Scene from 'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey'
Winnie the Pooh became public domain in January 2022, meaning anyone can use this intellectual property. "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" takes advantage of this, making a beloved children's book character into a slasher film antagonist. While this concept is interesting, the film failed in its execution.
The film starts with an animation showing the characters from Winnie the Pooh and tells a grim tale of how Christopher Robin abandons Pooh and his friends after he goes to college. The animals are forced to cannibalize each other when food is scarce. Due to this, the group becomes resentful of human beings and pledges never to speak again.
The film is set five years after Christopher Robin leaves the 100 Acre Woods. Most of the film focuses on a woman named Maria, who stays at a cabin in the 100 Acre Woods with her friends after being stalked. Unbeknownst to Maria and her friends, they are being targeted by Pooh and Piglet.
This film has few strengths other than the artistry behind the gore and the sound design's ambiance. While the gore is excessive, there is a lot of detail behind it, and some of the kills have creative executions. Another interesting detail is how Pooh sometimes cries and drools honey, which adds to the film's grim tone and is a creative twist on his well-known love of honey. The sound design was also decent in helping to set the tone, especially during the chasing and killing scenes.
This film has numerous flaws, including the writing, protagonist switching, gratuitous nudity and overreliance on the slasher film formula. Maria is a bland protagonist paired with an unnecessary stalker subplot, and her friends are just as forgettable. Maria and her friends are treated as lambs to the slaughter and fanservice with unnecessary nudity.
The characterization is poor, even for a slasher film. While slashers typically have a character or two who make dumb decisions leading to their deaths, this film does so far too often. It became harder to take seriously and ultimately was more humorous than scary.
The ending was poor, and it felt like the story had been one big loop without any progression on the characterization or the film's main theme: how abandonment progressed to murderous misanthropy.
Compared to some bottom-of-the-barrel slasher films, this film scrapes the very bottom. Some slasher enthusiasts would likely agree that this film lacks characterization that even some of the worst slasher films get right, and the sheer vapidity of the characters makes this film hard to like. Although it does have some saving graces, this film's flawed writing and execution make it a dull viewing experience.
Rating: 3/10