If you haven’t heard, recently many projects have been getting off the ground because the subject material has entered the public domain. Now what does this mean? Essentially it means the copyright on the original works these characters have originated from has expired. That being said, now we can enjoy things we never thought to be possible, such as Winnie the Pooh and friends being the latest slashers from the Hundred-Acre Wood! Spoilers ahead!
Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey 2 takes place one year after the original massacre Pooh and Piglet were responsible for. Although everyone in the nearby town Ashdown, believes the sole survivor Christopher Robin was the killer. Naturally, he is ostracized at work and even by his “friends” due to his affiliation with the tragedy.
Characters
Not long after, we get a look at Pooh, Piglet, and Owl. They set out to defend their home in the Hundred-Acre Wood from local hunters. Unfortunately, Piglet doesn’t make it past this scene. A hunter with a shotgun makes sure of that. This disappointed me, I had hoped they’d be able to redeem his character. In the first installment Piglet didn’t have much screen time, and when he did it wasn’t memorable. Regardless, this is the first look at Owl in this franchise. There isn’t much to his wardrobe besides having a wrinkly face, beak, and tattered wings, nevertheless he’s still the definition of nightmare fuel.
The most anticipated part of this movie for me was seeing Tigger. Personally I feel like they introduced him far too late into the movie. He should have been introduced a little earlier on and Owl’s screen time should have been split with Tigger. Regardless, he finally gets revealed in a very dramatic way which I appreciated. But the lighting was so dim, it was very difficult to see him until all of his victims were dead.
He dons what looks like a prisoner/patient jumpsuit, which is appropriate considering he’s always been “unhinged”. His entire character was very Freddy Krueger-esque, i.e. being very vocal and almost every other sentence involved him calling his victim a bitch. Honestly, that’s not a problem for me, if he had good one-liners. This personality is a solid choice for Tigger. But most of what he had to say fell flat.
Story
While this is a “just” slasher movie, it felt like the crew behind the film took a lot of criticism from the first film. In particular creating an actual story and in regard to the way the victims were killed. In the first movie, Pooh and Piglet literally drive a car over one of the victims. And it was just weird, and didn’t make sense as to how these animals are able to even drive a car. However, in this iteration, each character kills their victims in more reasonable ways. Tigger uses his claws to execute victims, which just seems very on point with him being a tiger. Owl uses his acidic vomit to take lives. And Pooh, funny enough, uses bear traps to catch his victims.
What makes Blood and Honey 2 standout the most in comparison to the original, is its cohesive story line. It follows Christopher Robin’s journey through hypnotherapy as he tries to remember the man who kidnapped his brother and other children from a very traumatic birthday party. Though compelling, it looks like it was taken right out of the Five Nights at Freddy’s. This story sequence leads into how the Pooh and his friends were brought to life, which personally was the highlight of this movie for me.
Blood and Honey 2 Overall
Overall, there was so much more substance to this movie than the first, which says a lot considering it’s a sequel, and a horror movie. Usually it swings the other way. The focus on the story served the film well, finally giving a semi-believable reason as to how these characters were able to come to life in this universe. Blood and Honey 2 is a solid 6/10, as opposed to the abysmal first entry at a 2/10.
As this movie was technically a ‘Fathom Event’, it was only in theaters for three days. But it also gave a behind the scenes look at interviews with Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Christopher Robin actor, Scott Chambers. They’re in the process of shaping an ‘Avengers-style’ team-up movie with other childhood icons turned slashers. Upcoming movies we can expect from Frake-Waterfield and company are, Pinnochio: Unstrung, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare. Each of these films will come to fruition before Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble in 2025. So we have that to look forward to!
Interested in my take on more slasher movies you can find them here!