Posted 7/24/2026
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey), Pinocchio Unstrung is a gory indie slasher that transforms Carlo Collodi’s classic public-domain tale into a dark horror feature within Jagged Edge Productions' Twisted Childhood Universe.
Set primarily inside an elite London prep school, the story begins when the grieving, elderly woodcarver Geppetto (played by Richard Brake) crafts a wooden puppet for his grandson, James (played by Cameron Bell), following a devastating family tragedy. Intended as a comforting companion, the puppet Pinocchio instead turns deadly after falling under the influence of a sinister, parasitic Cricket (voiced by horror icon Robert Englund).
Driven by a warped obsession to protect James and fulfill his ultimate desire of becoming a "real boy," Pinocchio embarks on a horrific, blood-soaked crusade. He systematically slaughters his victims to harvest human skin and body parts, attempting to construct a physical human body for himself piece by piece.
Alongside Brake, Bell, and Englund, the main cast includes Jessica Balmer as Mia and Jack Art Gray as the puppet master. To ground the slasher in classic horror aesthetics, Frake-Waterfield relies on practical animatronics and prosthetic gore designed by MastersFX rather than digital effects, delivering a gruesome and chaotic take on the timeless fairy tale.
Movie descriptions were generated by Google Gemini.
