Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh is a comfort character for many. For much of his 98-year history, the A.A. Milne and E. H. Shepard creation was known as a cuddly bear with a love for "hunny," known for his kindhearted thoughtfulness.

But as the Winnie-the-Pooh universe enters the public domain (except for Tigger's character, which is still copyright protected), anyone can take the essence of the character and transform it into anything they deem fit, as long as it is original. With that, I regret to inform you of the following: your beloved honey-loving bear now has a penchant for, erm, brutal murder.

An iteration of Pooh is a monstrous killer of sorts in the upcoming indie horror/slasher, "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" (via Bloody Disgusting). As if this idea alone is not terrifying enough, first-look images from the film feature someone wearing a frightening Pooh mask, and a rather messed-up version of Piglet.

Now, this is very divisive for me — while I love slashers, and enjoy a good subversion of perceived notions of "normalcy," this seems a tad bit too weird, even for me.

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Details about "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" are extremely scant at the moment, except for the fact that it has been listed as a "horror retelling of the famous legend of Winnie the Pooh." A reinterpretation of a classic tale for children through a slasher/horror lens is not a new concept, by any means, but "Blood and Honey" might branch into something extremely unsavory, although it is too early to tell.

The film is being helmed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who seems to be injecting a rather macabre aspect into his debut project. The film stars Craig David Dowsett as the creepy and murderous Pooh, Maria Taylor as Maria, Danielle Ronald as Zoe, May Kelly as Tina, Natasha Tosini as Lara, Amber Doig-Thorne as Alice, and Chris Cordell as Piglet, among others. Will Eeyore and Christopher Robin also make an appearance? Again, only time will tell.

The upcoming slasher horror obviously has no direct ties with the Disney character, courtesy of the characters (barring Tigger) being in the public domain. While the limits of human imagination are boundless, turning a bear who is clearly a symbol of kindness into a frightening killer indulging in weird, twisted shenanigans is … something else.

A release date has not been revealed for "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" at the moment, but the slasher is expected to release sometime this year. An official trailer might drop fairly soon, and give us some insight into what the film could be about (apart from the whole murder thing).

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The post Winnie the Pooh is in the Public Domain, So of Course He's a Slasher Villain Now appeared first on /Film.