Fans of the Poohniverse — the name for the movie series that started with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and puts low-budget horror spins on childhood icons, in case for some reason you didn't know that — got a couple of updates this morning.
Those updates revolve around the next horror movie from the creators of the Twisted Childhood Universe, Pinocchio: Unstrung. For one, a major horror icon has joined the cast: Robert Englund, best known for his role as Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies. That news comes via Variety on Friday, which also revealed that frequent Rob Zombie collaborator Richard Brake will be playing Geppetto.
Secondly, we also got a first look at the completely practically made Pinocchio doll, which you can see below.
It is, honestly, a pretty creepy design, which is true to form for creatures from Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey, the director/producer duo that brought Blood and Honey to life. It is, after all, that nightmare-inducing Winnie-the-Pooh design that made that film go viral in the first place.
The production team also posted a video to social media showing off the puppet in action, and I've gotta admit, it's pretty cool. This version of Pinocchio was created by Todd Masters, the special effects artist whose credits include Child's Play and Dune: Part II. Between Englund and Masters, it seems this once micro-budget horror series is rising in profile quite a bit.
Meet Pinocchio. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/Klly3yIdlS
— Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (@poohbandh) November 1, 2024
Frake-Waterfield is directing Pinocchio: Unstrung as he and Jeffrey continue to build out the Twisted Childhood Universe. It, of course, started with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey last year, followed by a direct sequel this past March. Up next is Bambi: The Reckoning, which already has a teaser trailer.
We don't yet have a release date for Pinocchio: Unstrung, but you can just keep watching that creepy animatronic video on a loop in the meantime. For more, check out our 6/10 review of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, which we called "inarguably better than the original, but that’s not saying all that much."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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