Wooden doll turns killer in first look at Jagged Edge’s ‘Pinocchio Unstrung’

The beloved story of Pinocchio has taken a sinister turn in the trailer for Pinocchio Unstrung, the latest creation from the makers of the 2024 cult horror hit Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. The film sees the wooden puppet embark on a gruesome, murderous quest to become a real boy, turning a classic tale into one of the most twisted adaptations to date.

Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and produced by Scott Jeffrey under their Jagged Edge Productions banner, Pinocchio Unstrung pushes the limits of low-budget horror with practical animatronics and shocking violence. Geppetto, played by Richard Brake, watches as his creation discovers that the difference between wooden dolls and human children is “organs and stuff,” and he sets out to collect them in the most slasher-friendly ways imaginable. The trailer shows the puppet impaling, skinning, and gutting victims while being egged on by a darkly sinister Jiminy Cricket, voiced by horror icon Robert Englund.

Frake-Waterfield told Variety that the practical effects were key to making Pinocchio feel real. “We built Pinocchio as a fully practical animatronic because I wanted him to feel alive,” he said. “This is a twisted coming-of-age story from the puppet’s perspective, exploring autonomy while being manipulated by sinister forces, from Englund’s Jiminy Cricket to Brake’s obsessive Geppetto.”

The cast also includes Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray, and Peter De Souza-Feighoney, with Emmy-winning Todd Masters overseeing the animatronics. Distribution is being handled by ITN Distribution, with worldwide theatrical dates in the works and sales managed by Premiere Entertainment Group.

Pinocchio Unstrung is the latest addition to Jagged Edge’s Twisted Childhood Universe, which includes Blood and Honey, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. A third Blood and Honey sequel is in production, and a crossover Avengers-style IP bloodbath, Poohniverse Monsters Assemble, is being developed. Frake-Waterfield teased, “Our universe keeps growing darker and more ambitious, and this is just the beginning.”

Fans of extreme horror and twisted adaptations will want to brace themselves, as Pinocchio Unstrung promises to redefine what it means for a childhood classic to go fully unhinged.