‘Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare’ Review: This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Peter Pan
There’s a new and recent trend happening in the horror community which is both exciting and disturbing. Filmmakers are taking our beloved Disney childhood tales and turning them into graphically gory fright flicks. Although I skipped the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey revision, I had to check out this deliciously naughty story: Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. Trust me…it’s good. Like, REALLY good!
If you are unfamiliar with Martin Portlock (as I had been prior to screening this film), you will be seeking him out for future appearances, given his ultra-villainous portrayal of Peter Pan. It’s wicked, vile and merciless. Everything you look for in a lead creature role.
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Portlock borrows tidbits from Ethan Hawke in The Black Phone, and Nicholas Cage’s Longlegs, which contributes to his wildly outstanding performance who establishes his dominance with precision and indiscriminate flare. The actor spins his newfound viciousness into a bewildering extroverted clown, seeking young boys to send to Neverland so that they’ll be protected from the malice of this world. The hypocrisy is comical; however, the brutalization that begins between Peter and a boy’s mother is nothing short of savage.
And it only gets better.
The youngest child of the Darling family, Michael, is celebrating his birthday alongside siblings Wendy and John. His character development is set up as such—a bit of an outcast with typical pre-teen woes and a best friend, Joey always by his side. Michael is suddenly snatched in the woods on his walk home and sends big sis Wendy into a tizzy trying to find and save her feeble brother. Driven by guilt or possibly fear, Wendy becomes an ultimate badass during her search for her baby brother, suffering through some of the most ruthless and unexpected barbarism that you can conceive.
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What follows is a barrage of terrifying and ghastly events such as Michael being forced to play Peter’s taunting games, while trying desperately to find a way out of this dilapidated house of horrors shared by both Peter and…yep! Tinkerbelle!
Tink’s backstory is sordid and sorrowful once the layers of how the fairy came to find herself an integral part of Peter’s plans are peeled away. We are then presented with the infamous shadow, a brief moment of ascension, the “magical” pixie dust, and some iconic phrases from the beloved cartoon version of Peter Pan. Wondering about Captain Hook? Shhhh…you’ll just have to see for yourself.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is saturated with ferocious brutality from beginning to end. While the musical score is chilling, Peter’s rampage of cruel maliciousness is never-ending. Possibly a prerequisite to join the lost boys in Neverland? Unsure about that, but what I WILL say is that Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is an incredible surprise in every which way you can imagine.
Forget everything you’ve ever seen or heard about the boy who never grew up. Apparently, he did and he’s none too happy about that. The violence through unapologetic evilness that encapsulates this Peter Pan is extraordinary. Even through the gruesome massacres, you’ll still be begging for more of him to infiltrate your screen. Hide this from the kiddies, though. It will annihilate their idea of a happy childhood fairy tale. On the other hand, adults who are tired of the humdrum bedtime stories will welcome the glorious ways of a murderously nasty Peter Pan.
Summary
Forget everything you’ve ever seen or heard about the boy who never grew up.
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