Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

2 Stars (out of 4)

Bear Minimum

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

After the subversive idea of turning beloved children's characters into brutal killers wears off, all that's left in this low-budget horror movie is a bunch of boring cliches and dumb characters.

Young Christopher Robin grows up playing with his friends Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, and Eeyore, in the Hundred Acre Wood, but one day he must leave for college. The animals begin to starve and decide to kill and eat Eeyore. After that, they become twisted versions of their former selves, sworn to kill and eat humans, and especially Christopher Robin.

Five years later, Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon) returns home, only to discover his former friends are now monsters. Meanwhile, Marie (Maria Taylor), who has been traumatized by a stalker, is advised to take a vacation, so she gathers up her friends and heads to a remote cabin, not far from the Hundred Acre Wood...

The grungy-looking Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey begins with a crudely animated prologue, explaining how the characters turned into hybrid creatures, and most of the fun ends there. (Not to mention that, after the prologue, we never see Rabbit or Owl.) There are a couple of giggles early on thanks to visuals like a swarm of bees following Pooh around, or Pooh drooling disgustingly at the thought of a snack.

But it's not long before the movie becomes a showcase for hacking up young women, who, it must be mentioned, don't do much of anything to help themselves. Perhaps the worst idea is introducing the Marie character as the traumatized survivor of a sexual predator, who then must face yet more horror. It borders on cruelty. By the time it reaches its "what?" ending, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey has turned from a bizarre, controversial internet meme to a totally forgettable movie.