Latest news with #Bambi:TheReckoning
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Screamboat: Mickey Mouse as a violent psychopath is no classic, but gory twist on Disney knows its audience
Screamboat Director : Steven LaMorte Cert : 18 Genre : Horror Starring : David Howard Thornton, Allison Pittel, Amy Schumacher, Jesse Posey, Kailey Hyman, Jesse Kove, Jarlath Conroy Running Time : 1 hr 42 mins If you've missed the Twisted Childhood Universe, as the film-makers call it, you haven't missed much. The first generation of films to capitalise on the end of Disney 's copyright on a host of familiar characters forms an entirely disposable, unimaginative canon of Z-grade slashers. In common with other brainless, opportunistic franchises – looking at you, Sharknado – the concept has scared up enough business to justify three terrible films and a worldwide gross of $16.5 million. Stay tuned for Bambi: The Reckoning in July and Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble in October. Or, preferably, don't. These primarily British productions seem content to trade on revisiting your childhood favourites as serial killers. That's the plot. That's the joke. There is no reason for these movies to be as lazy as they have been. Screamboat, a rival bid to monetise the newly public-domain Steamboat Willie – Mickey Mouse's 1928 introduction to the world – predictably transforms the iconic rodent into a violent psychopath. Happily, unlike the Twisted Childhood Universe, Steven LaMorte's horror makes some effort to engage with the source material in humorous, gory ways, including a fun animated parody and a cheeky cameo from Willie's creator, 'Walt'. READ MORE The film is set on a Staten Island ferry, where the killer mouse wreaks havoc on passengers, including a hen party standing in for Disney princesses. It's undeniably a low-rent production. The same exterior shot of the ferry is used repeatedly; routine words are mispronounced. Fortunately, the script, by the director and Matthew Garcia-Dunn, embraces the mayhem with a violent nod to Itchy and Scratchy. The murderous mouse is played with huge energy by David Howard Thornton. The brilliant mime behind Terrifier's Art the Clown makes merry with the rodent's diminutive status. The Irish veteran Jarlath Conroy, who has movie credits stretching back to Heaven's Gate, brings grizzled charm to the doomed supporting cast. Screamboat is no classic, but it knows its audience. The makers of the upcoming Pinocchio: Unstrung could learn a thing or two. Screamboat is available on digital platforms from Monday, May 5th, and on DVD & Blu-ray from Monday, June 2nd
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BAMBI: THE RECKONING Trailer Turns a Beloved Buck Into a Toothy Terror
I wish I could tell you that this whole Pooniverse horror crossover thing was simply a collective fever dream. The idea of taking some of our most beloved childhood characters like Winnie the Pooh, Tinkerbell, and Bambi and turning them into murderers does make many folks sad. However, it is intriguing enough that people will turn up to see what's going on, which is why these films will keep on coming for the foreseeable future. The next horror film up, Bambi: The Reckoning, has a trailer and it is a scary trip into the woods. We all remember the original story of Bambi and how it broke our hearts to see his mom die at the hands of a hunter. Nevertheless, Bambi does grow up to be a handsome buck who finds love and becomes the next Great Prince of the Forest. Everything ended with sweet joy and we could all sleep at night in peace. Well, in Bambi: The Reckoning, his grief goes on a whole completely different path, which we see in this horror trailer. Bambi lost his mom and now he's on a quest to apparently murder every human being who crosses his path. He's also freaking huge with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Lord have mercy. This is not the deer you want to see, ever. It is pretty short but here's a synopsis from Jagged Edge Productions: After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother. We will have to see how Bambi became mutated but I can guarantee it is humanity's fault. Everything is almost always our fault. And honestly, who can blame Bambi for wanting to get revenge? The film stars Roxanne Mckee,, Tom Mulheron, Nicola Wright, Samira Mighty, and Alex Cooke. Bambi: The Reckoning doesn't have a firm release date yet but it will hit theaters in Summer 2025.
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Horror movie about killer ‘mutated' Bambi shocks social media with first trailer
A new trailer for the upcoming indie horror movie Bambi: The Reckoning has spooked users on social media. The twisted new take on Felix Salten's 1923 coming-of-age novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods, famously adapted in 1942 as the Disney classic Bambi, has been produced by Jagged Edge Productions. The London-based production company was also behind the 2023 slasher Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, the 2024 sequel Blood and Honey 2, and this year's Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare. The horrorsploitation films, which utilize well-known characters from children's classics that have entered the public domain, are said to inhabit 'The Twisted Childhood Universe' or 'Poohniverse.' The official logline for Bambi: The Reckoning reads: 'After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother.' On social media, some users welcomed the idea of an ultra-violent Bambi going feral to seek revenge, with one writing on X: 'Arm the animals against the hunters! YES!' Another wrote: 'F*** yea! Cannot wait! My wife and I love these! We own both of the Winnie the Pooh ones and Mouse Trap! The Twisted Childhood Universe is like getting true versions of all the Grimm brothers stuff before Disney sanitized and romanticized them all. Just waiting for the Peter Pan one to come out on Vudu to snag it too!' The Mouse Trap, which was made by a rival Canadian indie horror studio, applies a similar horrorsploitation treatment to the Disney short Steamboat Willie, which famously featured the public debut of Mickey Mouse. Several praised the Bambi: The Reckoning trailer, with one user writing: 'This trailer with the creepy forest and fog is seriously spooky – giving me chills! The tense vibe is so intense, I'm already worried I won't sleep this summer after seeing it in theaters!' Beneath the Bambi: The Reckoning trailer on YouTube, one fan commented: 'I cant wait. After seeing how different Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare was from Blood and Honey, I'm really excited to see the direction Bambi goes in. Absolutely hooked on these movies.' However, not all social media users were so enthusiastic, with some arguing that the use of old IP is unoriginal. One wrote on X: 'The obsession with taking beloved characters into horror movies is a little annoying, tbh. Just make a decent horror movie without the gimmick.' Another asked: 'We really living in the timeline where bambi is horror now. what's next, cinderella slasher?' While a third questioned simply: 'What the hell is the 'poohniverse'?'
