Old Chief Wood'nhead is an Indian statue in the 1987 Stephen King horror anthology film Creepshow 2, in the segment of the same title. He was played by Dan Kamin.
Biography[]
Old Chief Wood'nhead is an Indian statue that stands on a front porch outside a general store which was owned and operated by Ray and Martha Spruce in the small town of Dead River, Arizona.
The Spruces were visited by Benjamin Whitemoon, an elder of a local Native American tribe who gave them a bag of turquoise jewels and other valuable relics and heirlooms, sacred treasures from his people called the "Ilinii", as collateral for the debt the tribe has incurred. Despite initially refusing to accept them, Ray vowed to guard the jewels with his own life. Whitemoon bid them and Old Chief Wood'nhead (who nodded his head in response, briefly startling him) farewell and returned to his home.
Later that night, the Spruces were subject to a vicious robbery led by Benjamin's estranged ne'er-do-well nephew Sam Whitemoon, who was armed with a shotgun, and his two friends, the wealthy Andy Cavanaugh and the gluttonous Fatso Gribbens. After ransacking the store and emptying the register for what little money it had, Sam demanded that Ray hand over the jewelry, holding Martha at gunpoint. In the struggle, Sam's gun went off and shot Martha, killing her. No longer holding back, Sam shot and killed Ray as well before grabbing the jewels. In celebration, Sam shot out the store's windows and fired a round at Old Chief Wood'nhead, knocking over the can of red paint Ray had been using to touch up the Chief's war paint. The three thugs drove away and began preparations to run away to Hollywood, California, where the vain Sam expected to become a movie star, in part due to his long, dark hair. After they left, Old Chief Wood'nhead came to life, used the spilled paint to finish his war paint, and let out a howling battle cry before embarking on a vicious warpath to kill the thugs and avenge the murdered Spruces.
Old Chief Wood'nhead first went after Fatso Gribbens, killing him by puncturing him with arrows. Old Chief Wood'nhead then went after Andy Cavanaugh, hacking him to death with a tomahawk. Finally, Old Chief Wood'nhead cornered Sam Whitemoon in his home. Sam was unable to fight back, the shells from his shotgun having no effect on his wooden assailant. Sam attempted to lock himself in his bathroom and escape through a window, but Old Chief Wood'nhead managed to break through the wall, grabbed Sam by his hair, pulled him through the wall, and used a hunting knife to scalp him, killing him instantly.
The next morning, Benjamin Whitemoon woke up to find the bag containing the turquoise jewelry on his bed. He visited the Spruces' ruined general store to find Old Chief Wood'nhead back on the porch, holding his nephew's bloody scalp, with fresh war paint adorning the chief's face. Now aware of what has happened to the Spruces and what Old Chief Wood'nhead had done to the killers, Benjamin wished the old warrior a peaceful afterlife and drove away.