When A. A. Milne’s children’s tale, Winnie-the-Pooh, entered public domain on Jan. 1, 2022, the world could only wonder how the story’s beloved characters would be incorporated into new movies. Less than six months later, a movie announcement illustrated one of the many possibilities: Winnie-the-Pooh would be adapted into… a horror movie!

The highly anticipated, low-budget British slasher, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey,” debuted in U.S. theaters on Wednesday, Feb. 15 for a nine-day release. The film, which sees Pooh and Piglet transformed into bloodthirsty, merciless killers, marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who is planning to release more fairy-tale-turned-horror movies, such as “Bambi: The Reckoning.” However, despite its unique concept and catchy title, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” is laughably bad.

The movie begins with adult Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon) returning to the Hundred Acre Woods with his cautious fiancée to investigate the whereabouts of his old friends, Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell).

The plot also follows protagonist Maria (Maria Taylor) and her friends. Maria, who is recovering from a traumatic ordeal with a stalker, has booked a lodge in the seemingly idyllic Hundred Acre Woods for a girls’ trip to clear her mind. Unbeknownst to both parties, Pooh and Piglet, after having been abandoned by Christopher in the Woods years ago, have grown into wild beasts with a thirst for human blood.

Entering the theater, my expectations for the film were appropriately low. I was prepared to be confronted by trite horror movie clichés and witless characters who make the watcher want to scream at their screen: “Please, just run!” And, conforming to my expectations, the film was a nightmare—in a bad way.

Pooh’s and Piglet’s costumes were comically awful. When the mustard-colored, smiling bear first appeared on the screen sprinting like Usain Bolt, laughter promptly erupted from the audience. I will give kudos to the makeup artists, though; they were generous with the gore, which was surprisingly lifelike and absolutely nauseating.

I soon realized the film’s unrealistic characters were its main detriment. The actors were bad. At times, they got Dhar-Mann-level bad, with delayed line delivery and insensibly subdued reactions. Leon’s Christopher Robin garnered the most ill-timed giggles for his unconvincing screams.

Frake-Waterfield’s writing was also lazy. He wrote unrealistic, near-caricatures of women: the empty-headed, hyper-sexualized female character obsessed with taking selfies and drinking alcohol has become extremely predictable. And the film didn’t even attempt to build a relationship with its viewer. It lacked investment in the characters, which made each gruesome death feel utterly emotionless.

Every five minutes, some unintentionally funny detail tickled the audience and caused a laughing domino effect. Had the screenwriter capitalized on the hilarious premise of the film and employed a healthy dose of self-aware irony, perhaps I would have enjoyed it. Instead, he treated it with such seriousness that I was overcome with a feeling of secondhand embarrassment. Somehow, the characters barely even acknowledged that they were fleeing from a big, yellow bear and his pig sidekick.

Props were a clear struggle. Every now and then, audible confusion arose as to what exactly characters were holding. Only after finishing the film did I realize the braided locks of hair Pooh whipped Christopher with were really Eeyore’s severed tail. And Maria grabbing a pistol which resembled one of the nineteenth century caused quite a chuckle.

The movie’s only redeeming quality was its decent cinematography. The shots, lighting and post-production were professional and provoked an atmosphere of mystery, fear and melancholy. But the bad acting, silly costumes, careless writing and entire premise turned the film’s melancholic atmosphere into a humorous one akin to that of a sitcom.

All things considered, for a slasher with less than a $100,000 budget, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” unquestionably lived up to its so-bad-it’s-funny expectations, and laughing along judgmentally with an entire audience of theater-goers is an experience you won’t want to miss.