Jumpscares, fake blood and gore get redundant after watching a few horror movies. It is no secret that the horror movie genre is incredibly repetitive; filmmakers must get creative when trying to scare audiences because of tired tropes and plot lines. Making reboots detestable for audiences especially the film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” was an unexpected, yet original addition to the horror movie genre.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey”, has a fairly basic premise. Christopher Robin befriends all of the stuffed animals in the Hundred Acre Wood, much like the original fairytale. However, when he leaves them behind to attend college, the animals are left to fend for themselves. This beginning sequence manages to build some suspense with intriguing music, animation and storytelling, the movie fails to include any of this throughout the rest of the film.
It flashes a few years later to the present where Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood to find his old friends with his wife, Mary. Unsurprisingly, his old friends have gone feral, and have been killing humans. They start their massacre by slaughtering Mary and later, when a group of college girls rent a cabin in the woods, they also die in excruciating ways at the hands of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. This is the meat of the movie, where the rising action, climax and falling action are meant to occur. However, this portion of the movie contains only poorly made gore.
At the end of the movie, Christopher Robin runs away from all the terrible things his old friends have done, leaving behind the corpses of nearly a dozen women. Still, no lesson has been learned, no characters have changed and there is no artistic goal has been achieved.
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” is anything but original. There is not much to say about this film, because nothing happens besides a few gruesome deaths. Though there may seem to be an interesting premise, the plot has no substance. There are no plot twists, character development or even particularly creative CGI. The beginning of the movie includes an animated sequence that has some merit, but mediocre acting, a half-hearted plot and the use of cheap and plastic costumes as an interpretation of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet quickly destroys any momentum it grants the film. The lack of effort is unfortunately obvious in the movie.
The filmmakers use the name “Winnie the Pooh” to trick audiences into watching this unoriginal, slasher film. Much like all of the one-note horror franchises dominating the genre, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” takes advantage of a brand name. In 2023 the sequel of “Meg”, “Scream VI”, “The Exorcist: Believer”(the sixth in the franchise) and “Saw X”(the tenth installment) were all released. It seems every October the urge to exploit audiences’ love for old classics tempts corporations into releasing low-quality films. It is easy to nostalgia-bait audiences into spending money to watch a bad movie with enough interest generated through fans and controversy. Now that Winnie the Pooh is in the public domain, it seems like the perfect opportunity for virality. “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” capitalized perfectly on this knowledge and made $5.2 million against their $100,000 budget.
The power of a brand name is enough to pull audiences into even the worst of productions. There are no redeemable qualities in the film. Though it could be argued that “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” is not a reboot or a sequel, the film is something even worse, a cash grab. With a sequel and alleged cinematic universe in the works, it does not seem like endless trashy horror movies will ever stop haunting cinemas. This year has not been good for the horror genre, but hopefully, 2024 will bring some truly horrifying movies.
