Summary
At the beginning of 2022, the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh, and all his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, entered the public domain. Only 5 months after, a low-budget slasher film featuring the lovable bear turned into a homicidal maniac was announced, and less than a year later,Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honeywas released. The film’s first announcement went viral and caused a wave of mixed reactions, Internet memes, and social media talk. However, this is far from the first time a famous children’s book has been turned into a horror movie. Many classic characters have met the same fate as Pooh and Piglet, and their horrifying reimagined stories are a must-watch for all fans of the genre, or anyone looking to reinterpret (or ruin) their beloved childhood favorites.
It is not uncommon for children’s stories to inspire horror movies.Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honeymay be the best-known example at the moment, but it is certainly not the only one. Classic fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and old folklore tales, stories in the public domain gives filmmakers the freedom to reinterpret and twist familiar narratives and characters without any copyright issues. This often results indarker, crazier, and oftentimes hilariousadaptations that may not be possible with copyrighted material. It also avoids the high production costs of obtaining rights and licenses, which allows for smaller productions and independent creators to tell their own versions of these stories.
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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Based on
Winnie-the-Poohby A.A. Milne
Cast
Nikolai Leon, Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell, Amber Doig-Thorne, Maria Taylor
Release date
84 minutes
$100,000
Box office
$5.2 million
Where to watch
Peacock
Thisreimagined version ofWinnie-the-Poohbecame a hitbefore it was even released. The shock value of seeing beloved characters, often associated with Disney and childhood, engaging in disturbing acts of extreme violence was more than enough to get people interested. The story takes place after Christopher Robin abandons Pooh and the rest of his childhood friends in the Hundred Acre Wood when he leaves for college. Writer and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield explained,during an interview with Dread Central, that the characters went feral after they stopped getting fed by Christopher.
Pooh and Piglet, they don’t have any remorse, and they’re actually pretty sadistic. That was something I wanted for the characters. […] So they used to just go out and just target people to kill them, to eat them as a way of living…
As the story continues, Pooh and Piglet continue their murderous rampage, rooted in their resentment towards Christopher and the pain of being abandoned.Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honeyis unhinged, violent, and packed with gore and brutal deaths. Despite its poor reception from critics, it has the potential to become a horror cult-classic, and anyone looking for nightmare-fuel should look no further.
The Adventures of Pinocchioby Carlo Collodi
Rosalind Allen, Todd Allen, Aaron Lustig, Ron Canada, Candace McKenzie, Lewis Van Bergen
Runtime
96 minutes
If there’s one beloved children’s story perfect for the horror genre, it’sPinocchio. Not much needs to be done to turn this story about a wooden boy who wants to become a human into a terrifying nightmare. BothGuillermo del Toro’s stop-motion and the Disney animated classicare already considered creepy enough by themselves. However, the 1996 direct-to-video horror slasherPinocchio’s Revengetakes the already disturbing story to a brand-new horrifying level.
Pinocchio’s Revengereimagines the classic story as a low-budget horror slasher thatclosely resembles the plot ofChild’s Play, starring the titular puppet. The story follows Jennifer Garrick (Rosalind Allen) a lawyer who is defending a convicted child murderer (Lewis Van Bergen). A Pinocchio puppet doll is brought to Jennifer as evidence for the case, and when she brings the doll home, her emotionally vulnerable daughter develops a bond with it. As per usual for the genre, weird and twisted things start happening, and Pinocchio begins killing those around him. Rather than a direct adaptation, the film can be seen as more of a homage to the original story. Although its production and direct-to-video release has made it pretty forgettable, it still delivers a different and twisted take on the beloved classic story forthose who can’t get enough versions ofPinocchio.
92 minutes
Amazon Freevee
Dolls are a staple of horror cinema, and just as the original story of Pinocchio,The Curse of Humpty Dumptyalso features a beloved children’s character asan evil creepy doll antagonist. Made by the same studio that later releasedBlood and Honey, this horror film is somewhat inspired by the classic nursery rhyme about an egg who falls from a wall and breaks into pieces. While the titular character takes its name from the famous poem, the movie version of Humpty Dumpty isa terrifying haunted dollwith an egg-shaped head rather than the egg with arms and legs countless people have become familiar with.
The Curse of Humpty Dumptyfollows an elderly woman suffering from dementia. She discovers her old childhood Humpty Dumpty doll at an antiques store, and the minute the doll enters her home, as expected, things start going horribly wrong. Rather than the typical fast-pacedviolence-packed haunted doll story, the film focuses more on psychological horror and family drama. It may disappoint those expecting to see a beloved egg going on a violent killing spree, but the story, but those interested in story-focused horror may enjoy this brand-new take on the nursery rhyme character.
While these low-budget horror adaptations aren’t exactly a fit for the Oscars, they can almost serve as a cathartic experience for viewers. They clearly aren’t meant for the entirety of the mainstream demographic that enjoys their source material, but blending horror and violent elements with stories and characters that often carry a sense of innocence offers something unique, unpredictable, and fun to fans of horror and slasher content. As time goes by, moreclassic stories and characters enter the public domain, opening the possibilities for new interpretations. With the success ofWinnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, it is more than likely that filmmakers will continue taking familiar stories and giving them macabre horror twists that will keep people talking.
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