Pinocchio Unstrung (2026)
Directed by: Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Premise: A horror adaptation of the classic fairytale. Geppetto (Richard Brake) creates a living wooden puppet (voice of Jude-Evan Lloyd) to be a companion for his grandson (Cameron Bell). The puppet is manipulated by a devious talking cricket (voice of Robert Englund).
What Works: Pinocchio Unstrung is part of the Twisted Childhood Universe film series which started with 2023’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and has expanded to include horrific versions of Peter Pan and Bambi. Some of these movies, especially the Winnie-the-Pooh films, were cheap and badly made, coasting on the naughty novelty of a violent version of beloved childhood stories. Pinocchio Unstrung continues that appeal but this is a well-made movie with moments of style. The opening sequence uses shadow puppetry in a way that sets the tone and efficiently lays out the exposition. The film is well lit and has a creepy atmosphere and the look of Pinocchio Unstrung merges a classic fairytale with the modern world. The Pinocchio of this film is a practical puppet. It’s an impressive effect, on par with any other top line Hollywood animatronic, and the illusion is convincing. The practical effects give Pinocchio Unstrung moments of fairytale horror that are equivalent to 1980s dark fantasy films like Return to Oz and The Company of Wolves.
What Doesn’t: The gore doesn’t work. Some of the makeup effects are not as convincing as the animatronic puppet and these sequences are tonally inconsistent with the rest of the film. The storytelling is garbled. The film initially follows a plotline of an overprotective doll as seen in M3gan and the remake of Child’s Play. Like those films, Pinocchio is set up as a villain who kills anyone he perceives as a threat to his human companion. This isn’t done very well. The film rushes into the violence and gore instead of working up to it. Pinocchio Unstrung is a story of corruption. The titular puppet has his point of view twisted by the talking cricket. The filmmakers don’t do much interesting with the cricket or with Pinocchio’s corruption. The cricket is voiced by Robert Englund, best known for playing Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films, and the references to Freddy are forced and out of place. In the end, characters allegiances flip in what’s intended as a subversion of expectation. It doesn’t work, partly because everything is so rushed but also because the reversal is random. It doesn’t seem as though the moviemakers ever had a clear idea of what film they were trying to make.
Bottom Line: Pinocchio Unstrung is an inconsistent effort. It’s leaps ahead of the other entries in the Twisted Childhood Universe franchise. There’s some style to it and some impressive special effects but the storytelling is sloppy.
Episode: #1110 (August 2, 2026)