Director: Scott Chambers
Writer: Scott Chambers
Stars: Kierston Wareing, Kit Green, Chrissie Wunna
Synopsis: Wendy Darling strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from ‘the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.’ Along the way she meets Tinkerbell, who will be seen taking heroin, believing that it’s pixie dust.
The Poohniverse has proved to be a dark theme park for adults wishing to relive their favorite childhood stories with a twist. In the third installment of the franchise, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, screenwriter/director Scott Jeffrey creates a monster using the pinnacle childhood escapist hero, Peter Pan, turning him into a dark ranger of sorts, kidnapping children and banishing them to Neverland.
As fans of the franchise are used to its depravity, everything is upside down in this fantastical childhood tale turned rogue. Peter Pan (Martin Portloc) is a scalping killer and a child abductor, Tinker Bell (Kit Green) is overweight and addicted to fairy dust, and Wendy is a brave female protagonist determined to save her little brother from the grasp of an evil masked monster.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is darker and gloomier than other installments in Poohniverse. How depraved and unflinching its handling of disturbing subject matter has been is a shock. There must be multiple trigger warnings because this can be a tough watch for many, even if casual The Twisted Childhood Universe elements and tropes are present, it is still grim and hopeless. While the dark themes including children can be off-putting to some, Jeffrey still handles a tough subject matter with as much grace as could be possibly achieved in a film about a murderous, deformed Peter Pan and a junkie Tinker Bell.
Jeffrey creates a bloodbath; this film is gorier than any previous franchise installment. It’s fun, gross, and very entertaining for bloody R-rated horror aficionados. It’s filled with gruesome kills and nightmarish creatures, a feast for the horror fan’s senses. The script has also impressively improved from earlier installments, all thanks to the new blood pushed into the franchise, the acting choices, and the character dynamics. The bond between brother and sister heightens the film as the plot progresses into unimaginable realms.
What makes this movie stand out though is the brilliant casting of the child actor (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) as Michael. He adds layers and depth to his character, and the audience can’t help but root for him as he is thrust from nightmare to nightmare. It’s not a performance one expects in a movie like this; a cheesy, bloody, low-budget horror, but DeSouza-Feighoney has a bright future ahead as an adult actor if he elevates his game and takes on more roles as he grows up. His portrayal of Michael is haunting, vulnerable, and disturbed. Scenes where he tries to put up a brave front as he faces his scary kidnappers or tries to reason with them, immediately remind me of another talented child actor, Milo Machado-Graner from Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall. It’s the ability to shrink into their childhood to bring out the horrors they face at the hands of adults. Megan Placito is also decent as Wendy, she plays it well with her performance and viewers connect with her as she goes on a quest to save her brother. Her journey surpasses her acting prowess but it’s fine enough to make us invested in her storyline.
The question remains: Has the Poohniverse succeeded in destroying the legacy of beloved children’s classics, replacing them with Brothers Grimm-like tales of horror for children? What adult would let a child out of their sight after watching the decaying, living corpses of Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Captain Hook rotting while holding children hostages in their House of Horrors?
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a raw, vicious, unhinged bedtime story from Hell. Audiences will go on a 90-minute rollercoaster ride of pure gore and flying body parts. It’s The Black Phone coated in cotton candy or Stephen King’s It if caught in a web of stardust.
