A film that no one realized they wanted until it was announced, the first trailer for the upcoming slasher film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has been released. Based on characters that have only been in the public domain since earlier this year, the film promises to take a more adult and far more graphic spin on the popular children’s story.
Starring Craig David Dowsett as Pooh and Chris Cordell as his trusty best friend Piglet, the duo go on a murderous rampage after Christopher Robin leaves them to go to college. A perfectly normal response of course.
Winnie the Pooh
Of course, the original incarnation of Winnie the Pooh was much more loving and wholesome than this version. Created by A. A. Milne in a series of beloved children’s stories, Pooh, Piglet, and more feature in several different situations and scenarios that brought happiness and joy to children around the world.
Featuring in books, television shows, comics, and films over the years, the character comes with somewhat of a protective fanbase, which makes it all the more surprising that the general consensus of the upcoming slasher was positive. It’s certainly a unique approach to a story, taking children’s characters and turning them on their heads, and making them murderous monsters.
Blood and Honey
“The film serves as a horror retelling of A. A. Milne‘s 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh, and follows the anthropomorphic characters Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet as they become bloodthirsty murderers when Christopher Robin abandons them for college.”
Speaking to Variety in a recent interview to promote the upcoming slasher, director Rhys Waterfield had a lot to say. Describing the film’s balance as genuine terror and acknowledging the absurdity of the premise, Waterfield seems to understand how ridiculous the film actually is.
“When you try and do a film like this, and it’s a really wacky concept, it’s very easy to go down a route where nothing is scary and it’s just really ridiculous and really, like, stupid, and we wanted to go between the two.”
With a film this ‘unique’, it’s good to see the director fully aware of the insane premise, which hopefully translates on screen and the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. Give me something I can laugh at one moment, then wince at the next.
Related: 5 Horror Comedies That’ll Have You Laughing One Second And Crying The Next
Due to some characters still being under copyright with Disney, Waterfield made the understandable omission of a couple of major players, including Tigger. Whilst it’s a shame we don’t get to see the manic character bouncing around on his tail, no doubt using it as a weapon in this film’s boundaries, it’s probably a good shout to avoid any legal trouble.
Many other characters are still fair game though, and it’s looking and sounding like we’ll see a lot of our favorite Pooh-related characters hitting the big screen in a completely new and different light. Filmed over a matter of only ten days in Ashdown Forest in England, which was the original inspiration for A. A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Woods, it sounds like it was a quick and relatively simple process to get the film done. Nothing has been released regarding runtime, but with such a quick shoot it’s obviously going to be on the shorter side.
First Look Trailer
As seen in the trailer below, it looks like standard slasher fare to a degree, with hapless humans trapped in a house they’re holidaying in, terrorized, and chased by two assailants. Those assailants just so happen to be anthropomorphic versions of Winnie and Piglet. Judging by the homemade tombstone for Eeyore, not only will he be absent in creature form from the film, his standard depressing commentary will be missing too. Here’s a thought, maybe Eeyore got his suicidal wish in this interpretation?
Related: Twisted Horror Movies That Almost Drove The Actors Insane
Whether this starts a trend of childhood characters and beloved books being turned into bizarre horror slashers is anyone’s guess, but if it does, I vote for Roald Dahl’s BFG in an apocalyptic world after some sort of giant uprising.
With still no official announcement regarding the release date of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, it’s expected to drop before the end of the year, and this new trailer would support that rumor. Either way, watch the trailer for the upcoming film below.
Source: Variety
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
