SHARK FRENZY (written by me!) is now available On Demand at Amazon Prime: https://tinyurl.com/ynv7ss77
Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/XGpE05IrTu0

PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG (2026)

New in select theaters from ITN Distribution!
Directed/Written by Rhys Frake-Waterfield.
Check out the trailer here!!

James (Cameron Bell) lost his best friend in an accident when he was very young. His grandfather Gepetto (Richard Brake) ,longs to protect his grandson from any further hurt, so he builds a wooden companion for his son and names him Pinocchio (voiced by Jude-Evan Lloyd). Though James is weary at first with the wooden boy, he comes to form a strong friendship with him. Pinocchio is very protective of James and forms some resentment that he cannot do the things a real, live boy can do. So Pinocchio sets out to improve upon himself, piece by piece from the parts of bullies at James’ school. Coaxed on by the bent insect creature Cricket (voiced by Robert Englund), Pinocchio carves a bloody path to becoming a real, live boy.

I’ve seen a few of the Twisted Child Universe films, which includes both WINNIE THE POOH films, PETER PAN’S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE, and BAMBI THE RECKONING. Out of all of them, BAMBI was my favorite and the most entertaining. But PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG comes in at a distinct second. It is by far the most accomplished of the film series, actually having some semblance of a plot other than just “Let’s make a childhood icon into a slasher” even though it basically does just that with Pinocchio. But PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG, as gory as it is, does delve into some very dark psychological themes of body horror and identity that I wasn’t expecting from this particular horror series.

See Pinocchio has body issues. He is smart enough to notice that he and James are not the same. He becomes envious that James is able to leave home, socialize, and go to school, while he has to wait in the basement with Geppetto’s experiments. He notices things that really wasn’t talked about in the Disney films, like how he doesn’t have a penis. Yeah, that’s right. The film does go there. What’s a wooden doll who wants to change himself to do? He was put together by Geppetto, so why not use that same methodology to complete the process? That’s the flawed logic Pinocchio follows, though his methods are less than precise as he simply kills people whose parts he likes and tries to put them on himself piecemeal. That’s a pretty sophisticated, yet twisted M.O. in my book and it’s that type of smart thinking I was hoping would come up in later installments of this connected universe of movies.

Now, the rest of the movie it pretty simple beyond that point. It’s just Pinocchio taking parts from different people in James’ life behind Gepetto’s back repeated over and over again until Pinoocchio resembles more of a patchwork Frankenstein than a real person. The dark premise takes a backseat to the gore along with some Freddy Krueger-esque quips along with every kill. Pinocchio develops a meaner disposition as the film goes on and his resentment for James grows, with him losing the real reason he set out on this bloody quest in the first place. It’s ironic that the more human parts Pinocchio gets, the less human his soul gets.

The gore is a plenty in PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG. Pinocchio isn’t exactly surgical in the way he gets these parts from folks. It is quite disturbing seeing Pinocchio believe he is becoming more human, draping himself in the parts of his victims. The effects are top tier as well. Pinocchio is animatronic, kind of like Chucky, and the process is shown during the credits, as those behind the film understandably are proud of the effects that they’ve accomplished. The facial expressions and movements are quite good showing quite the range of emotions on the wooden boy’s face.

The effects for Cricket, voiced by Robert Englund, are well done as well, but look to be CG. Unfortunately, the words Englund are saying aren’t particularly wise, conscientious, or even well written. They are the usual quips Englund did as Freddy, but that sort of stuff is really dated. The time of Arnold Swarzeneggar-esque one-liners is past I fear and while I know there’s a new Freddy movie in the works, I don’t know if the quippy way is the way to go, but that’s a discussion for a different time. Either way, it’s cool that Englund lent his voice for the role, but there isn’t really anything spectacular he does with it and he doesn’t even make an appearance until halfway through the movie.

That’s where PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG is lacking though. The scripting. It’s just unpolished and there. Like Robert Englund, Richard Brake is a great actor when given the right material, but neither is given much to shine here. Past the impressive premise and the excellent effects, there really isn’t much to this film. The acting from the rest of the cast aren’t great either. Cameron Bell’s James proves to be not annoying as most kid actors, but holy shit does his buddy Dudley (Jack Art Gray) make up for it in spades. Almost every line the kid says is painful as he attempts to serve as the film’s comic relief on top of the groaner one-liners from Pinocchio and Cricket. These attempts at humor and the overall scripting show where filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfeld needs to grow.

But as far as the overall movie, this is by far Frake-Waterfeld’s most accomplished film to date. PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG isn’t elevated horror, it’s throwback horror substituting iconic cartoons for the slashers we grew up knowing and loving. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I liked this one quite a bit, despite its setbacks. See PINOCCHIO: UNSTRUNG for the gore, the effects, and surprisingly heavy and dark premise powered by gnarly body horror.