“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” contorts Pooh’s story from imaginative wonder into unimaginable terror… or, at the very least, attempts to. 

“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” directed and written by British indie filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield, is a brand new interpretation of the beloved children’s stories by A.A. Milne. 

According to ScreenRant, The Walt Disney Company held exclusive rights to the honey-loving bear and his pals since 1961. However, that copyright has since expired and the public is free to use Milne’s stories however their hearts desire as of 2022.

While the concept of Winnie the Pooh being a Jason Voorhees-esque slasher villain is insanely brilliant, its execution is rather dull but still able to give you what you want in spades.

The plot follows Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon), after leaving Pooh and friends to attend college, returning to their original play place in the Hundred Acre Wood to reunite with them alongside his fiancée Mary (Paula Coiz). 

However, Christopher soon discovers upon returning that Pooh and his friend Piglet have since returned to their animalistic roots to seek revenge on Christopher and any humans who set foot in the Hundred Acre Wood. The two even go as far as consuming their friend Eeyore to survive.

The main issue with “Blood and Honey” is that it takes itself way too seriously. The film hastily throws in plot points and backstories for characters that the film wants us to care about, such as with the final girl Maria (Maria Taylor) having PTSD from dealing with a stalker. However, the film never gives these points any proper payoff, making the viewer question why they should care in the first place.

I felt that Christopher Robin was wasted in this film. For someone who’s behind Pooh Bear’s murderous motivation, he takes a back seat for almost the entire film. Most of his screen time is spent chained up inside a wooden shack for Pooh to torture. I didn’t once care enough for him or about the predicament he was in, even with his fiancée being killed and skinned down to her skeleton early in the film. 

Pooh and Piglet are described in the film as human-animal hybrids, a basic workaround for the fact that they’re clearly men in masks. Drake-Waterfield’s production company Jagged Edge indicated that the film was made on a budget of less than $100,000. That being said, the film certainly makes up for it with rather unique moments and gory kills. Some personal highlights include Christopher Robin being whipped by Pooh with Eeyore’s tail, and a hog-tied victim being run over by a car.

Unfortunately, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” is nothing more than a basic slasher film that only uses the Winnie the Pooh brand for shock value. However, you’ll most certainly get what you’re expecting out of it and even be entertained. Still, if anything, it feels like a horror parody trailer that one would find on YouTube rather than a well-thought-out slasher film that uses the intellectual property to its advantage.

That doesn’t mean Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey are done with films like this, as the two have confirmed that a sequel is in the works. They’ve also made plans to turn other public domain children’s stories into horror films such as Bambi and Peter Pan. And who knows? As of 2022, according to The Guardian, Disney’s mascot Mickey Mouse is set to enter the public domain in 2024 (At least the version of Mickey from 1928’s “Steamboat Willie”). This makes it likely for the Mouse to be on the duo’s chopping block next.