WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY
HONEY MONSTER
IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY YOU’RE SURE OF A BIG SURPRISE… LIKE A KILLER REIMAGINING OF AA MILNE’S CLASSIC CHARACTERS. DIRECTOR RHYS WATERFIELD TALKS WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY
WORDS: WILL SALMON
DARK THINGS ARE AFOOT IN the Hundred Acre Wood. Once a place of innocent fun and childhood adventures, it’s now taken on a more sinister aspect. When a grown-up Christopher Robin returns, intending to introduce new fiancée Mary to his old pals Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore, he finds only desolation and a bloody grave… That’s the eye-opening premise behind Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood And Honey. Directed by Rhys Waterfield, this immaculately titled slasher recasts AA Milne’s classic characters as feral savages out for revenge on the boy that once abandoned them (plus a party of young women just looking for a weekend away from the city). Disney, this is not.
“I knew it was strong when we first came up with the idea,” Waterfield tells SFX. “It instantly felt like it had that X-factor to it. We’ve made a few films now and whenever we make them, we always look for something which has quite a strong hook to it. Because obviously, when you’re making films on a micro-budget, you’re still competing with the large studios. So you need something that will really stand out.”
That’s certainly not a problem for a film that mixes the brutal, grimy horror of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Wrong Turn with some of the most widely beloved characters in all of fiction. But hold on a second – just why is Pooh suddenly out for blood (and honey, of course)?