Loved childhood sweethearts get killed in a sick horror movie trend

Treat yourself to a scary little Christmas.

A new parody film, The Mean One, cuts through the snow with a twisted take on the Christmas classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It’s reimagined that the big, green, angry Furball (played by David Howard Thornton, “Terrifier”) didn’t really save Whoville – here renamed Newville – from a December 25th with no presents.

Instead, he snuck around the Christmas tree and butchered the mother of wide-eyed little Cindy You-Know-Who (Krystle Martin). But 20 years after their first fateful encounter, the now-grown tot is bent on revenge when the film hits theaters December 9th.

However, it’s not the only flick that turns innocent, beloved childhood characters into murderous monsters. A new, shocking horror film trend is targeting the most virtuoso creations – and even filmmakers may be wondering what made their skulls crack.

“I don’t know if something broke in my brain as a kid or whatever, but kids cartoons — especially the really old ones in children’s books — those drawings Yes, really freaked me out,” confessed The Mean One director Steven LaMorte in a recent interview with horror site Dread Central.

“If we really think about a green, furry Bigfoot, Sasquatch – whatever you want to call it – who lives on a mountain and hates Christmas, is he going to give hugs and high-fives? No,” LaMorte continued. “This thing will eat faces and slash people and wreak havoc.”

Wherever the inspiration came from, here are some of the other former innocents set to get heavy makeovers in the not-too-distant future.

“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey”

(Theatrical release: February 15, 2023)

The furry – and now feral – Pooh transformed Hundred Acre Wood into Hundred Scare Wood after the plush pal of children’s illustrator EH Shepard and author AA Milne entered the public domain earlier this year.

Apparently the plump little closet is still stuffed with fluff – plus a generous amount of fury – as Pooh (played by Craig David Dowsett) and pal Piglet (Chris Cordell) seek revenge for being dumped by Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon). “They have returned to their animal roots. They’re not tame anymore: they’re like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around trying to find prey,” director Rhys Frake-Waterfield told Variety last spring about their terrifying new hunting ground.

So much for the crazy dumb old bear.

“Bambi: The Reckoning”

(start of shooting in January 2023)

Bambi’s bunny friend Thumper followed a rule: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Doesn’t sound like the case here.

ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions, the studios behind The Mean One, will be back with another tale of apparent revenge, this time involving a certain orphaned stag. “Bambi will be a vicious killing machine lurking in the wilderness. Prepare for rabies on Bambi!” said excited filmmaker Scott Jeffrey when announcing the project just last month. The “incredibly dark retelling” of the already surprisingly dark 1922 story and lighter 1942 Disney animated film is being produced by none other than “Pooh” adaptor Frake-Waterfield. (Feel a pattern here?)

Don’t expect a lot of frolicking on ice – more like putting people on ice.

“Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare”

(just announced)

Tinker Bell may be stuck in Tinker Hell.

Frake-Waterfield, the Blood and Honey filmmaker who’s apparently obsessed with destroying our childhoods, tipped the Hollywood Reporter that he’s also dreaming up a nightmarish scenario for Peter Pan, aka “The Boy, who would not grow up”. Whether that means a bloodier confrontation with Captain Hook – they may have to change the Cap’s ship name to Less-Than-Jolly Roger – or something much worse, we don’t know yet.

But Frake-Waterfield’s description of his upcoming Pooh and Piglet project might serve as a good indicator: “All their hatred that they’ve built up over the years is unleashed and they continue to rage,” he told the Development Hell podcast Past Year.

Peter Pan fans should probably plan for more than just cutting off Tinker Bell’s wings mid-flight.