‘Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey’ Goes Whole Hog With Bloody Violence
Mary Beth McAndrews
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2023 is shaping up to be a generation-defining year for the horror genre. From Skinamarink to The Outwaters, weird micro-budget horror is dominating the landscape, showing that audiences are ready to be fed something odd yet titillating. Now, another contender has entered the ring: Winne The Pooh: Blood and Honey. No, it’s not the avant-garde liminal experience like the aforementioned films. But, it’s a piece of micro-budget horror that has dominated the public consciousness. Now that it’s finally hit theaters, the film is proving that it’s more than just a gimmick; it’s a nasty slasher that revels in extreme violence at the hands of our childhood favorites.
The film opens with an animated explanation of how Christopher Robin found Winnie the Pooh and his friends, who here are strange mutant creatures. Christopher feeds them, giving them no real reason to hunt and find their own sustenance. So, when Christopher abandons them to go to medical school, they become feral starving beasts. After having to eat Eeyore in an act of desperation, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet declare their burning hatred of humanity. Thus begins their murderous rampage against anyone who comes near the 100 Acre Wood.
And wouldn’t you know it, a group of young women escaping the hustle and bustle of the city rent a house right in Pooh and Piglet’s hunting territory. Maria (Maria Taylor) has been dealing with a vicious stalker, so her friends join her on a weekend getaway. Those friends include nerdy best friend Jess (Natasha Rose Mills), gay couple Alice and Zoe (Amber Doig-Thorne and Danielle Roland, respectively), and vapid Lara (Natasha Tosini). Think The Descent but with surface-level characters that play right into typical horror tropes.
After quickly introducing the girls, director Rhys Frake-Waterfield wastes no time getting into the blood and guts of it all. This isn’t a movie about the characters after all. We’re here for the Pooh and we get that in spades. We get Pooh flogging someone with the late Eeyore’s tail (nail and all). Piglet smashes skulls with a sledgehammer. Pooh rips off a woman’s shirt before killing her via woodchipper for some reason. And it’s all rendered in disgusting detail. We see flesh splitting open, eyes popping out of crushed skills, blood flying from hammer-inflicted wounds. It’s not necessarily an extreme horror film, but the gore and violence are reminiscent of the torture porn of the early 00s. The kills are so wild that even moments of CGI blood are forgiven.
On top of that, the kills are mean. No one is safe from the wrath of Pooh. You aren’t getting a sickly sweet ending with heroes riding off into the sunset. This makes sense, of course, as the film’s end teases a franchise. But this isn’t a film afraid to kill its darlings in increasingly gruesome ways.
Violence aside, there are efforts to give Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey a bit more depth, especially through Maria’s trauma. Yes, this film does try to dabble in the trauma horror space. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I suppose, that isn’t even remotely the film’s strong suit. In fact, these attempts at a deeper plot make the already-short film drag at moments. A movie about a feral Winnie the Pooh and Piglet should never be boring. And Frake-Waterfield avoids that for the most part, thankfully.
Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t award-winning horror. The acting is subpar at best as actors very seriously mutter lines like “something is wrong with Piglet. He killed my wife!” The editing is abrupt and there are more continuity issues than I can count. The lighting makes several kills almost impossible to see (a clever way to mask the budget). Also apparently Pooh has a swarm of bees at his disposal but said bees are barely perceptible on screen. If you take this film super seriously, it looks like a mess.
And yet, with all of its flaws, Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey is fun. It’s entertaining. It’s absolutely ridiculous and we all knew that going in. Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey is the purest definition of camp. Despite the subject matter, it takes itself pretty damn seriously and therefore delivers a genuine piece of camp horror. Yes, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Yes, the acting is rocky at best. The editing is strange and the lighting feels almost nonexistent. But dear god, seeing Winnie the Pooh crushing heads and ripping off faces delivers a one-of-a-kind viewing experience. It’s absolutely hilarious, yet disgusting, with kills that’ll have you yelling in surprise and glee. No, it’s not Skinamarink or The Outwaters. But, it’s still undoubtedly another generation-defining horror experience that speaks to the power of genre and the stories we’re excited to see on the big screen.
Winnie the Pooh: Bloody and Honey is out now in theaters. Are you checking it out this weekend? Let us know on Twitter @DreadCentral.
Summary
Despite technical issues and an uneven script, ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ is a surprisingly fun and violent romp through 100 Acre Wood.
