WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY II (2024) ** ½

After Pooh and his demented “friends” committed the “100 Acre Wood Massacre”, Christopher Robin (Scott Chambers) is blamed for the murders and becomes a pariah in the town.  Through therapy, Christopher eventually remembers his long-forgotten past with Pooh.  Meanwhile, hunters try to kill Pooh, Piglet, and Owl, forcing them into hiding.  Eventually, the animals say enough is enough and go on another rampage.

I thought the first Winnie-the-Pooh:  Blood and Honey was bloody awful (no pun intended) and unbearable (pun intended).  This one is a bit more tolerable thanks to the gore.  I mean, if you’re going to make a slasher movie sequel using a beloved public domain character, you might as well deliver on the blood and guts.  I don’t know if I can quite go to bat for this one, but it almost singlehandedly skates by on gore.  Things kick off with Pooh and the gang terrorizing some women in a camper which includes a gnarly bit where Pooh breaks a gal’s arms and legs to immobilize her before shoving her face into a bear trap.  From there, we have exploding heads, a shotgun through the skull, face melting, an amputated arm down the throat, and a face full of knives.  The highlight comes when Pooh crashes a rave and decapitates, crushes, and generally eviscerates dozens of partygoers.  Somewhere, Herschell Gordon Lewis is smiling. 

The new additions include Owl, who talks (way too much) and Tigger (who unfortunately is mostly saved for the finale).  Changes to the lore, like the monsters being the result of a doctor performing Island of Dr. Moreau-style experiments, are kind of odd, but they make more sense than the first film did.  Speaking of which, there’s a meta aspect going on as Christopher has to deal with the bad publicity from a slasher movie that’s been made about his plight, which is called… you guessed it... Winnie-the-Pooh:  Blood and Honey.  I wish more was done with the idea as it’s really only introduced to (I think) explain the lapses in continuity. 

It’s still pretty wonky though.  It also gets rather sluggish when the monsters aren’t on screen.  I could’ve done without the animated interludes too.  Still, it is much better than the original.  By the time Pooh took after Christopher Robin with a flaming chainsaw, I had to admit, I was sort of having fun. 

Overall, Winnie-the-Pooh:  Blood and Honey II isn’t great, but it’s not a steaming pile of Pooh either.