Pinocchio Unstrung review: killer puppetry steals the show
'Pinocchio: Unstrung' review: killer puppetry outshines the scares in Rhys Frake-Waterfield's latest Twisted Childhood Universe slasher. Variety finds the R-rated 82-minute film abundantly grisly but rarely frightening, with handmade puppet and animatronic work as its clear standout amid thin storytelling.
Key Takeaways
- Variety credits the film's puppetry and animatronics as its biggest strength.
- Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield returns after 2023's Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.
- The 82-minute R-rated slasher is gross and grisly more than truly scary.
- Richard Brake plays Geppetto; Robert Englund appears as a cursed Jiminy Cricket.
- The review argues Frake-Waterfield feels more spirited here than in prior viral provocation.
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What is Pinocchio: Unstrung actually about?
According to Variety's review, the contemporary tale casts Geppetto as a wealthy British inventor and mad-scientist figure, played by Game of Thrones alum Richard Brake. He crafts the timber tyke in a deliberate bid to create artificial life.
When his grandson James (Cameron Bell) is orphaned after a car accident, Geppetto keeps the boys apart in a Gothic mansion until Pinocchio's curiosity wins out. The two bond as brothers. James then smuggles the puppet to school against Geppetto's orders.
There, Pinocchio sees James bullied and turns vengeful. The plot then jumps from bloody set piece to set piece as the puppet harvests human organs he thinks will make him "one of them," Variety reports.
Why does the killer puppetry stand out?
Variety says the craggy, splintery, handmade Pinocchio design is a triumph for the puppetry and animatronic teams, and the film leans on that work. Behind-the-scenes footage even runs through the closing credits.
Gore effects are mostly organic and old-school. The film is "never especially frightening," with oddly muffled jump scares, yet it stays "abundantly gross and grisly" in classic cheap-and-cheerful slasher fashion.
Reviewer notes also flag more visual initiative than in Blood and Honey, including a shadow-theater-style animated prologue that sketches Geppetto's thin backstory.
Is Frake-Waterfield's Twisted Childhood Universe worth another look?
Variety frames the so-called Twisted Childhood Universe as an old-hat idea not mined with great daring. Conceptually, a Pinocchio horror film is less of a pure lark than an evil Pooh, partly because Collodi's original story was already macabre.
Storytelling and basic scare-mongering still fall short. The script is called semi-coherent, kills are often sketchily set up, and a muddy sound mix undercuts tactile visual rewards. Sharper jokes and higher-camp performances would help, though Englund's cursed Cricket cameo is called fun.
Still, the outlet says the provocations feel more spirited and less calculated for viral impact than Frake-Waterfield's previous work. As B-horror auteurs go, Variety concludes, he "may yet be a real boy."
Pinocchio: Unstrung was reviewed at Lumiere Romford in London on July 24, 2026. It carries an MPA R rating and runs 82 minutes. Viva Pictures is releasing in the U.S., with Altitude Film Entertainment in the U.K.