# Pinocchio: Unstrung review – public domain slasher turns beloved puppet into sick serial killer

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/pinocchio-unstrung-review-public-domain-slasher-turns-beloved-puppet-into-sick-serial-killer/
- Published: 2026-07-22T10:00:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-22T10:12:30+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/22/pinocchio-unstrung-review-twisted-childhood-universe
- Topics: Culture, Entertainment, Film, UK, World

## Key points

- Guardian reviews Pinocchio: Unstrung, latest "Twisted Childhood Universe" slasher.
- Puppet turns killer after boy wishes bullies dead.
- Review calls it unfunny, unscary, and tasteless.

## Summary

The Guardian's review takes aim at Pinocchio: Unstrung, the latest instalment of Britain's tongue-in-cheek "Twisted Childhood Universe" slasher franchise, which follows earlier films turning Winnie-the-Pooh into a killer. Directed once again by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the film recasts the classic wooden puppet as a murderous companion, and the review argues it repeats the same flaws as its predecessors: crude shock tactics dressed up as satire, without genuine horror or laughs to back them up.

The story sees grieving grandson James (Cameron Bell) given a living puppet, Pinocchio, by his grandfather Geppetto (Richard Brake), only for the toy to take a wish for revenge on school bullies literally. The reviewer criticises the film for leaning on tired slasher clichés, including a gratuitous and questionable nude scene involving a character playing a schoolgirl, and for gore that looks too fake to properly unsettle viewers, concluding the film fails even on its own terms as horror.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.