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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (15th June 2023). |
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The Film
 "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" (2023) An adult Christopher Robin (played by Nikolai Leon) decides to bring his fiancée Mary (played by Paula Coiz) to the forest where he spent most of his childhood - The Hundred Acre Wood. Though he explains to her that he befriended a group of talking animals there while he was young, she is skeptical of his stories being actually true. When they arrive, Winnie the Pooh (played by Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (played by Chris Cordell) are waiting, but not in the friendly way that he had left them. After years waiting for Christopher Robin to return, the animals had starved and returned to their feral roots, and vowed have their revenge against him as well as all humans. Meanwhile a group of university students - Maria (played by Maria Taylor), Jessica (played by Natasha Rose Mills), Alice (played by Amber Doig-Thorne), Zoe (played by Danielle Ronald), and Lara (played by Natasha Tosini) arrive at a cabin that they rented for the weekend. Unfortunately the place is in the Hundred Acre Wood, and their plans for fun become a terrifying ordeal to survive. With the American copyright for A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh falling into the public domain as of 2023, it wasn't long before someone decided to put the characters in a horror film setting. Writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield did exactly that with "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey", an independent production shot in 2022 and released the following year just after the copyright expiration. The opening animated sequence is quite clever, showcasing like a storybook the story of the animals and their friendship with Christopher Robin turning sour after years of neglect, tragically leading to Eeyore's demise as the others ate him to survive. Through their guilt they turn their back on Christopher Robin as well as all humans that have led them to that, which also means refusing to talk again as it is a human trait. It is a clever way to start the feature, and Frake-Waterfield states that it was animated due to the low budget nature and not being able to shoot that segment with live action elements. The budgetary constraints actually led to a creatively interesting beginning to the feature, but it sadly is one of the few positive points of this slapped together and cliche ridden horror that offers nothing new. The film seems to have been made with two ideas in mind - using the Winnie the Pooh name and having gory killings for a slasher film. The kills come one by one with impalements, head bashing, skull crushing, decapitations and more, with each being done to showcase the effects work with use of practical effects and some digital enhancements. As a slasher film, the kills should take the stage as the selling point, but even here the effects don't seem to be up to high standards. Some of the latex work looks fairly fake is one issue. The other major issue is that the film is so visually dark for the most part that it is difficult to see what is going on during some of the kills. Even how the characters are killed off are not entirely creative. From sledgehammers to woodchippers to getting run over by a car - none of them seem particularly new to the genre, and none of them have a hint of being something from a Winnie the Pooh theme. As for the use of Pooh characters, the only ones that are basically seen here in form are Pooh and Piglet, and both are basically just two men dressed in clothes and wearing giant masks that are unconvincing. It's obvious that the point of making the characters mute was not a choice for plot but basically because the masks have basically no mouth movement or any movement for that matter. They do not feel like living creatures but Halloween costumes instead. Though there are iconic horror villains with expressionless masks, in this case it makes very little sense in the movie's logic. What should be redeeming is the human element with the characters, their backstories and their struggles to overcome. But this is another area that the film fails at. The opening with establishing Christopher Robin's relationship with Mary is a fine way to start, but she is killed immediately and taken out of the story, leaving Christopher Robin to scream in pain for the rest of the time - literally. It may be a spoiler but it is partially revealed in the trailer that the animals imprison him and torture him to make him feel guilt for abandoning them. As for the girls staying at the cabin, they have absolutely no connection to Christopher Robin or the original stories, being new characters that seemingly have wandered into the wrong movie. Though each of the girls have backstories and are separate characters, they are not fully developed enough to make the audience care for them at all. They seem like a random group of girls (which also includes Tina, played by May Kelly who gets lost and arrives later) rather than actual friends. The character of Instagram obsessed Lara gets a memorable sequence in the jacuzzi, not just because of her swimsuit, but a fairly creative tense sequence involving the animals creepily appearing in her selfies one by one. There is also a seemingly random sublot of Alice and Zoe just starting a romantic relationship but Zoe being slightly nervous as it's the first time she's dating a woman. But this seems to go nowhere in terms of affecting the plot and is a missed opportunity. This goes for most of the female characters, as their characters and their deaths don't seem to have much connection or thought provided. It also didn't help that all the girls were five white girls, which to some viewers might get stuck in the "they all look the same" situation in which it is hard to tell who is who. While there are a moments of backstory for the girls, such as when Maria shares her creepy story of a stalker, the film still lacks true characters and development from them. Is the audience supposed to care about which of the girls will survive and who will help who? Will anyone remember that Christopher Robin is still part of the story? The movie doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. There is also the group of hillbillies that the girls encounter twice in the film, and one of the men speaking with an American accent was a very odd choice. The film is set in Britain as Winnie the Pooh originated from, so all other characters speak in various British accents. Where did this man come from, as he certainly doesn't look like a tourist visiting England. That is not the only accent oddity, as the actor who played the young Christopher Robin (played by Frederick Dallaway) has a completely different British accent compared to the older version. Without spoiling the latter portion or the final outcome, it is rather disappointing as there are no characters to particularly root for, and rather than guessing who will survive and how, it just becomes a chore to find out. There is basically no growth for any of the characters including Christopher Robin or the animals, as the villains basically have no souls left and are not turning back. The female characters are interchangeable and their strengths and weaknesses are not at all provided to give them well rounded features either. The film shouldn't be viewed with logic in mind but there are many odd questions and confusing elements to be considered. After Christopher Robin leaves the animals for five years, the animals starve since they have no food, so does this mean he was bringing all the animals enough food every day to the Hundred Acre Wood as a child? What happened to Rabbit's garden or Pooh's honey reserves? And since they ate Eeyore to survive, is that the only food that they had for a five year period? If these are in fact the same animals that he played with as a child, did they really look this large and gruesome when he left them or was it a progressive transformation? The moral dilemmas are basically non-existent as well. Is it trying to say that Christopher Robin was wrong for going to college? To not forget about childhood? To pay attention more to nature when staying in the countryside? None of these particularly make sense and nothing comes together by the end. The film received quite a bit of press coverage due to the characters being used for a horror scenario, and it certainly paid off as it became a financial success. The film had its first theatrical screening in Mexico from January 26th, 2023, followed by simultaneous theatrical and streaming releases in most countries worldwide in February and March. Produced on a budget of $100,000, the film has grossed over $5 million theatrically which is quite impressive. This has also led to greenlighting a sequel film to be produced, as this film leaves open doors for more. What happened to other characters like Owl and Tigger? Will Eeyore come back as a zombie to get his revenge? Will the staff actually take the first film's criticisms to improve things for the sequel? The film only has a 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with overwhelming critical dislike. There could have been so much more to merge the original characters, their personalities, and lore from the original stories into something creative, but this film decides to throw everything out and keep things as a generically boring yet gory slasher film. Being a lifelong fan of the Winnie the Pooh books and the Disney versions, I went in with an open mind. With so many missed opportunities for parody and homage, it's one of the more disappointing films so far this year. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. Shot digitally on a Red Helium 8K it certainly looks sharp as it should be in this HD transfer. Note that the film is exceptionally dark with a lot of night sequences and shadows so in the case of dark hues they do look good. The problem might be that it is too dark and it is hard to see what is going on for much of the time. This is not a fault with the transfer but the intended look of the film. It's not exactly pleasing as it doesn't visually stand out, but it can certainly cover some of the visual flaws. As for other portions such as the opening animation, it looks quite nice with the full colors as do other daytime scenes and indoor neon and bright lights. The film's runtime is 84:06.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo There are lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options provided. The 5.1 track is well balanced, with dialogue coming from the center and the surrounding channels effectively used for music and effects when necessary. Gruesome sounds come in clearly as does the music cues from composer Andrew Scott Bell. There are no issues of dropout or flaws to speak of and sounds excellent. There are optional English HoH subtitles in a white font for the film.
Extras
Audio commentary with director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and cinematographer Vince Knight This commentary has Frake-Waterfield and cinematographer Vince Knight sharing their insights into the production, including the choice made to have an animated prologue, the set design and lighting choices, working with a small budget, the LGBT representation, the flaws and mistakes, plus some stories of happenings behind the scenes. While they are able to discuss quite a lot, certain aspects such as the story conception and the legal issues, the casting process, etc. are not mentioned here. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Behind the Scenes" featurette (4:15) Presented here are a series of behind the scenes footage, post production footage, and a slideshow of behind the scenes stills that is far too short. There are some on screen text descriptions but there is little information on the shoot itself. The footage is presented in a range of ratios from vertically shot footage, square footage, standard widescreen footage mixed together. It is a disappointment as the clips seem to be slapped together without thought. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in various ratios, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Bloopers (5:07) A series of flubs, laughs and other outtakes are presented here in raw form without color correction. Some are in the theatrical 2.39:1 aspect ratio while others are open matte. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in various ratios, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Deleted Scenes (6:33) A few sequences, including an alternate ending in which the narrator's voice suddenly returns, Pooh smoking, Tina on the road, and some character interaction scenes are presented. None of these are particular dealbreakers though the character scenes are an odd choice to delete, as the film could have used better character development. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Winnie-the-Pooh - Violins and Honey" featurette (23:44) For the music, composer Andrew Scott Bell used a violin with a unique twist. It was a violin that was encapsulated in a beehive. This featurette is a personally shot video diary of Bell driving to the bee farm to pick up the instrument. This is a fascinatingly educational piece as the beekeeper explains about the lives of the bees and what is surrounding the violin itself. But that is only half the battle, as getting the violin to be playable is the challenge. As it is shot on a mobile phone, there are some audio issues with the wind at the farm, though the edited sequences back at the studio are much better. The featurette has also been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Fan Art (0:26) Presented here is an automated slideshow gallery of fan created artwork. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4 Trailer (1:50) The original trailer is presented here. It has also been embedded below, courtesy of Jagged Edge Productions. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English Dolby Digital 5.1 without subtitles While the Blu-ray has a good number of extras, it is a bit underwhelming. The composer's featurette on the violin is excellent. The commentary is fair but not exceptional. The behind the scenes and deleted scenes are missing context and could have been edited or introduced better with commentary or additional interviews to bridge them together. There are no cast interviews which are sorely missed as well as their voices and thoughts are barely heard from in the extras. Other notable clips: A clip from the film, courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment Soundtrack teaser from composer Andrew Scott Bell A message from composer Andrew Scott Bell on piracy An interview with the director on Kings of Horror An interview with the director on Collider Interviews Rhys Frake-Waterfield and executive producer Scott Jeffrey interviewed by CNN
Packaging
The disc is packaged in a standard clear keep case with a reversible inlay. The opposite inlay has identical artwork with the only difference being the R18+ rating logo being removed. The packaging states the disc is region B only but it is in fact region ALL. Umbrella Entertainment has also released a Collector's Edition, made exclusively available at the Umbrella Web Shop and limited to 670 copies. This edition also includes: - "Ruined Childhoods" custom written and illustrated "Winnie-the-Pooh - Honey Is Thicker Than Blood" 16 page 'kids' book - Custom art rigid slipbox - 16 artcards - Reversible poster The book, illustrated by Sean Wallace and written by Xavier Smith is a condensed retelling of the film's story through rhymes and colorful yet gruesome drawings. The web shop states "8" but there are 16 artcards included, with eight of them being artwork from the above "Honey Is Thicker Than Blood" book and the other eight being stills from the film itself. The reversible poster has two versions of the theatrical artwork. The poster is housed in the keep case, which is housed in the rigid slipbox which also includes the book and artcards. The design is quite nice by mimicking an actual hardcover book, with the top and bottom of the box looking like pages of a book. 
Overall
"Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" has only a few good elements to it hampered by an overwhelming amount of bland slasher cliches. Bad villain "masks", lacking character development and the exploitative way of using well known characters - the elements here are all disappointing. Umbrella Entertainment's Blu-ray is top notch though, with good video and audio as well as a good amount of extras included.
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