PLOT: Wendy Darling strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from ‘the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.’ Along the way she meets Tinkerbell, who will be seen taking heroin, believing that it’s pixie dust.
REVIEW: It’s always very ambitious for a franchise to announce its plans way ahead of time. It certainly has bit Marvel on the butt, but if you’re going to parody their release schedule, you have to do things full bore. And I think most of us at least chuckled when the Poohniverse was announced. So smack dab in the middle of their release lies Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, a horror take on the J.M. Barrie classic. And it’s a hell of a lot darker than expected.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a very dark and twisted take on Peter Pan as he sucks the souls out of children to remain youthful. We’ve got all the Pan regulars like Peter, Tinker Bell, Michael and Wendy Darling, as well as plenty of others to be used for fodder. Peter abducts Michael and Wendy must try and save him before he winds up like so many other kids in town. Peter DeSouza-Feighoney‘s delivered a great performance in 2023’s The Pope’s Exorcist, so it’s great to see him return to the genre. Despite his age, he brings a strength to Michael that feels like he can take on Peter. Megan Placito‘s Wendy is also clearly set up to be someone important in this universe and she’s great. If anything, I wish the film was more of a two-hander with these two.
Martin Portlock‘s Peter Pan performance is quite interesting but mostly because of the amalgamation of other characters that it feels like. He’s doing a bit of Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise and Heath Ledger’s Joker and it feels inconsistent from moment to moment. Hell, there’s a direct visual parody of the “Pennywise Meets Georgie” moment in the sewer. Only the sewer is replaced by an Evil Dead-style cellar door. He’s easily the most interesting character in the film but he just feels like he’s painting in strokes we’ve already seen long worn. And it doesn’t help that his accent comes and goes from moment to moment. Even still, I really enjoyed his chaotic energy and look forward to seeing more of him.
The Poohniverse take on Tinker Bell is certainly something. She’s an old lady who is essentially a junkie for Pixie Dust. She’s also in a very abusive partnership with Peter, who physically assaults her when she doesn’t fall in line. It’s all so depressing that anytime she’s on screen, it just brings down the mood. I couldn’t believe that they were so adamant about making a serious Peter Pan horror film. Even the acting in Neverland Nightmare is surprisingly competent, with no jarring performances like some of the past films. Oddly though, this almost feels like a mark against it, as hammy acting is essentially a staple of this style of movie.
Anything involving children can make for tough subject matter, so the decision to put child murder at the forefront is a bit iffy. I suppose I thought this series was going to be all about teen death and moral lessons, like many slasher films. But instead, the filmmakers decided to excise the fun and go for darkly disturbing and the story at play just doesn’t allow for that. This is evil Peter Pan. Even just saying that is enough to elicit a chuckle so why not just continue down that path versus trying to subvert expectations?
As far as the look of the film, I’ve always been impressed with the cinematography of these films. Despite their miniscule budgets, the filmmakers clearly know what they’re doing. But this one is less colorful and decidedly more bleak in its presentation. We also don’t get some of the fun set design of Blood and Honey, as most of the sets here are simply worn down houses. At least the opening animation is a big improvement. Most horror fans will be showing up the for the gore, and they’re still sure to kill off plenty of characters in brutal ways. There’s less in terms of quantity, but the quality of the kills feels ramped up. Even still, I found myself let down by the “wallow in this character’s misery” approach to them. But the practical effects still go hard.
Unfortunately, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare didn’t really give me what I want from this series: fun. The biggest difference between the two Blood and Honey’s was this sense of schlocky entertainment. They’ve gotten rid of that in favor of trying to tell a darker story. But this is still a horror movie based on the Peter Pan IP and that alone brings an inherent silliness. I’m worried about the direction of the rest of the Poohniverse and hope they can course correct yet again. Or maybe this series is just becoming something that I don’t jive with. Either way, here’s hoping it can find its audience as Chambers and company at least appear to be making an effort on these public domain titles. Which is more than can be said for others. And even if it’s not for me, I’ll take effort over greed any day of the week.
From Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare arrives in theaters for three days only starting January 13, 2025 until January 15, 2025 only from Iconic Events Releasing. Buy your tickets now at Iconic Events.
The post Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare Review: Why so serious? appeared first on JoBlo.
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