‘Pinocchio: Unstrung’ Heads to UK Cinemas with Raindance Premiere

The latest chapter in the rapidly expanding Twisted Childhood Universe (aka Poohniverse) is heading to UK cinemas this summer, with Pinocchio: Unstrung set for release on 24 July following its upcoming UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival.

Distributed by Altitude, the horror reimagining of Carlo Collodi’s classic 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio brings together two recognisable names from the genre world. Horror icon Robert Englund, forever associated with Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, stars alongside Richard Brake, whose recent genre credits include Barbarian.

Written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the filmmaker behind Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, the film continues the producer-director’s strategy of transforming familiar childhood stories into violent horror features. The project also reunites Frake-Waterfield with producer Scott Chambers, who has become a key creative figure within the interconnected Twisted Childhood Universe.

Pinocchio: Unstrung centres on Geppetto, played by Brake, who introduces his grandson James to a magical doll named Pinocchio. What initially appears to be an innocent friendship soon takes a darker turn. After being exposed to the outside world, Pinocchio embarks on a deadly mission to eliminate anything he perceives as bad, guided by the sinister Cricket, voiced by Englund.

The film stars newcomer Cameron Bell as James, alongside Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, who reprises the role of Michael Darling following his appearance in Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare.

Ahead of its theatrical release, the film will screen at this year’s Raindance Film Festival, where it has received four award nominations, including Best UK Feature. Brake has also earned a nomination for Best Performance in a UK Feature.

The production marks the fifth instalment in the Twisted Childhood Universe, a franchise that began with the surprise viral success of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Despite receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews and even collecting Golden Raspberry Awards, the original film generated significant attention and grossed millions worldwide on a reported budget of less than $50,000. That success paved the way for a growing slate of interconnected horror projects based on public domain characters.

Previous entries have included Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning, with further projects expected to expand the shared universe.

One of the more distinctive aspects of Pinocchio: Unstrung is its title character. Rather than relying heavily on digital effects, Frake-Waterfield opted for a fully practical animatronic creation. The approach was designed to give Pinocchio a tangible screen presence and maintain a physical connection between the performers and the character.

For Frake-Waterfield, the release represents another step in an unconventional filmmaking journey. The Essex-born filmmaker left a corporate strategy role at EDF Energy in 2021 to pursue low-budget genre filmmaking full-time. Since then, he has built a prolific catalogue through Jagged Edge Productions and Dark Abyss Productions, producing and directing dozens of independent horror titles.

Whether audiences embrace this latest twisted fairy tale remains to be seen, but with Englund lending his voice to the project and Raindance already recognising the film with multiple nominations, Pinocchio: Unstrung is arriving with considerably more attention than a wooden puppet might normally expect.

Pinocchio: Unstrung will receive its UK premiere at Raindance Film Festival in June before opening in cinemas across the UK on 24 July.

Pinocchio: Unstrung trailer