Is PINOCCHIO UNSTRUNG The Best POOHNIVERSE Flick So Far? (REVIEW)

[00:00:00]Is Pinocchio's Bloody Quest to become a real boy the best entry from the TCU thus far? Well, let's talk a little bit about it.

[00:00:07]>> What's your favorite scary movie?

[00:00:09]>> Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[00:00:12]>> I want to be a fighter like you.

[00:00:13]>> Oh, let it burn. Let it burn.

[00:00:17]>> Did you miss me?

[00:00:18]>> You have to shoot him in the head. They always come back.

[00:00:21]>> The boat's going to leave now. Tell the crew.

[00:00:24]>> Well, sometimes that is better. Good luck.

[00:00:30]Hey everybody, I'm Killjoy Jake and today is officially the start to the Twisted Childhood Universe week. We're celebrating the release of Pinocchio Unstrung this Friday, July 24th, with an early review of the film today, a ranking of all five movies in the universe thus far and looking ahead at Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey 3, as well as other exciting TCU projects to come in, and a bunch of new videos this week. So, let's kick off this fairy tale shindig with a bang. Starting off with an early review of Pinocchio Unstrung.

[00:01:02]Jeppetto introduces his grandson James to a magical doll called Pinocchio, who develops a friendship. However, unaware of Pinocchio's naive nature, James introduces him to the world, resulting in the doll going on a crusade to eliminate all things bad. This marks the fifth installment in the Puniverse or the twisted childhood universe, whichever you'd like to call it, and finally introduces us to this dark fantasy's version of the age-old character. They are, of course, able to use Pinocchio due to the original story falling into the public domain. Now, some notable cast members here are Scott Chambers and Peter Duza Feyen, reprising their roles from previous entries like Blood and Honey 2 and Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare. Horror fans will also recognize Richard Break as Jeppetto and Robert England as the voice of Cricket. Pinocchio Unstrung gave me wood, a sentence that will likely land me on some sort of list. This is a brutal slasher film with a sympathetic villain, which I think gives it a unique edge. The first 15 minutes of this very fast-paced thriller slows down to really build up our wooden boy. Pinocchio doesn't have a very firm grasp on morality and is easily manipulated by some dark forces that cloud his curious mind. It kind of gives this dark irony to some of the outrageous kills in this flick, so you're feeling more things than just absurdity watching it. As the almighty Shrek would say, Pinocchio Unstrung is like an onion because it has layers.

[00:02:19]>> You get it? We both have layers. [sighs] Speaking of which, the practical effects here are spectacular across the board.

[00:02:26]The opening sequence featuring dynamic shadow puppets followed up by a strungup title card made my 80s loving heart swoon. As someone who geeks out about how they practically did that title card in John Carpenters the Thing, this movie kind of has some similar energy to that.

[00:02:45]It also helps hearing the iconic voice of Richard Break to set the scene here during this opening.

[00:02:50]>> There was a boy named James, my grandson.

[00:02:55]>> I think the first big kill sequence of this movie might be the most shocking part. Pinocchio commits these kills in question by accident. It almost feels like a scene out of a Final Destination movie with how brutal and systematic it gets. The puppetry here done by Masters FX is something I especially appreciate in this sad world of AI slop. The dedication to creating a rigid puppet that still feels lifelike is truly impressive. The end product ends up being this brutal mixture of Dark Crystal and Seed of Chucky.

[00:03:23]>> Guess again, Daddy.

[00:03:26]>> Another thing this movie has in common with Seed of Chucky is a gender fluid killer doll. Although Pinocchio says he wants to be a real boy, he's clearly having a great time wearing the skin of a woman in this film, which again brings another layer to it. Shrek is just creaming his pants right now. There's also a very striking visual in this movie after a massacre ensues between multiple different people of various genders. Pinocchio specifically has a line after seeing a naked woman being confused why she cut her penis off.

[00:03:53]Let's just say that leads to a very sleepaway camp inspired visual later on in the film that highlights this confusion surrounding one's own gender.

[00:04:00]The social commentary is grotesque and maybe not everyone is going to love the way that it's handled, but I personally appreciate it. I really love that Jagged Edge strives to do something more than just a campy bem movie slasher here.

[00:04:11]This is something that's a little more cerebral. The flick of course delivers on the nasty body horror one would expect from a good slasher, but it also has a new twist on this character finding their identity. It's a fresh new perspective on the Pinocchio story, and it doesn't just whittle this character down to another killer doll. I will always praise this universe for somehow staying true to the original story it's based off of. In a world of public domain slashers that are very clearly just trying to cash in on the fact that a popular character is now in public domain, so let's just turn him into a big slasher villain. At least these movies put a little more thought into it to make themselves actual adaptions of the stories. These movies are staying somewhat faithful to them by putting a modern perspective on it. I love that.

[00:04:52]That's why the TCU continues to be the top dog cream of the crop in this bizarre little subgenre. This movie also expands its cast with some legends of horror. Robert England voices Cricut in the film, an evil little CGI bug that resembles a certain fingernived slasher perhaps with a burnt face. The Freddy homages in this flick are a lot less subtle than the subtext here, as I'm pretty sure Cricket teaches the word [ __ ] to Pinocchio.

[00:05:16]>> Piece by piece, we'll take what's left.

[00:05:20]>> I also love that they gave Cricket one hand that looks a little more sharp and clawike than the other. He's also rubbing his sharp knifeike fingers against each other and they're kind of sparking a little bit. I wonder where that inspiration came from. This is obviously intentional and I dug it.

[00:05:35]Robert England's voice is sinister as ever here. Some people are just born to play horror villains. I'd say the same thing about Richard Break, whose dark take on Jeppetto gets increasingly more intriguing as this flick goes along.

[00:05:46]There's a scene right in the middle of this movie where our main group of kids find video logs of his experiments, and it makes for one of the most terrifying parts of the entire flick. I would have been down for an entire found footage movie of just Richard Break bringing to life these wooden puppets. I don't want to say too much about Mr. Jeppetto.

[00:06:02]Today's review is spoiler-free after all, but I am excited to see what the future holds for this character. There are all sorts of teases at the end of this one that we are definitely going to see these characters again. I imagine in the big Puniverse flick, which is on the horizon here. Tiptoeing around spoilers the best I can, but I imagine that some old wounds are going to be reopened.

[00:06:20]Personally, I'd give Pinocchio Unstrung an 8 out of 10, this is definitely my favorite entry from the Twisted Childhood universe so far. With a lean runtime that doesn't outstay its welcome, this movie is a fun, campy, gory blast from start to finish that shows so much improvement from where this franchise started. Before we wrap up today's video, please make sure to like it and subscribe to this page for more updates on the most exciting horror projects. Also, the best way to support this channel is by becoming a patron on Patreon. Over there, you can find a ton of bonus content like reactions to various horror TV shows and movies.

[00:06:56]We're currently watching Dexter and Hannibal with multiple episodes going up there a week.

[00:07:01]No. What? Check it out by clicking on the link in the description below. One final plug, and I'll shut the heck up.

[00:07:07]Please make sure to also check out my film channel, Human Egg Productions, where we're currently posting horror and comedy short films. If you like slashers, especially, check out the gory short I wrote and directed called Chicken Man. Thank you to everyone who supports all of my pages. Here's where I'd rank the film against the other horror movies that have come out this year.

[00:07:26]Are you guys excited to see Pinocchio Unstrung this weekend? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below. Get your tickets now for this movie. By the way, if you like the rest of the TCU, you got to see this one. Thank you so much for watching. Please subscribe. And as always, don't forget to kill it out there, y'all.