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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Pinocchio Unstrung say? I'm feeling a little strung out.

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Pinocchio Unstrung
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRhys Frake-Waterfield
Screenplay byRhys Frake-Waterfield[1]
Based on
The Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyVince Knight
Edited byDan Allen
Music byAndrew Scott Bell
Production
company
Jagged Edge Productions
Distributed byAltitude Film Distribution
Release dates
  • 11 April 2026 (2026-04-11) (Brussels)
  • 24 July 2026 (2026-07-24) (United Kingdom)
Running time
82 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$689,365[3][4]

Pinocchio Unstrung is a 2026 British independent slasher film written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield. It is the fifth installment in the Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) and serves as a horror retelling of Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. The film stars Richard Brake, Robert Englund, Cameron Bell, and Jessica Balmer, with Jude-Evan Lloyd as the voice of the title character. It follows Geppetto's grandson James, who develops a friendship with Pinocchio until his naïve nature results in the puppet going on a crusade to eliminate all things bad.[5]

First announced in January 2024 as a Pinocchio-based horror film, the film was subsequently revealed to be set in the TCU shared continuity. The cast was announced between January and June 2024, with Peter DeSouza-Feighoney and Scott Chambers reprising their roles from Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 as Michael Darling and Christopher Robin, respectively.

Pinocchio Unstrung premiered at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival on 11 April 2026, before it was theatrically released worldwide on 24 July 2026, by ITN Distribution. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Fourteen-year-old James is sent to live with his grandfather Geppetto after his parents perish in a car accident. He makes friends with two other children, Zach and Michael, but Zach dies from terminal cancer and Michael is forced to move due to his mother Mary's new job as a hypnotherapist at the nearby town of Ashdown.[a] Geppetto promises to build a friend who will never abandon his grandson again.

One year later, James and his classmates Mia and Dudley are constantly bullied by high school students Trey and Logan. That night, James is awakened by strange noises and enters the basement where Geppetto works. He introduces James to Pinocchio, a sentient wooden puppet whose nose grows every time he lies. Geppetto explains he built Pinocchio to be James' new friend.

As James and Pinocchio bond to a brother-like friendship, the latter learns about human anatomy and wishes to become a real boy. While James is at school, Pinocchio enters the basement and finds a disfigured wooden creature who introduces herself as Pinocchio's "Wood Mother". She reminds Pinocchio that he is just a puppet and will need human organs to become real. The next day, James takes Pinocchio to school; he explores the gym, but accidentally causes a chain reaction that kills James' teacher with a treadmill. Later, James introduces Pinocchio to Mia and Dudley.

While returning home in a taxi, a drunk driver crashes into them and James is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Christopher Robin.[b] Remembering the Wood Mother's words and realizing that perhaps he should eliminate the people who harm James, Pinocchio sneaks into the driver's hospital room, rips his skin off and disembowels him to put his organs into his wooden chest. James returns home and, along with Mia and Dudley, enters the basement and finds notes written by Geppetto about his "failed works". Meanwhile, Pinocchio tells his Wood Mother about the killings and she congratulates him while introducing the Talking Cricket to Pinocchio. The Cricket encourages him to kill anybody who have put James in danger and they murder James' school dentist to take out her teeth.

James, Mia, and Dudley watch tapes that reveal Geppetto created more wooden puppets before Pinocchio, whom he destroyed because he considered them imperfect to be James' friends. Upon learning about Pinocchio's killing spree, James, Mia, and Dudley attempt to warn Trey and Logan as they are his next targets. Pinocchio arrives at Logan's house and breaks his girlfriend Georgia's jaw with an axe. The Cricket then fatally electrocutes her while Pinocchio rips Logan's tongue and eyes. In Trey's house, Pinocchio kills his girlfriend Amanda, tears off her scalp to use it, and murders Trey by impaling his skull with his growing nose.

Geppetto takes Pinocchio back home, repressing him for the murders. Pinocchio learns his Wood Mother and the Cricket tricked him into doing bad things so he kills them both with a sledgehammer. James, Mia, and Dudley arrive at the basement just as Geppetto is about to destroy Pinocchio. When Pinocchio asks how he came to life, Geppetto reveals to have used Zach's corpse to build him, transfering his soul into the puppet. As James rescues Pinocchio, Geppetto shoots Dudley dead and knocks James unconscious before pursuing Mia to kill her while revealing to be an apprentice of the late Dr. Arthur Gallup, continuing with his experiments to resurrect dead children.[b] James stabs Geppetto before Pinocchio holds him at gunpoint.

Pinocchio shoots at Geppetto but misses and hits a panel that releases an aggressive wooden creature, who kills Geppetto as the entire house begins to burn. James, Mia, and Pinocchio manage to escape and promise to forget what happened. When Pinocchio reveals that he did not enjoy killing people, his nose begins to grow again. In a post-credits scene, the Cricket is revealed to have survived and recovers Geppetto's corpse to resurrect him.

Cast

Additionally, Scott Chambers reprises his role as Christopher Robin from Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 while Peter DeSouza-Feighoney reprises his role as Michael Darling from Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare.

Production

In January 2024, it was announced that a horror film centered around the titular character from The Adventures of Pinocchio was in development, while it was also revealed that additional characters from other childhood stories would be revealed as a part of the Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU). Officially titled Pinocchio Unstrung, the first promotional concept art was released, with the plot stated to be revealed at a later time.[7][8] The film was written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield.[9][1] In November 2024, Robert Englund was cast in a lead role, while Richard Brake was cast as Geppetto. Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Jack Art Gray and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney also star.[5][10]

Principal photography took place by November 2024.[5] Filming was originally set to commence in September 2024 and October 2024.[9][11] The character of Pinocchio was a fully practical animatronic because Frake-Waterfield really wanted him to feel real.[12]

Music

Pinocchio Unstrung (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
Andrew Scott Bell
Released21 July 2026 (2026-07-21)
GenreHorror
Length67:38
LabelDark House Music

Pinocchio Unstrung (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the film. Andrew Scott Bell composed the film's score.[13] The soundtrack was released by Dark House Music on 21 July 2026.[13]

All music is composed by Andrew Scott Bell.

No.TitleLength
1."Pinocchio: Unstrung"1:51
2."Life Is Full of Endless Possibilities"1:44
3."Once Upon a Time There Was a Piece of Wood"3:40
4."James Meets Pinocchio"1:31
5."The Adventures of Pinocchio"2:55
6."Woodmother Teaches Pinocchio How to Be Real"2:31
7."Pinocchio Touches Grass"0:33
8."Good Boys Go Gladly to School"3:08
9."A Lesson in Gravity"1:03
10."James Makes a Wish"2:06
11."Pinocchio Meets New Friends"0:48
12."A Crash Course in Dentistry"1:09
13."Hospital Mischief"2:13
14."Organs and Stuff!"3:37
15."Sneaking Through the Hospital"1:01
16."Geppetto's Workshop"3:18
17."Piece by Piece to Make Yourself Whole"2:17
18."Why Can't He Just Make Toys"2:17
19."Pinocchio Meets Cricket"1:51
20."Let's Give You a Smile"2:35
21."Flagitious FaceTime"1:54
22."Pinocchio Learns to Swim / Eyes on Me"3:00
23."Homicidal Doll on the Loose"1:13
24."Peeping Pinok / A Hairy Situation"3:10
25."One Hell of a Glow Up, Kid"1:11
26."Meat Marionette"1:34
27."It's Hammer Time"1:21
28."Pinocchio Discovers His Roots"2:05
29."Rescuing Pinocchio"2:28
30."Here's Geppetto!"2:02
31."I'm Not Your Puppet Anymore"2:48
32."We'll Lie / Credits"2:44
Total length:67:38

Release

Pinocchio Unstrung had its world premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival on 11 April 2026.[14][15] The film was theatrically released in North America on 24 July 2026, under Viva Pictures.[16] Altitude Film Distribution also released the film on the same date in the United Kingdom.[17] It was previously set to be released in 2025.[5][18] The film had a worldwide theatrical release by ITN Distribution.[12]

Reception

Box office

Pinocchio Unstrung grossed $625,726 in the United States and Canada, and $63,639 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $689,365.[4][3]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 76% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ As depicted in Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare (2024).
  2. 1 2 As depicted in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 (2024).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Pinocchio Unstrung". Bifff. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  2. ↑ "Pinocchio Unstrung (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Pinocchio: Unstrung – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Pinocchio Unstrung". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ritman, Alex (1 November 2024). "Pinocchio Slasher Film From Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey Team Casts Horror Vets Robert Englund and Richard Brake (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Melzer, James (1 November 2024). "Pinocchio Slasher Movie Adds a Pair of Horror Movie Legends to the Poohniverse". MovieWeb. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  7. ↑ O'Rourke, Ryan (18 January 2024). "'Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2' Director Offers First Peek at 'Pinocchio: Unstrung'". Collider. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Bolt, Neil (18 January 2024). "Pinocchio Unstrung: First Details on Horror Movie From Blood and Honey Filmmakers". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 11 March 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 Ritman, Alex (16 May 2024). "Pinocchio Horror in 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' Universe Unveils R-Rated Details: Skin Suits, High Kill Counts and Lots of Gore (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Squires, John (30 January 2024). "'Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare': Exclusive Sneak Peek at the Upcoming Peter Pan Horror Movie". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Demegillo, Manuel (24 August 2024). "Pinocchio Attacks in New Poster for Horror Parody From Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Team". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  12. 1 2 Ritma, Alex (2 March 2026). "'Pinocchio Unstrung' Trailer: Wooden Doll Turns Homicidal in Next IP Bludgeoning From 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' Team (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  13. 1 2 "'Pinocchio: Unstrung' Soundtrack Album Released". Film Music Reporter. 21 July 2026. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  14. ↑ ITN Distribution [@ITNFILMS] (8 March 2026). "ITN Original Movie Pinocchio Unstrung will have its World Premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) in Belgium this April. So excited!" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 March 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  15. ↑ "44th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival Program" (PDF). Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  16. ↑ DiVincenzo, Alex (8 May 2026). "Poohniverse Slasher 'Pinocchio Unstrung' Set for Summer Theatrical Release". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Dalton, Ben (16 June 2026). "UK-Ireland film cinema release dates: latest updates for 2026". Screen Daily. Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  18. ↑ Squires, John (17 January 2024). "Public Domain Horror Universe Expanding With 'Pinocchio: Unstrung' [Exclusive First Look]". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  19. ↑ "Pinocchio Unstrung". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Pinocchio Unstrung". Metacritic. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
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