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.