“Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2” stars Scott Chambers, Tallulah Evans, Ryan Oliva, Eddy MacKenzie, Lewis Santer, Marcus Massey, and Simon Callow. Released on March 26, 2024, the film has Pooh and his gang exacting revenge on Christopher Robin. The film was directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who is known for creating low-budget movies like “The Area 51 Incident” and “Firenado”. It is a sequel to Frake-Waterfield’s 2023 independent slasher film “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey”. Winnie-the-Pooh has been an icon in our childhoods since his creation by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, with his charming innocence and curiosity toward the world capturing the hearts of children and adults. However, it wasn’t until Disney iterated the character that Pooh soared even further into popularity, making him one of the most significant parts of everyone’s childhood, including mine. That is until last year when the poor old bear became a victim of the "public domain", resulting in several people making their own versions of the character with horrific results. The worst offender that caught everyone’s attention was British independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who thought it was a fantastic idea to turn an innocent symbol of pleasant childhood memories into a bloodthirsty psychopath. That idea was formed into “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey”, a small-budget slasher film involving Pooh and his best friend Piglet slaughtering innocent teens and making Christopher Robin’s adult life a living hell…and have some honey too. Despite being universally panned for its deranged concept and poor execution, the movie was successful enough to spawn a sequel, earning over $5 million worldwide on a budget of a small house, much to our disbelief. This shouldn’t be surprising since most small-budget horror movies have followed this trend for years, but the fact that one involving a cuddly Pooh bear reverting to his feral instincts is a different story altogether. With more of the Hundred-Acre-Wood members joining in on the massacre, was the movie able to correct its predecessor's mistakes, or does it further prove that a murderous Pooh shouldn’t have existed? Let’s find out. The story once again centers on Christopher Robin (Chambers), a young man who barely escaped from the ravenous Winnie-the-Pooh (Oliva), who turned savage when Christopher abandoned him for college. Christopher Robin now resides in his childhood town of Ashdown, where he reveals the existence of his former animal friends and the 100 Acre Wood. However, he is also branded an outcast when he’s framed for the murders. With their home and lives endangered, Pooh and Piglet (MacKenzie) recruit their remaining allies, Tigger (Santer) and Owl (Massey), to embark on a bloodthirsty rampage to get their revenge on Christopher. With his hometown in danger, Christopher must find a way to end Pooh’s reign of terror for good. Believe it or not, I was one of the many unlucky souls who watched “Blood and Honey” out of curiosity. However, I didn’t see it in the theater due to my schedule. Instead, I rented it at home at a cheap price, which was still too much for a childhood-killing idea like that. All I could say about it was that it was one of the experiences of all time. Regarding its low-budget quality, execution, and corny elements, “Blood and Honey” definitely deserved to be covered in honey for all the wrong reasons. However, I did have a decent time making fun of it, so that’s one nice thing I can say about that blood-covered abomination. When I first heard they’re making a sequel to it along with a cinematic universe, I understandably became concerned that they’ll wind up being another series of cheap horror cash grabs favoring gory kills over substance. However, I instead became genuinely surprised when I saw that “Blood and Honey 2” had been received more fondly than its predecessor, meaning that they must have learned from their mistakes from the first go-round. But does that also mean it’s more tolerable or fun than the first film? Surprisingly, yes. Now, that’s not to say that “Blood and Honey 2” is equivalent to “Empire Strikes Back” or “Dune Part Two” regarding the sequel lineup. It offers the usual low-budget splatterfest elements that populated the schlocky horror trend of the past few decades, mainly the ones you see at a drive-in theater. However, when it comes to the enjoyability of its bloody concept and lore, it was a mild improvement over its troubling predecessor, but not by much. Clearly, Frake-Waterfield and his crew attempted to correct most of their predecessor’s mistakes from minute one, mainly because of its budget. With the budget being bigger than the first film, “Blood and Honey 2” had the opportunity to up the ante in its presentation, gore, and even the costumes for the savage Hundred Acre Wood gang. The result is far from perfect, but it definitely felt like the attempt was made to make its questionable concept fun, cheesy, and mildly frightening, more so than its predecessor. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke, though I wish it were. But what about its story? Did it serve as another reason for its “bearable” existence? Well, yes and no. Unlike its predecessor, which focused on a group of one-dimensional teens, “Blood and Honey 2” focuses on Christopher Robin confronting his traumatic past while being ridiculed by his hometown’s residents. Upon doing so, he discovers more terrifying secrets that make him rethink his childhood and relationship with the “silly old bear”. This direction provided more interest in the narrative due to its focus on Chris and darkly grim twist on the lore that made me see the first film differently. Unfortunately, that doesn’t excuse its average screenplay by Matt Leslie, which favors basic horror cliches over thematic storytelling, and the editing. While the quality did seem a bit better than its predecessor, it still has plenty of issues that made it sit between “mockbuster” and “made for streaming”. There were a few occasions where the lighting and quick cuts made it difficult for me to see what was happening, especially in scenes that took place at night. Additionally, the editing made the pacing seem a bit inconsistent as if the film left a few sequences on the cutting room floor between its transitions. So, it’s easy to admit that the filmmakers still had a few more tweaks to fix to increase the franchise’s momentum. But, of course, we’re not expecting anything masterful out of a small independent slasher film about a bear with little brain slaughtering people with a bear trap. We watched it to see the bloody mayhem and poke fun at its cheesiness, which the film delivered in various parts. It periodically compensates for its scares by delivering the amusement of its frights and gleefully cheap acts of brutality. But that’s not the only reason for my enjoyment. The other reason was its cast, with most actors being passable despite their forced dialogue delivery. Scott Chambers takes over the role of Christopher Robin from Nikolai Leon in the first film, and I thought he did pretty well. His performance as a distraught Chris won’t get him any awards, but at least his effort was more noticeable than Leon’s. Another reason was the film’s practical effects, which added to its exploitation-like presentation. They represented the essence of an old-school, cheap exploitation horror film that mainstream CGI tried to recreate and occasionally failed. The gory scenes were pretty twisted despite being second-rate, but I should give the most credit to the costume designs for the Hundred Acre Wood gang. The filmmakers upgraded the prosthetics for the creatures to make them look more realistic and unsettling, whereas the first film’s prosthetics made it look like they got the costumes from Amazon for a cheaper price. It’s impressive how much freedom they got from raising the budget. Overall, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2” offers more schlocky and gleefully violent vibes that are as sweet as honey, but it’s still covered in some similar flaws that plagued its predecessor. It’s rare to see a horror sequel that improves on the first film, let alone an independent slasher movie that’s considered the bane of our existence. But, for some strange reason, this film happened to beat those odds, or in this case, slash them in half with a flaming chainsaw, and I can’t help but be impressed with how much the people behind it went through to do it. While its script and editing struggled to change the naysayers’ minds on Pooh Bear being a sadistic monster, the enjoyment of seeing him slaughter innocents was powered by its passable cast and practical effects. It’s enough for me to be convinced that Rhys Frake-Waterfield could deliver something worth talking about regarding his “Twisted Childhood Universe”, assuming that his future installments were as amusingly dark and corny as this. If that’s not your thing, then you’re better off watching the Disney version of Winnie-the-Pooh instead. C
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