Regardless of the Poohniverse being inherently foolish, Neverland Nightmare goes a decidedly darker route, changing the schlock with baby homicide.
PLOT: Wendy Darling strikes out in an try and rescue her brother Michael from ‘the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.’ Alongside the way in which she meets Tinkerbell, who can be seen taking heroin, believing that it’s pixie mud.
REVIEW: It’s all the time very formidable for a franchise to announce its plans method forward of time. It definitely has bit Marvel on the butt, however when you’re going to parody their launch schedule, you must do issues full bore. And I feel most of us a minimum of chuckled when the Poohniverse was introduced. So smack dab in the course of their launch lies Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, a horror tackle the J.M. Barrie basic. And it’s a hell of loads darker than anticipated.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a really darkish and twisted tackle Peter Pan as he sucks the souls out of kids to stay youthful. We’ve acquired all of the Pan regulars like Peter, Tinker Bell, Michael and Wendy Darling, in addition to loads of others for use for fodder. Peter abducts Michael and Wendy should try to save him earlier than he winds up like so many different youngsters on the town. Peter DeSouza-Feighoney‘s delivered a great performance in 2023’s The Pope’s Exorcist, so it’s nice to see him return to the style. Regardless of his age, he brings a power to Michael that seems like he can tackle Peter. Megan Placito‘s Wendy is also clearly set up to be someone important in this universe and she’s nice. If something, I want the movie was extra of a two-hander with these two.
Martin Portlock‘s Peter Pan performance is quite interesting but mostly because of the amalgamation of other characters that it feels like. He’s doing a little bit of Invoice Skarsgard’s Pennywise and Heath Ledger’s Joker and it feels inconsistent from second to second. Hell, there’s a direct visible parody of the “Pennywise Meets Georgie” second within the sewer. Solely the sewer is changed by an Evil Useless-style cellar door. He’s simply probably the most attention-grabbing character within the movie however he simply seems like he’s portray in strokes we’ve already seen lengthy worn. And it doesn’t assist that his accent comes and goes from second to second. Even nonetheless, I actually loved his chaotic power and look ahead to seeing extra of him.
The Poohniverse tackle Tinker Bell is definitely one thing. She’s an outdated woman who is actually a junkie for Pixie Mud. She’s additionally in a really abusive partnership with Peter, who bodily assaults her when she doesn’t fall in line. It’s all so miserable that anytime she’s on display, it simply brings down the temper. I couldn’t imagine that they had been so adamant about making a severe Peter Pan horror movie. Even the appearing in Neverland Nightmare is surprisingly competent, with no jarring performances like a few of the previous movies. Oddly although, this nearly seems like a mark towards it, as hammy appearing is actually a staple of this model of film.
Something involving youngsters could make for powerful subject material, so the choice to place baby homicide on the forefront is a bit iffy. I suppose I assumed this collection was going to be all about teen dying and ethical classes, like many slasher movies. However as an alternative, the filmmakers determined to excise the enjoyable and go for darkly disturbing and the story at play simply doesn’t enable for that. That is evil Peter Pan. Even simply saying that is sufficient to elicit a chuckle so why not simply proceed down that path versus attempting to subvert expectations?
So far as the look of the movie, I’ve all the time been impressed with the cinematography of those movies. Regardless of their miniscule budgets, the filmmakers clearly know what they’re doing. However this one is much less colourful and decidedly extra bleak in its presentation. We additionally don’t get a few of the enjoyable set design of Blood and Honey, as a lot of the units listed below are merely worn down homes. No less than the opening animation is an enormous enchancment. Most horror followers can be displaying up the for the gore, they usually’re nonetheless positive to kill off loads of characters in brutal methods. There’s much less by way of amount, however the high quality of the kills feels ramped up. Even nonetheless, I discovered myself let down by the “wallow in this character’s misery” method to them. However the sensible results nonetheless go arduous.
Sadly, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare didn’t actually give me what I would like from this collection: enjoyable. The largest distinction between the 2 Blood and Honey’s was this sense of schlocky leisure. They’ve gotten rid of that in favor of attempting to inform a darker story. However that is nonetheless a horror film primarily based on the Peter Pan IP and that alone brings an inherent silliness. I’m anxious in regards to the course of the remainder of the Poohniverse and hope they’ll course appropriate but once more. Or perhaps this collection is simply turning into one thing that I don’t jive with. Both method, right here’s hoping it might discover its viewers as Chambers and firm a minimum of look like making an effort on these public area titles. Which is greater than might be stated for others. And even when it’s not for me, I’ll take effort over greed any day of the week.
From Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare arrives in theaters for 3 days solely beginning January 13, 2025 till January 15, 2025 solely from Iconic Occasions Releasing. Purchase your tickets now at Iconic Occasions.
