Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024)

So apparently what happened in the first Blood and Honey wasn’t necessarily what actually happened in the world of its sequel but may have been the sensationalist adaptation of the true travails of Christopher Robin (Scott Chambers). Monstrous grown-up killer versions of Pooh and co. going on a woodsy killing spree were part of the truth, mind you. I’ll take that as an apology for the quality of the first film.

Christopher Robin is understandably traumatized by the ordeal as well as that movie. Worse still, only a few people – including his friend Lexy (Tallulah Evans) – actually believe the whole killer Pooh thing, so Chris is ostracized in his small town as a potential spree killer.

As if that weren’t enough trouble for a sensitive guy, Pooh (Ryan Oliva), Owl (Marcus Massey) and a particularly deranged Tigger (Lewis Santer) feel rather ostracized themselves by humanity, all of whom either don’t want to be killed by them, don’t believe in them, or want to kill them right back, so they start on another killing spree. This time, they’ll even come to Christopher Robin, if Christopher Robin won’t come to them.

In between killing scenes, we regularly pop in with Chris, who slowly discovers the horrible/hilarious truth about the nature and identity of Pooh and his murderous buddies, and their connection to his other childhood traumas.

Where the first Blood and Honey was just a cheap shot piece of crap, returning director/writer Rhys Frake-Waterfield appears to have put a lot more thought and effort into the sequel. This time around, there’s actually a point beyond sales value for the whole Pooh connection, and the film puts some serious effort into creating a grim and gritty murder background for our childhood friends.

That background is pulp as all get out and very silly indeed, but treated to earnestly, I couldn’t help but be charmed by it.

Because this is 2024, this is of course also a film that utilizes grief and trauma as the motivating factors for its main character. Its portrayal isn’t going to win any prizes, but does provide the film with a bit of emotional grounding and backbone, which is really all a slasher needs to work.

Speaking of slashing, the kills here belong to the drawn-out, sadistic Terrifier 2 style of murder that’s en vogue these years. Even though I’m not a big fan of that approach – turns out very long murder scenes of the type just get boring and a bit unpleasant for me – these are realized via fine, practical effects that demonstrate a decently macabre imagination. Plus, this is still a pleasant ninety minutes long and not two and a half hours, so the Terrifier 2 effect of stealing my time for no good reason does not feature here.

Blood and Honey is a very nice step up from the first film – and hey, this isn’t even to be read as damning with faint praise – so much so I’m genuinely excited for what Frake-Waterfield is going to do in the planned mega match-up of public domain characters that appears to be next on his plate.