Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 review – "Once again takes a knife to our childhood memories"

GamesRadar+ VerdictOnce again taking a knife to our childhood memories, this is a pestilent and pointless follow-up. GamesRadar+ Verdict GamesRadar+ Verdict Once again taking a knife to our childhood memories, this is a pestilent and pointless follow-up. Once again taking a knife to our childhood memories, this is a pestilent and pointless follow-up. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Following 2023’s risible slasher Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, made after rights to A.A. Milne’s loveable bear entered the public domain, the almost-as-execrable sequel arrives. Christopher seeks help from a therapist to overcome his trauma, but the killing soon starts again, kicking off with three students mangled in the forest. Despite a nonsense backstory invented for the vile anthropomorphic antagonists, returning director Rhys Frake-Waterfield swiftly dispenses with anything resembling a plot, as Pooh and co. relentlessly scythe their way through the local residents. In one sequence, when Pooh invades a neon-lit rave, he bakes someone in an oven, drills into another’s eyes and saws a person’s head off - all inside a minute’s screen time. To be fair, Blood and Honey 2 is actually a notch above its predecessor, if only because the production values are (relatively) higher. But despite a watchable turn from Chambers, this is largely Neanderthal filmmaking, even with hospital janitor Simon Callow offering up a Scottish accent and a lot of pointless exposition. There are multiple allusions to far-superior horrors (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, et al), to which Matt Leslie’s script never comes close. The schlocky dialogue is rife with signposting, notably the nod to the dangerous-looking knives in the Robin-household dishwasher: a moment that, like so much in this sequel, is blindingly obvious and badly executed. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is in UK cinemas and US theaters now. For more, check out our guides toupcoming horror moviesand our pick of thebest horror moviesof all time. 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