Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey – A Swing and A Miss B-Movie

With big properties now beginning to hit the public domain, the possibilities are endless. The first film to make a splash was Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey which puts the iconic bear in a graphic horror that suffice it to say, is a far departure from what most are familiar with for better or worse. A B-movie from top to bottom, it perhaps plays it too serious than it needed to but it is best experienced with little to no expectations going in. While the subgenre has never been known to be full of masterpieces, audiences can occasionally find fun in them, for reasons that may or may not be intentional. When it comes to this film, there is little to no fun to be had over the course of its sub 90-minute running time. That being said, it certainly won’t be for the feint of heart though just not to the extent that many were probably expecting, besides some admittedly great kills. However, they were few and far between. The problem with the film is that there its moments of brutality lacks any kind of impact whatsoever as a result of an incohesive story and unlikable characters.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey reimagines the characters of the original story as Pooh (Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell) have become blood-thirsty killers, looking for food as a result of being left to fend for themselves after Christopher Robin (Leon) abandoned them for college. Their sole driving force was revenge and they quickly got that chance to make him suffer like they did but they were not done there. Looking to get away from recent personal troubles, a woman named Maria (Taylor) and her group of friends found themselves targets of the pair while spending a technology-free weekend at a remote cabin in the 100 Acre Wood. All these subplots were just there as the film felt awkwardly put together. Nevertheless, most are unlikely to notice as it devolves into mere horror tropes as the story is primarily driven by questionable character decisions. All the subplots eventually converged, however, most will surely not care and just want to see characters get killed in creative and brutal ways. Unfortunately, the film fails to find the right balance as it seemed more interested in pushing its meaningless story and characters rather than giving audiences enough of what they want. And whatever the ultimate plans are, it’s not over here.

If anything, the film definitely looks the part and feels like a throwback horror film but on the other hand, the pros essentially end there. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that the special effects are terrible which comes with the territory. However, the fake arterial spraying of blood could mostly be attributed to the film’s budget. The terrible doesn’t end there which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise either. Bad dialog and acting either intentionally or unintentionally are a staple of B-movies and those can sometimes be endearing and entertaining in spite of those issues. Here, that was not the case. Predictably going from point A to point B in scene after scene, it was often tough to watch. Though Pooh and Piglet didn’t talk for the most part, some will wish that the other characters didn’t talk either but it wouldn’t be much of a film if that was the case. If one can be singled out, it’s Leon as Christopher Robin. In a limited role, he did show some charm despite the dialog not doing him any favors.

At the end of the day, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is a film that is going to mean different things for different audiences as some will find more entertainment in it than others but there are countless better B-movies out there.

still courtesy of ITN Distribution

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.