Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)
I’m a scaredy cat, so of course I went to see Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. I mean, a horror film about Pooh Bear, how scary could that be?
Before we get into that, first things first. I welcome the idea of a Pooh movie that has nothing to do with Disney. Not because I hate Disney, but because a lot its characters are now only known because of their association with the Magic Kingdom.
In 2022 writer A.A. Milne’s creation became part of the public domain, which means that anyone (including you!) can make their own Winnie-the-Pooh movie, as long as it doesn’t resemble the various Disney movies and series too much.
A horror movie would seem to be a sure bet, but you can bet your ass that the Mouse House lawyers followed the production of Blood and Honey quite closely, to make sure that writer-director Rhys Frake-Waterfield didn’t overstep his bounds.
Speaking of Mouse, Mickey will join the public domain in 2024. So you can start writing now..
Which brings us to the movie at hand. The premisse is pretty simple: Christopher Robin goes to college, so he leaves Pooh and Piglet behind. First they get sad, then they get angry and when they develop a taste for blood they embark on a bloody rampage to search for food.
It’s a great idea and I wish I could say that the movie is just as great.
But I can’t say it is so I won’t. I completely understand that the trailer went viral, but the movie doesn’t live up to the expectations.
It’s basically an amateur production about two guys with masks on maiming, torturing and killing a lot of people.
I’m happy that you can be successful on such a low budget, I just hope the already announced sequel will be a bit better.
So, was I scared by it? No, not really. I admit I looked away at some of the gory bits, because I don’t really care for intestines and that kind of stuff. But if that’s your bag, that’s fine too.
I don’t think the audience I saw it with cared about the movie all that much either. They were mainly teenagers who were busy on their phones or talking to each other.
I think that, just like me, they will enjoy being able to say to their mates that they saw the Winnie the Pooh horror movie...
I just wish for all our sakes that it could have been a better experience.