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‘Pinocchio: Unstrung’ Review: Killer Puppetry Is the Best Thing About This Killer Puppet Slasher
British filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield continues reframing children's stories as horror films with 'Pinocchio: Unstrung', building on his 2023 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey'. The film reimagines Geppetto as a contemporary mad scientist who creates artificial life within a Gothic mansion setting. Frake-Waterfield demonstrates resourcefulness working within budget constraints, but the film struggles with narrative structure and fails to generate meaningful scares, ultimately offering a concept that feels familiar within this emerging subgenre.
The film's strength lies in its hands-on technical execution, particularly its practical puppetry and animatronic design. The deliberately rough, splintered Pinocchio puppet—styled after Guillermo del Toro's darker 2022 interpretation—represents skilled craftsmanship. Old-school practical gore effects deliver visceral grossness rather than psychological horror, though even the jump scares prove muffled and ineffective. Reviewers note the film shows greater visual ambition than its predecessor whilst remaining narratively hollow, appealing primarily to those entertained by twisted character concepts rather than to audiences seeking substantial horror storytelling.
In short
- Low-budget horror film reimagines Pinocchio as a killer puppet with impressive practical effects but weak narrative
- Director returns to his 'Twisted Childhood' concept featuring crude animatronics and graphic gore that lands without genuine scares
- Technical craftsmanship praised; storytelling and jump-scare execution criticised as formulaic and ineffective
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
One can credibly argue this film deserves recognition for its technical mastery and ambitious conceptual approach, which demonstrate genuine artistic merit. The accomplished practical puppetry and detailed animatronic work showcase skilled craftsmanship that film enthusiasts can legitimately value, and the willingness to darken familiar stories through horror aesthetics represents creative risk-taking with evident care in its visual realisation, offering substance to those who appreciate filmmaking craft and conceptual reimagining as worthy artistic pursuits.
The case against
Yet a horror film's core responsibility is delivering effective horror, and this one demonstrably struggles through ineffective scares and narratively hollow storytelling. While technical skill is commendable, it cannot fully compensate when a slasher fails to generate genuine fear or establish compelling narrative momentum. Without meaningful scares or narrative coherence, the ambitious concept becomes primarily a curiosity for those intrigued by twisted character reimaginings rather than a complete work that succeeds on film's fundamental terms.
Explained simply
British filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield pioneered a trend of reimagining children's stories as horror films. His Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey in 2023 proved commercially successful, made possible after A.A. Milne's original characters entered the public domain. This success prompted him to apply the same concept to other classic tales.
Frake-Waterfield's approach strips beloved stories of their moral centres and reframes them as dark thrillers set in contemporary or Gothic settings. In this case, Pinocchio's creator Geppetto is reimagined as a mad scientist rather than a kindly woodcarver. These films represent an emerging subgenre that appeals to audiences interested in provocative reinterpretations of childhood stories.
The films tend to emphasise practical effects and visual design over narrative complexity or psychological scares. They trade on the conceptual shock of seeing familiar characters from children's literature placed in violent or grotesque scenarios. This subgenre occupies a niche within horror cinema, attracting viewers drawn to novelty and craft rather than conventional storytelling.
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