Warning: spoilers for Hulu’s Carved.
As part of its Huluween event, Hulu has released the dark comedy horror movieCarved, and while it has many typical horror tropes, it surprisingly ends two of the most tiring ones. Based on the 2018 short film of the same name by Justin Harding, who returns as co-writer and director,Carvedtakes the audience back to Halloween 1993. The chaotic events ofCarvedtake place at Cedar Creek Pioneer Village, a “living museum” in Maine with different Halloween activities, like a stage play and a carving contest.
When a local guy finds an unusually big and strange pumpkin, he takes it with him and his friend uses it for the carving contest. What no one expects is the pumpkin being a mutation and coming to life, going on a murder spree across the village. A group of survivors, led by Kira (Elizabeth Peyton Lee), join forces to escape the village and get help – and, if possible, kill the murderous pumpkin.Carvedhas many well-known horror tropes that contribute to its silliness, but, surprisingly, it also ends two tiring genre tropes through its main characters.
Carved Ends The “Dumb Blonde” Horror Trope With Maddie
Maddie Is Carved’s Biggest Surprise
Kira and her theater team – her boyfriend Cody (Corey Fogelmanis), Shane (Jonah Lees), and Maddie (Sasha Mason) –, along with her friend Barbara, general manager Bill, and head of grounds Kevin are the group of survivors who come up with an escape plan. The audience meets Maddie during the Halloween play in the village, in which, as Shane suddenly starts to improvise, so does she, but with words that don’t match the 1700s setting of the play.Maddie is presented as the “dumb blonde” character, butCarvedquickly flipped this and made her one of the best characters.
Carved Cast & Character Guide
Hulu’s Carved is a horror comedy with a killer pumpkin, and its cast is formed by some well-known Disney stars along with old and new talents.
When the survivors hide in a barn after the carving contest turns deadly,Maddie surprises everyone with her knowledge of plants, telling them the killer pumpkin is actually a female and explaining the parts of the plant it’s using to kill.Maddie later surprises everyone with her knowledge of what to do in certain emergencies, revealing that her family moved to the area after the chemical spill the year before to run the cleaning. Thanks to that, Maddie is the one who tells the rest the pumpkin is surely a result of the chemical spill.
Maddie further proves to not be the stereotypical “dumb blonde” in horror movies when she’sthe only one in the group who survives all by herself. After returning for her flute in the barn while the rest get in the Corn Wagon, Maddie comes across the killer pumpkin, who attacks her. The rest believe she dies after seeing a red liquid spill on the wall, but Maddie returns atthe end ofCarved,revealing she fought the killer pumpkin with the help of a herbicide and escaped.
Carved’s Main Couple Doesn’t Get A Happy Ending (& That’s Great)
Kira & Cody Did What’s Best For Them
Another typical horror trope thatCarvedthankfully breaks is the happy couple. Kira and Cody are the only couple inCarvedand they are very much in love with each other, but their relationship takes a turn before the carving contest. Cody is pushed to reveal she auditioned for an off-Broadway show and got the part, which messes with the plans he had with Kira of leaving town and attending Julliard. Kira is hurt and shows it throughoutCarved, despite Cody’s efforts to make amends.
The couple going through a rough patch is often seen in horror movies and, if both parts survive, they reconcile at the end, but not Kira and Cody.
At the end ofCarved, and after everything they went through on that chaotic Halloween night and defeating the killer pumpkin together (with Trevor and Maddie),Kira decides to end things with Cody but stay on good terms. The couple going through a rough patch is often seen in horror movies and, if both parts survive, they reconcile at the end, but not Kira and Cody.
Kira knows that breaking up is the best for both, andletting Cody go is the highest form of love and care. Maddie surprises everyone with her knowledge and skills and Kira makes the best decision for her and Cody, givingCarvedsome good and needed twists amid many other horror clichés.
Carved
`In 1993, after a nuclear disaster, a historic village’s staff must fend off a vengeful killer pumpkin on Halloween.
