Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare
Starring Martin Portlock, Megan Placito, Kit Green, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney
Directed by Scott Jeffrey

Two years ago Winnie-the-Pooh entered the public domain, and the horror community took note and immediately put out a movie called "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood & Honey." I went in not expecting to see anything stellar or noteworthy, but to have a bloody good time with Winnie and Piglet killing people, but what I got was a snoozefest of a movie where neither Winnie nor Piglet talked, and their costumes looked like rubber masks the director found in a Halloween store. It was lazy, dull, and stupid, and I was very disappointed. Then, last year, they put out the sequel, and my expectations were lowered even more. But then before the movie began we got a video of the director and the star talking about their passion for horror movies and ones that've inspired them, as they plan to create their own horror cinematic universe with the Winnie-the-Pooh characters, Peter Pan, Bambi and Pinocchio joining forces for the dark side, and I could see the passion coming through. The second movie was much more enjoyable, with the addition of Owl and Tigger, and the characters all talking and having better costume designs than the first, and I was actually impressed and excited for what was to come. Their next outing is "Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare," and while it's not as entertaining as the second "Winnie-the-Pooh," it's surprisingly dark and twisted with a deep story that transcends its outlandish premise.

Peter Pan (Martin Portlock) works at a circus and abducts little boys to take them to "Neverland," and one day he kidnaps young Michael Darling (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) and takes him to his lair, an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere, with his assistant Tinker Bell (Kit Green). Michael's sister Wendy (Megan Placito) sets out to rescue him before Peter can fulfill his promise and take Michael to "Neverland."

The "Winnie-the-Pooh" movies are straight-up homages to the classic slasher films, and "Peter Pan" is homage to the psychological thrillers akin to the likes of "Seven" and "Joker," where the film's antagonist is a psychopath who has no redeeming qualities. Peter Pan, in his mind, thinks he's doing boys a favor by taking them to Neverland, but it's obviously something the boys don't want to happen. It's intriguing in its premise though as to whether or not Peter Pan is actually...Peter Pan, or if he's suffering from Peter Pan Syndrome, which is a real psychology term to describe an adult who is socially immature. It also doesn't flat out reveal if Neverland is a real place, or if Peter is just killing the kids, which is also a fascinating way of telling the story by not giving the audience everything spoon-fed to them.

The acting in the film isn't the greatest, with Megan Placito's Wendy being subpar and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney's Michael as, well, an annoying child. However, both Martin Portlock and Kit Green dominate as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, with Portlock giving a demanding performance balancing his fake sweet charm to lure boys to his hideout then turning completely psycho once they're there, giving a performance that's obviously a mix of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker as well as Ethan Hawke's The Grabber from "The Black Phone" right up to the kidnapper van and balloons.

Yet it's Kit Green's performance as Tinker Bell that's the most fascinating role. Writer/director Scott Jeffrey takes her story and gives it a twist that you don't expect, making her a very compassionate and tragic feel, and it's something I don't want to get into because it'll get into spoilers, but I was very impressed with the route they took her story.

The gore and effects of the film are practical and effective, and you can tell the director's love for horror as you can pick up on certain traits from other movies that are thrown in here, like the aforementioned "Joker" and "The Black Phone," but also a little bit of "Evil Dead," "Terrifier," and "It" that didn't come off as cheap or lacking imagination, but rather paying homage to those classics in Jeffrey's own way. The suspense, the kills, the effects and the overall story are extremely decent and shocking considering I was expecting another fun outing but instead got a deep emotional story told with open-ended questions that I very much appreciated, leaving me excited to see what comes next.

The Score: C