Bambi: The Reckoning director feels the Twisted Childhood films are more faithful than Disney adaptations (2025)

Producers Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey are building a cinematic universe, called the Twisted Childhood Universe, out of horror movies based on public domain family friendly stories – includingPeter Pan: Neverland Nightmare,Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, that film’s sequels,Pinocchio Unstrung, andBambi: The Reckoning, which is inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novelBambi, a Life in the Woods. TheBambihorror moviewill be released by ITN Studio and Premiere Entertainment onJuly 25th, and during an interview with SFX magazine, director Dan Allen said he feels the Twisted Childhood movies are more faithful to the original stories than the Disney adaptations have been.

Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield are producingBambi: The Reckoningfor Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers for ITN Studios. Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines) leads the cast and is joined by Nicola Wright (Firenado), Tom Mulheron (Casualty), and Samira Mighty(Beauty and the Beast).

Dan Allen, whose previous credits includeMummy Reborn, It Came from Below,and the 2017 version ofUnhinged, directed the film from a screenplay by Rhys Warrington. The story followsXana (McKee) and her son Benji (Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi. Bambi will destroy anyone in its path.

Allen told SFX magazine, “So often, these films have been called ‘childhood killers’; I think that is a bit extreme. But to actually engage with it on a narrative level and have a movie that is thematically about the loss of innocence and the death of childhood makes this really quite faithful to the heart of it. I genuinely think that, in many ways, these adaptations are more faithful than the Disney films. Probably not with Winnie the Pooh, but in terms of Peter Pan and Bambi. They are actually pretty dark stories! Disney made them much more palatable and friendly to young audiences.“

The director went on to compare Bambi: The Reckoning to an R-rated Jurassic Park. “You’re still going to get that violence; you’re still going to get the gore, but not at Peter Pan level. It’s more about the build-up to it; that’s where it finds its fun and energy – with loads of destruction as well.“

Are you interested in the Twisted Childhood Universe movies, and are you looking forward to Bambi: The Reckoning? Let us know by leaving a comment below.