With one already under his belt and another in the works, a Bambi horror movie is now said to be coming from Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey director Rhys Frake-Waterfield. Though best known for the Disney animated film of the same name, the character originates from the Austrian novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods and centers on the titular male roe deer as he loses his mother at a young age, becomes friends with other woodland animals, deals with dangerous human hunters and finds a mate. On top of the Disney film, Bambi has been adapted multiple times for both screen and the stage, though is about to get its wildest take yet.

Dread Central has brought word that a Bambi horror movie is currently in the works from Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey's Rhys Frake-Waterfield. The writer/director of the upcoming horror twist on a childhood classic is producing the project from director Scott Jeffrey, while ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions are once again attached to produce. See what Jeffrey said about the project below:

The film will be an incredibly dark retelling of the 1928 story we all know and love. Finding inspiration from the design used in Netflix’s The Ritual, Bambi will be a vicious killing machine that lurks in the wilderness. Prepare for Bambi on rabies!
Bambi Nearly Got A Dark Reimagining Before


This isn't the first time someone has brought the idea of a darker twist for the iconic woodland creature to a studio. Ryan Reynolds previously revealed he tried to pitch a Bambi and Deadpool crossover short film that would follow his Merc with a Mouth interrogating the hunter that killed his mom, though with the hilarious twist that Deadpool is actually a fan. Despite going in with the angle that the hunter is considered "the most-loathed Disney character in the history" of the studio, the House of Mouse ultimately turned him down, with Reynolds subsequently pitching the Deadpool and Korg crossover to help promote Free Guy.

Why A Bambi Horror Reimagining Could Work


Though some may find it difficult to believe any of their childhood favorites should get the horror reimagining treatment, Bambi ultimately has a more understandable route for setting up the genre twist than the likes of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and the Grinch-based The Mean One. Many audiences who grew up with Disney's Bambi recall the horrifying opening chapter seeing him and his mother chased down by the human hunters, ultimately resulting in her tragic killing shortly thereafter, while the film's fiery finale of an adult Bambi and his friends fleeing an errant campfire is also full of potential for scares. Given Jeffrey teases that his Bambi horror movie will see him depicted as a "vicious killing machine", it seems just as likely that it would serve as more of a sequel to its source material, much in the same way as Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.

One of the biggest votes of confidence horror genre fans are sure to have for the Bambi reimagining is Jeffrey's note of The Ritual being a key source of inspiration for the project. Directed by Hellraiser's David Bruckner, the Netflix horror-thriller has appeared on many audiences' most underrated horror movies lists since it made its 2017 debut, thanks in large part to its creature design and tense atmosphere. If Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield can recapture even a fraction of The Ritual's success, the Bambi horror movie could prove to be far more than a tongue-in-cheek twist on an iconic character.