The gore is great, but are these dark adaptations any good? Let’s find out.
BAMBI: THE RECKONING (2025)
This is how you do a horror retelling of a classic—an animated, narrated, storybook intro in which we get the tragic history of Bambi losing his mother…before humans come and dump toxic waste in the woods. Return of the Living Bambi’s Mother? No. Unfortunately, the container of toxic waste doesn’t reanimate her, which would have been an even cooler twist. But we do get a mutated version of Bambi, who is out for revenge.
This movie is all about the CGI toxic Bambi. Forget the attempts at any character development, especially since there are not really any characters worth developing.
Stuck on the road at night, a mother and son hitch a ride, and within minutes, Bambi attacks the car and kills the driver.
Meanwhile, we meet a family that seems to live in the middle of nowhere, which is just great for the grandmother suffering dementia, who gets to go on endless nature walks.
So, what’s the story? Toxic Bambi goes on a rampage, busting into the house, chasing the family in their RV as they try to escape, and tearing apart anyone that dares to venture into the woods.
It’s gory, it’s silly CGI fun, Thumper makes an appearance (with all his toxic bunny buddies), and the mom and son eventually have to save the day.
WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY 2 (2024)
The Pooh is back, and he’s brought more freaky friends, more brutality and blood…and a different actor as Christopher Robin.
The animated intro reminds us of the backstory—Pooh and pals were jilted when CR went away, and they got their revenge in the first movie.
Turns out CR almost took the fall for their massacre. He’s in therapy now as a result, but Pooh and pals want to make him even more miserable by targeting his family. Along with Piglet, Pooh is joined by Owl, who is absolutely ominous and feels more like the ringleader, and Tigger, who makes only a brief appearance.
Along with a good sequence when they break into CR’s home, they also target hunters, cops, a rave…this movie gets increasingly vicious and gruesome. The body count is large, and the death scenes are so satisfying.
Is there a story? Yep. CR discovers how his animal friends turned into these humanesque-killers, and just when he gets his own revenge and absolutely mutilates all of them, we discover that even when totally ripped to shreds, these killers can regenerate for another sequel…. if it’s as vicious as this sequel is, I’m totally here for it.
PETER PAN’S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE (2025)
Of all the horror-fied versions of Disney classics and fairytale favorites I’ve seen, this one is the absolute biggest disappointment to me.
The animate backstory opener about Neverland, where boys never have to grow up, features Peter Pan as we know and love him, in his little green outfit.
That’s not what we get in reality. Peter Pan starts off looking like a mime, hijacks Pennywise’s shtick when he pops up from a trapdoor and tries to lure a boy to come with him (he even has a red balloon at one point), and eventually wears a mask, at which point he comes across like nothing more than the usual slasher movie killer. The whole time, he’s no boy. He’s a grown man, which makes his interactions with young boys quite icky.
We also get Tinker Bell. Does she have wings? No. Is she a fairy? No. She looks like a poverty-stricken older woman who could be Peter Pan’s mother or a woman suffering from dementia in one of those trauma porn horror flicks that are all the rage these days.
The plot has Wendy Darling’s brother being kidnapped by Peter and Tinker, and it’s up to her to hunt them down and save him. There are some okay kills along the way, but this is mostly a very generic film. The horror highlights include Peter Pan turning against Tinker Bell with gory results, and the brutal battle between Wendy and Peter Pan.
