Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Starring Nikolai Leon, Maria Taylor, Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Starring Nikolai Leon, Maria Taylor, Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Every so often beloved characters fall into the public domain, meaning their license has expired and they're now free to be used by anyone for anything their creative minds can concoct. On January 1, 2022, the copyright of A.A. Milne's 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh expired, meaning the original iterations of the beloved honey-loving bear and his whimsical pals Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, and Rabbit became public domain (Tigger, however, is still under copyright because he debuted in the 1928 book The House at Pooh Corner and won't be available for public domain until 2024, so be prepared to see him in the sequel - also, Disney technically has the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh but only when he's donning his red shirt, here they maneuver around that by having him wear a flannel) and faster than you can say "oh bother" someone turned these lovable children's characters into carnal, bloodthirsty animals. While this concept seemed ripe for parody, a darkly comedic turn with fun, gory kills and eccentric killers, "Blood and Honey" is, sadly, a misshapen blend of taking itself too seriously and turning off our minds to the mindless carnage taking place, silencing Pooh and Piglet's voices and making them seem like serial killers donning their masks rather than them being the real deal.
As a child, Christopher Robin lived in the 100 Acre Wood and played with his friends Pooh, Piglet, and the others - but even though he promised to never leave them, he eventually grew up and went off to college, abandoning his childhood pals. Forced to fend on their own for the first time, Pooh and the others starved until they resorted to cannibalism, turning feral, and vowing to never speak again and turn their aggression to humanity - and particularly Christopher Robin - for abandoning them. Five years later, a now-adult Christopher (Nikolai Leon) returns to the 100 Acre Wood to introduce his friends to his fiancee Mary (Paula Coiz), but finds everything in shambles, and discovers a now-feral Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell) who terrorize the couple and take Christopher hostage. Soon after, six friends travel to a lodge near the 100 Acre Wood at the behest of Maria's (Maria Taylor) therapist, who suggests time away after Maria encounters a stalker. It doesn't take long for Pooh and Piglet to find the girls and hunt them down, killing them one-by-one as Maria and the others try to find a way to escape, as well as save Christopher and whoever else is being held captive by the carnal creatures.
I've heard about "Blood and Honey" for over a year, and was eagerly anticipating finally seeing the finished product because it seemed so outlandish and silly that it had to fall under the category of "it's so bad it's good," but tragically that's not the case. It seemed that writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield flew by the seat of his pants with the product, where characters seemed to ad lib most of their lines with the same enthusiasm as finding a penny on the ground. The darkly comedic tone that should've resonated from the start was almost completely nonexistent, save for the moments between Pooh and Piglet that garnered some chuckles from the audience, but that's about it.
I'm a huge fan of horror and can appreciate the lower budget horror films if they lean wholeheartedly into their inherently campy nature (like "Chopping Mall," "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," "Shaun of the Dead," "Sleepaway Camp," etc.), but when you take away that campiness in favor of trying to tell a somewhat cohesive story, it becomes exceedingly dull and boring. While "Blood and Honey" did have its moments of brilliance, they were too fleeting and far-between to be wholly enjoyed. It didn't help that the film was shot so darkly it was almost impossible to see what was happening during the night scenes, taking away from the enjoyment that could've been had.
The film tried to have a storyline involving the "main girl" Maria going on a trip with her friends after encountering a stalker in her home, and that subplot really didn't go anywhere nor did it really serve any purpose at all. It took away from what should've been the whimsy and wonder of seeing Pooh and Piglet feasting on honey and flesh, and didn't add anything to Maria's character - or her friends for that matter. I didn't even remember their names, and they were dispatched so quickly it didn't even matter anyway because they seemed to serve as bodies more than anything else. They make the same mistakes girls do in horror movies, and their dialogue was so stinted and disjointed it really did seem like they ad-libbed most of it, which did lead to one particularly unintentionally comedic moment when they found the words "Get Out" written in blood, and one wondered if it was written by the killer - no, Karen (probably not her actual name), it was written by someone who wanted to remind the girls to watch the amazing Jordan Peele film "Get Out."
The other characters didn't fare too well, either. Nikolai Leon's Christopher Robin circled his dialogue from "why are you doing this?" to "I'm sorry," to "what happened to you?" over and over again, while choosing to silence Pooh and Piglet took away from possibly delicious puns that the two could've said during their killing spree. While the kills themselves were fun (including a homage to "Fargo" and a wood chipper and hog-tying a girl before running her over), they were, again, too dark to really see what's happening. While it did offer everything a generic b-rated horror film could give, it did so in such a boring, dull way that I was saddened that it wasted the premise on such a bare plot. Maybe the next filmmaker will give Pooh and Piglet their due justice, but for "Blood and Honey," Winnie-the-Pooh said it best "people say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."
The Score: D
As a child, Christopher Robin lived in the 100 Acre Wood and played with his friends Pooh, Piglet, and the others - but even though he promised to never leave them, he eventually grew up and went off to college, abandoning his childhood pals. Forced to fend on their own for the first time, Pooh and the others starved until they resorted to cannibalism, turning feral, and vowing to never speak again and turn their aggression to humanity - and particularly Christopher Robin - for abandoning them. Five years later, a now-adult Christopher (Nikolai Leon) returns to the 100 Acre Wood to introduce his friends to his fiancee Mary (Paula Coiz), but finds everything in shambles, and discovers a now-feral Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell) who terrorize the couple and take Christopher hostage. Soon after, six friends travel to a lodge near the 100 Acre Wood at the behest of Maria's (Maria Taylor) therapist, who suggests time away after Maria encounters a stalker. It doesn't take long for Pooh and Piglet to find the girls and hunt them down, killing them one-by-one as Maria and the others try to find a way to escape, as well as save Christopher and whoever else is being held captive by the carnal creatures.
I've heard about "Blood and Honey" for over a year, and was eagerly anticipating finally seeing the finished product because it seemed so outlandish and silly that it had to fall under the category of "it's so bad it's good," but tragically that's not the case. It seemed that writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield flew by the seat of his pants with the product, where characters seemed to ad lib most of their lines with the same enthusiasm as finding a penny on the ground. The darkly comedic tone that should've resonated from the start was almost completely nonexistent, save for the moments between Pooh and Piglet that garnered some chuckles from the audience, but that's about it.
I'm a huge fan of horror and can appreciate the lower budget horror films if they lean wholeheartedly into their inherently campy nature (like "Chopping Mall," "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," "Shaun of the Dead," "Sleepaway Camp," etc.), but when you take away that campiness in favor of trying to tell a somewhat cohesive story, it becomes exceedingly dull and boring. While "Blood and Honey" did have its moments of brilliance, they were too fleeting and far-between to be wholly enjoyed. It didn't help that the film was shot so darkly it was almost impossible to see what was happening during the night scenes, taking away from the enjoyment that could've been had.
The film tried to have a storyline involving the "main girl" Maria going on a trip with her friends after encountering a stalker in her home, and that subplot really didn't go anywhere nor did it really serve any purpose at all. It took away from what should've been the whimsy and wonder of seeing Pooh and Piglet feasting on honey and flesh, and didn't add anything to Maria's character - or her friends for that matter. I didn't even remember their names, and they were dispatched so quickly it didn't even matter anyway because they seemed to serve as bodies more than anything else. They make the same mistakes girls do in horror movies, and their dialogue was so stinted and disjointed it really did seem like they ad-libbed most of it, which did lead to one particularly unintentionally comedic moment when they found the words "Get Out" written in blood, and one wondered if it was written by the killer - no, Karen (probably not her actual name), it was written by someone who wanted to remind the girls to watch the amazing Jordan Peele film "Get Out."
The other characters didn't fare too well, either. Nikolai Leon's Christopher Robin circled his dialogue from "why are you doing this?" to "I'm sorry," to "what happened to you?" over and over again, while choosing to silence Pooh and Piglet took away from possibly delicious puns that the two could've said during their killing spree. While the kills themselves were fun (including a homage to "Fargo" and a wood chipper and hog-tying a girl before running her over), they were, again, too dark to really see what's happening. While it did offer everything a generic b-rated horror film could give, it did so in such a boring, dull way that I was saddened that it wasted the premise on such a bare plot. Maybe the next filmmaker will give Pooh and Piglet their due justice, but for "Blood and Honey," Winnie-the-Pooh said it best "people say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."
The Score: D
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