Robert Englund Pulls the Strings in Pinocchio: Unstrung, Coming to DVD and Digital This September

The Nightmare on Elm Street legend joins the Twisted Childhood Universe for its blood-soaked reimagining of the classic Pinocchio story

The Twisted Childhood Universe is about to carve up another piece of your childhood, and this time, somebody brought Freddy Krueger along for the ride. Horror icon Robert Englund joins the nightmare as Pinocchio: Unstrung, the latest twisted fairy-tale horror feature from the team behind Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, heads to DVD and Digital in the UK on September 7, 2026.

Altitude announced the home entertainment release on August 10, confirming that director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s blood-soaked reimagining of Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio will soon be unleashed on audiences at home. If this particular cinematic universe has taught us anything, it is that no beloved childhood character is safe once these cats get their hands on them.

The film joins the growing Twisted Childhood Universe, which already includes Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Bambi: The Reckoning. Rather than simply dropping Pinocchio into another slasher setup, Pinocchio: Unstrung takes the familiar story of innocence, morality, and becoming “real” and drags it straight through the horror grinder.

The story follows Geppetto, played by Richard Brake, who introduces his grandson James to a magical doll named Pinocchio. James, unaware of just how dangerously naïve his new companion can be, introduces Pinocchio to the outside world. Things go sideways fast when the puppet begins a violent crusade to eliminate anything he considers “bad,” all while being guided by the sinister Cricket, voiced by none other than Robert Englund.

Yeah, Freddy Krueger as the Cricket. Somebody in that production meeting understood the assignment.

Englund’s involvement instantly adds another layer of horror credibility to the project. The veteran actor remains forever connected to A Nightmare on Elm Street, but his presence here also fits the increasingly ambitious direction of the Twisted Childhood Universe. Alongside Englund, the film stars Richard Brake (Barbarian) and Cameron Bell, making his feature-film debut.

Pinocchio: Unstrung is written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the filmmaker behind Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, with Scott Chambers, director of Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning, serving as producer.

The movie made its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in June, where it picked up four award nominations, including Best UK Feature and Best Performance in a UK Feature for Richard Brake. That festival run also gave audiences their first real taste of just how far Frake-Waterfield and company were willing to push this particular nightmare.

The early reactions have certainly leaned into that carnage. Macabre Daily called it “the biggest and boldest entry in the blossoming Twisted Childhood Universe yet,” while Bloody Disgusting described the movie as “a disturbing reimagining of Pinocchio.” HeyUGuys praised its inventive nastiness and practical craftsmanship, while Movie Marker warned that it is “certainly not for the faint of heart.”

Film Threat might have delivered the best puppet-related endorsement of the bunch, suggesting viewers may “need strings to hold you down from watching it again and again.”

For anybody who has been following this wonderfully unhinged horror universe from the beginning, Pinocchio: Unstrung looks ready to push the concept another step further. You take one of literature’s most recognizable symbols of childhood innocence, throw Richard Brake and Robert Englund into the mix, sprinkle in practical horror effects, then hand the keys to the lunatics behind Blood and Honey. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything, mi gente. Everything. And that is kind of the point.

Pinocchio: Unstrung will be available on DVD and Digital in the UK on September 7, 2026.

Pre-order Pinocchio: Unstrung on Amazon UK: Click here

Pre-order Pinocchio: Unstrung on HMV: Click here

The Crusade Never Ends!