Yes, I think it was inspired very much by Alien. After all, Winston had worked with the Xeno design in "Aliens" just a few years earlier. A personal note of mine is that Pumpkinhead is one of the scariest creatures I have ever seen in a movie. Of course not now, I think he's just plain cool now. But in the past he was terrifying. Also, I DESPISED Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings. I hated how they revealed him as a retarded kid resurrected by a witch grandma. He was so much scarier and more mysterious in part one. People could actually feel sorry for him in the second one. Not so scary.
~For centuries, human beings have worshipped these beasts as gods, beasts that will forever haunt us, beasts waging an eternal war.....~