'Winnie-the-Pooh' Slasher Flick 'Blood and Honey' Just Dropped Its Supremely Creepy First Trailer
What happens after the usually cuddly bear and his pals get left alone in the Hundred Acre Wood for years? This new horror flick poses a grisly answer.
Take every horror movie staple, every expected line and all the usual eerie settings, then throw in a beloved childhood character that's stopped being friendly and turned savage instead. That's a recipe for one of the most intriguing movies of the year, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Yes, it's a slasher film starring Winnie-the-Pooh. Yes, really. And yes, it looks set to forever change the way you see the childhood favourite.
The flick itself isn't new news, but it now has a trailer — and it's as creepy as the whole concept sounds. "Oh bother!" is definitely the mood, after Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood as an adult, years after leaving his pals Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo behind. All that time alone hasn't turned out well, and there's about to be a body count to prove it.
No, the idea that Pooh might turn murderous hasn't ever crossed anyone's minds before. Gracing pages for almost a century — plus screens big and small for decades — Winnie-the-Pooh has done many things in his time, but getting grisly hasn't been one of them. Ever since AA Milne first conjured up the honey-loving, walking-and-talking teddy bear back in the 1920s, Pooh has enjoyed plenty of adventures involving his human and animal friends, and tried to eat as much of his favourite foodstuff as possible. We've all seen the cartoons and toys, and also watched films such Goodbye Christopher Robin and Christopher Robin in recent years.
To director Rhys Waterfield, however, Pooh is no longer cute and cuddly, even if he's a honey-fiending teddy bear who normally doesn't wear pants (although he appears to here).
And if you're wondering about the tone of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, other than horror, the filmmaker's other upcoming titles include Firenado, Sky Monster and Rise of the Loch Ness.
Clearly, Pooh breaking bad all falls into B-movie territory, which the premise makes plain as well. The setup: after seeing their food supplies dwindle as Christopher grew up, Pooh and Piglet have spent years feeling hungry. They've turned feral, in fact, even eating Eeyore to survive. So when Christopher returns, it sets the pair on a rampage, which leads to them a rural cabin where a group of university students are holidaying.
From that summary, it's obvious what'll happen from there. The trailer cements that fact, and throws in more horror tropes than you could fit in a pot of honey in the process.
Exactly when Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey will reach screens Down Under, and where, also hasn't yet been announced — and the film's release date in the US and UK is also yet to be set at this point — but it's heading to DVD and VOD rather than cinemas.
Wondering why something that's usually so sweet and innocent is being given the creepy, bloody, eerie horror treatment — turning Winnie-the-Pooh into a killer, no less? It's because the character has just entered the public domain in America. Disney no longer holds the copyright, and no one can now hold the exclusive intellectual property rights over the character, opening the door for wild interpretations like this slasher flick.
Check out the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey trailer below:
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when further details are released.
Images: Jagged Edge Productions.
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