WFG RATING: B

ITN Pictures presents a Champ Dog Films production. Produced and directed by Louisa Warren. Written by Tom Joliffe; based on characters created by L. Frank Baum. Cinematography by Nikhil Ranade. Edited by Harpreet Singh.

Stars Alina Desmond, Stephen Samson, Nathan Livingstone, Simon Ellis, Hywel Webb, Jodyanne Richardson, Alfie Manser, Adam Bennett, Julia Quayle, Yvonne Curwen, and Mary Eva Sharp.

L. Frank Baum’s classic tale gets the horror treatment in this film that gives off Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare vibes, minus the kidnapping schematic. 

Dorothy is a recovering drug addict who has been placed by her Aunt Em inside the Emerald Rehabilitation Clinic. Run by Dr. Diggs, Dorothy finds herself constantly plagued by nightmares that she is in a magical land with a yellow brick road. Aside from Dorothy, some of those in recovery include Alastair, Johnny, and Sarah. With the help of both Dr. Diggs and Dr. Bomby, Dorothy learns of a new experiment that Diggs claims to help with eventual sobriety. 

Dorothy continues to have nightmares, but after a confrontation protecting Alastair from an arrogant Sarah and Johnny, she soon discovers something horrifying. The scarecrow and tinman from her dreams have shown up in the real world. Thinking she has saved them, Dorothy learns they are deadly killers who collect both brains and hearts. When the deaths are mistaken for disappearances, Dorothy realizes she may be the only one capable of learning the truth and plans to put an end to her nightmare. 

One of four horror movies set for release this year involving the classic tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this was the first to get a release. Screenwriter Tom Joliffe crafted a script that seems to meld that of Oz with the Lewis Carroll classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as it feels Dorothy is seen falling down a major rabbit hole all within the confines of the rehab facility she is staying in. Louisa Warren, who directed the underrated Cinderella’s Curse, does a good job in terms of visualization that it sometimes feels like a total mind trip.

Alina Desmond, who ironically played Alice in Fairest of Them All (seen as a somewhat spin-off of the aforementioned Cinderella’s Curse), takes on the role of Dorothy here and does quite a fantastic job. What is very interesting is that to her, the lines of reality and fantasy blur to a degree where at first, she feels like she is thinking the Scarecrow and Tin Man are in danger. However, once she discovers the terrifying truth about their motives, she finds herself digging deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole she never expected with a haggard looking Glinda, played by Yvonne Curwen, as sort of her version of the White Rabbit. 

Hywel Webb and Simon Ellis play the Scarecrow and Tin Man respectively with the latter playing a dual role as the very arrogant orderly Eddie. When they appear in the real world and unleash their killing spree, the levels of bloodletting amp up with each kill. While one kill looks a little bad from a technical viewpoint (a camera angle shows Scarecrow’s cleaver clearly not touching his victim’s head), it doesn’t hinder the fact that the two have a tendency to collect brains for the Scarecrow (who also leaves a calling card by stuffing his dead victims with straw) and hearts for the Tin Man. The finale takes an unexpected twist but seems to work knowing the lore. 

Wizard of Oz: Dead Walk is a pretty decent start to what to expect later with The Wicked of Oz, Gale: Yellow Brick Road, and Dorothy: The Haunting of Oz on the horizon later this year. This one is definitely made for huge fans of the public domain horror film subgenre.

Now streaming on Tubi and other platforms.