The beloved children’s character comes to life in a new way from director Rhys Frake-Wakefield.

As a child, Christopher Robin met a new group of friends when he entered the 100-Acre Wood. They had become friends for many years, especially Christopher and Winnie-the-Pooh. However, when it was time to go to college, Christopher left the 100-Acre Wood and Pooh and the others. As time went on, Pooh and the others slowly became feral and made a pact never to trust humans again. They go good on their promise when Christopher returns five years after leaving the area with his fiancée. Pooh and Piglet kill his fiancée and kidnap their one-time friend.

Maria, a woman who suffered a traumatic event when she was constantly stalked, follows her therapist’s advice and goes to a house built near the 100-Acrre Wood. She is joined by her friends Jess, Alice, Zoe, and Lara. The girls find the opportunity to disconnect with their phones and city life and connect with nature. However, the girls will soon discover they are not alone as Pooh and Piglet plan to continue their pact and not trust humans. Will the girls make it out alive from the 100-Actre Wood?

When it was first announced that Winnie-the-Pooh’s first novel was now in public domain in 2022, the British duo of Rhys Frake-Wakefield and Scott Jeffrey decided to unleash a “what if” horror take on the beloved A.A. Milne character and fans were shocked at the very thought of it. However, they delivered well on their promise and unleashed one of the most talked about horror films of the year. And for good reason. It’s a damn good film that horror films will absolutely enjoy.

The film opens with an animated sequence where we learn about the relationship between Christopher Robin and the 100-Acre Wood half-animal half-human friends. It is when Christopher leaves that the animals slowly become feral again and to survive, had to consume of their own. It is when we see a now adult Christopher, played by Nikolai Leon, and things start out somewhat nice but as we all know what this the film is about, things get sinister. We see beats of a kidnapped and tied-up Christopher try to get through to Pooh (played by an excellent Craig David Dowsett) but is resorted to torture as a measure of revenge.

Eventually, we get the plot of Maria, played by Maria Taylor, taking her friends with her to reconnect with nature and overcome a stalking incident by spending the weekend at the house near the 100-Acre Wood. Natasha Rose Mills, Amber Doig-Thorne, Danielle Ronald, and Natasha Tosini play the potential new victims of Pooh and his cohort Piglet, played by Craig Cordell (who also plays Maria’s stalker in a flashback). There are also some supporting characters who are destined to their fate by the feral characters and this is when things get really good.

Horror fans will love the kill scenes in the film. A meshing of practical and minimal visual effects, there are slashings, limbs taken apart, a Toxic Avenger-style headcrushing, decapitations, and plenty more to please the avid gorehound. The ending takes quite an unexpected turn but it is destined as the filmmakers already announced before the release of the this film there would already be a sequel planned.

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey may haunt your childhood, but if you’ve grown into a lover of horror films, then this is definitely a film to check out. Great performances and kill scenes make this a definite horror hit of 2023.

WFG RATING: A

ITN Distribution presents a Jagged Edge Productions film. Director: Rhys Frake-Wakefield. Producers: Rhys Frake-Wakefield and Scott Jeffrey. Writer: Rhys Frake-Wakefield; based on characters created by A.A. Milne. Cinematography: Vince Knight. Editing: Rhys Frake-Wakefield.

Cast: Nikolai Leon, Maria Taylor, Natasha Rose Mills, Amber Doig-Thorne, Danielle Robert, Natasha Tosini, May Kelly, Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell.