The Year’s Most Surprising Horror Sequel is Now Available to Rent
Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey was little more than a meme when it was released last year. Internet interest helped secure a brief theatrical bout, though there was little about Blood and Honey worth recommending beyond morbid curiosity. Critic and audience reviews were poor, and as the inaugural entry in The Twisted Childhood Universe, a series of independent horror movies based on popular children’s works in the public domain, horror fans couldn’t help but temper their expectations. Children’s stories but make them horror as a concept is probably the most obvious approach, though in the right hands, it can be pretty decent.
Frake-Waterfield proved as much with Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey 2. The movie isn’t great, but it’s leagues ahead of the first, making for the year’s most surprising horror sequel. If you missed it in theaters, I have great Pooh news—the film is available to rent on Prime Video now.
Per Prime Video: Deep within the 100-acre wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger find their home and their lives endangered after Christopher Robin revealed their existence. Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, the group decides to take the fight to the town of Ashdown, home of Christopher Robin, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake.
In our review of the film earlier this year, Editor-in-Chief Mary Beth McAndrews wrote, “It’s easy to see a film like Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 as a desperate money grab with little to no thought put behind it. But after watching how they built upon their established mythology and crafted even scarier monsters this time around, it’s difficult to not be impressed with what they accomplished.”
She wasn’t the only one. Broadly, both critics and audiences were more impressed with Frake-Waterfield’s sequel. While ostensibly a cash grab, it was clear that with a few resources, the Poohniverse could deliver a movie with the kind of moxie behind it no one expected.
The monsters are scary. The kills are gory. There’s a propulsive, late 1980s slasher energy that is impossible to resist. Is it the best movie of the year? No. It’s not even the best horror franchise movie of the year (that honor will forever belong to The First Omen). But, Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is a surprising accomplishment, and though I never thought I’d find myself saying it with Tigger’s zeal, I really think it’s worth the rental fee. Seriously.
Fans online have similarly loved the sequel. Check out some choice reactions below:
What do you think? Do you have any plans to check out Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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