tormented by what he sees in the carving competition: adults, children and teenagers happily cutting pumpkins, ripping out the insides and practically mutilating them. Carved it even shows some of the pumpkin’s thoughts, in which she sees and remembers the contestants as much happier and crueler than they really are. The killer pumpkin then wants revenge on the carversand only goes after the contestants, the contest organizer (the village’s general manager, Bill) and Clint, as it all started because of him.

4

Carved’s film is set in 1993

Carved’s short film has a modern setting

One of the biggest differences between CarvedThe short film and its feature-length version are the configuration of time. The short film does not explicitly say when it will be set.but it is implicit in the clothes, the family home and the surroundings that take place in the present (2018, of course). However, the full version of Carved opted for a completely different time setting, which certainly helps add suspense and more challenges to Kira and company’s escape plan and mission to get rid of the killer pumpkin.

2024 Carved takes audiences back to 1993 Halloweenas the village prepares for the annual celebration and activities such as a play and a sculpture competition. Defining the events Carved in 1993 is beneficial to the story as the survivors don’t have many methods of communicating with each other and with the outside, making it harder for them to get help and warn each other about the killer pumpkin’s movements.

This leaves Kira and the group with just a few walkie-talkies to communicate with. with the land manager, Kevin, who was injured and hiding in another building, and with landlines through which they intend to call the police for help. The group also uses walkie-talkies to distract and trick the killer pumpkin, but an honest mistake by Kevin makes the pumpkin realize he’s been tricked, which only angers him further.

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There is no village in Carved’s short film

Carved’s short film takes place elsewhere

The 2018 Carved The short film takes place in three different locations: the field where the pumpkin is found and taken, the farm where the pumpkin is sold to the spoiled child’s family, and the family’s home. The 2024 version of Carved not only changes the time setting, but also the location, taking the characters, the pumpkin, and the viewers to Cedar Creek Pioneer Village, a “living museum” in Mainewhere Halloween is their specialty. After his initial death (much like some famous slashers), Carved features Cedar Creek in a short video.

It is explained that at Cedar Creek Pioneer Village, visitors can experience the joys of a simpler time through historical reenactments, such as the play written (and directed) by Kira, set in the 1700s. The village also comes with some obstacles and limitations for the survivors during Pumpkin’s murder spree, as there are few safe places where they can hide. The group also lacks weapons and objects with which to defend themselves, and getting outside help is quite difficult, as the village does not appear to be close to other houses and more.

2

The design of the killer pumpkin is very cartoonish in the short film

The killer pumpkin looks so much better in the movie

A big improvement in 2024 Carved It’s the cartoon of the killer pumpkin. In the 2018 short, when the pumpkin is first shown, it is very obvious that it has a face, even if it is not fully formed. The pumpkin has two sunken areas like angry eyes, another smaller part sunk between the eyes to form a nose, below another area simulating a mouth, and has a shape that resembles a skull. In other words, the short makes it very clear from the beginning that there is something wrong with this pumpkin.

However, the pumpkin undergoes a radical, but not exactly better or scarier, transformation when it comes to life. For some reason, the killer pumpkin develops human eyes and teeth, and its shape changes completely – is basically a big, floating orange face. The 2024 feature film version of Carved Fortunately, the design of the killer pumpkin changes, and it is no longer cartoonish and much more believable (as believable as a killer pumpkin can be, of course).

The pumpkin in the 2024 film is larger, darker, and has a rougher texture. The pumpkin also has two sunken areas that resemble its eyes, but the rest of the face is much more subtle. The pumpkin does not have a mouth, but the texture of this area gives the impression of teeth (although not human ones). The pumpkin does not change shape when it comes to lifeand there is something like grass coming out of its “eyes”, giving it a somewhat rotten appearance.

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2024’s Carved has a better tone than the short film

2024’s Carved is a huge improvement over the short film

Another big improvement in the long version of Carved It’s your tone. Of course, a killer pumpkin isn’t a villain that can be taken seriously, but it would be very easy to be absolutely ridiculous. THE Carved short film leans more towards almost absurdist comedywith the obnoxious kid demanding to get that specific pumpkin, the family carving the pumpkins in an almost manic state, and the pumpkin suddenly having human eyes and sharp teeth. The scariest moment of the short comes at the end, with the father’s head without eyes, nose and lips decorating the entrance to the house.

2024 Carved It also has its comedic moments, but it does a better job of mixing comedy and horror and embracing the silliness of his own concept. The comedy in Carved it comes from the human characters and not the killer pumpkin, and the latter is quite brutal in its deaths, whether using its tentacles to kill or any weapon or object it can grab.

The film’s characters are aware of the ridiculousness of their situation, but it is much more dangerous and frightening than it seems. Both the short film and the feature-length version of Carved It’s worth watching, and it’s up to each viewer to decide which was best for the killer pumpkin.