Pinocchio: Unstrung turns the beloved puppet into a bloodthirsty killer

Writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield has done it again. He's turned a beloved childhood icon, in this case Pinocchio, into the stuff of nightmares. Frake-Waterfield already directed Winne the Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel, and now Pinocchio: Unstrung is the latest movie in his "Twisted Childhood," "Poohniverse" world. His new film is a lean, mean, and bonkers feature that spares no blood, guts, and gore.

As the film's title implies, the puppet is the star of this movie, and to the film's credit, it's not CGI or AI. Instead, it's an animatronic, built by Emmy-winning effects maestro Todd Masters. Pinocchio, voiced by Jude Evan Lloyd, blinks, walks, laughs manically, and talks. In short, the animatronic looks damn good and as a result, the effects bolster the movie. Pinocchio becomes one expressive little murderer.

The film also stars longtime Rob Zombie collaborator Richard Brake as puppet creator Geppetto, who makes Pinocchio to provide a friend to his grandson, James (Cameron Bell), who mourns the loss of his best friend early in the movie. Initially, Pinocchio and James strike up an endearing friendship, but the puppet becomes increasingly obsessed with protecting James at all costs and then turns to murder and mayhem when he encounters a creepy-looking character in the basement known as the Wood Woman. She tells the innocent Pinocchio that he can be a real boy by killing people, especially anyone who harms James. Even the kid's poor dentist isn't saved from the puppet's wrath.

Anyone who has seen Frake-Waterfield's previous movies knows that his work is gory, but I'm not sure that I was ready for the level of bloodshed in this movie. It's a nasty piece of work. The puppet's rampage sees him skinning victims, bashing out their teeth, scalping them, and laughing gleefully while he does it. There are Terrifier-levels of gore to this movie that certainly aren't for the squeamish, and again, the practical effects really serve this movie well. The kills are impressive, though they may cause some viewers to turn away. Again, one needs a strong stomach for this movie.

Meanwhile, Frake-Waterfield's film also employs horror royalty in the form of Robert Englund, who voices a rather demented version of Jiminy Cricket. We're probably never going to see Englund play Freddy Kreuger again, but it's pretty great to see him voice such a dark character and shoot off one-liner after one-liner, all while warping Pinocchio's mind to kill and kill some more. Englund has stated in the past he wouldn't mind doing more voice work, and this role shows how he can continue landing new and exciting roles within the genre. There are also some nice montages to Freddy in the movie, especially Jiminy's Kreuger-like nails/claws.

Overall, Pinocchio: Unstrung is another outlandish and blood-soaked entry in the "Poohniverse," one with a slightly bigger budget, lots of great practical effects, and an animatronic that really carries the film. Frake-Waterfield continues to take these childhood stories that now exist in public domain and transform them into brutal slashers. Englund's involvement and the noticeable improvement in the effects proves there's an audience out there for this. Expect more Twisted Childhood entries.

Pinocchio: Unstrung slashes its way into theaters on July 24.