The march goes on as childhood memories are taken and twisted into horror movies. This time the story of Peter Pan is given the revamping. And right off the bat I’m going to waffle massively. There might be a spoiler or two here as I am fairly heavily recapping the opening 15 minutes or so. But then I pull back from too many spoilers.

We start with a storybook reading of the story of Peter Pan, but the one doing the reading just sounds angry. When he finishes the reading, we see that it is the Peter Pan from this movie (ok, you don’t know that because you just started watching it, but I am on my second viewing and know everything already.) As he finishes, he very darkly asks the young boy on his lap if he is ready to go to Neverland yet. Cue credits and a scene change to a circus. A very odd circus. The storybook reading I rather enjoyed. I like how they have done that. And then we get this circus. And I hate the next 2 minutes or so. Sure, we have some freaky characters roaming around the grounds that look more like they are preparing for a haunted house than a circus. But then we go inside the big top. Acrobats and performers, and all the stuff you expect in a circus. Bright and happy and fun.

And then everything slows to a crawl as a single clown takes center ring. A clown wearing very creepy makeup. And not doing anything really. His initial stance is reminiscent of the Peter Pan shadow from the Disney version. But he just awkwardly scans the crowd pointing, until he comes to rest on a single young boy. He approaches the boy and gives him a balloon animal. To the delight of the crowd. And I call bullshit right here. Nobody in that crowd enjoyed the silent creepy clown dude. He should have just been part of a clown show that was entertaining. We know this is a horror movie, you don’t need to make this scene creepy. It would be better if it was bright and fun, and then the creepiness creeps back in.

Less than 5 minutes into things and I am already incredibly wary about how this is going to go. But then we get to the home of the boy who got the balloon. He is lying on the couch, dozing. His mom tells him to go get ready for bed as she goes to take a shower. And then something amazing happens. A trap door opens up in the middle of the living room floor and we see creepy clown Peter Pan, his makeup flaking off not unlike Heath Ledger as the Joker when he was in jail. The kid, James, looks at Peter and simply chats with him, saying he should get his mom. I’m sorry, a trap door just opened in your living room and a creepy clown says he is lost and needs your help, and his response is a calm “let me get mom.” Peter having this wild ability to open a trap door in a home is so incredibly cool. I’m not wondering how he found the kid, must be some supernatural ability as well. If he can track any kid down and open a trap door… whoa…

Mom comes down when she hears voices, and isn’t surprised at the trap door, just fights Peter for her son. And we have a knock down drag out fight. Mom trying to protect her son and Peter just wanting another Lost Boy. A quick but brutal fight that felt very grounded. Very real. Mom loses, but Peter does exactly walk away unscathed.

And we jump 15 years now to the Darling residence. Interestingly, the mom, Mary, is the therapist for Christopher Robin in Blood and Honey 2. Did I mention this is technically the third film in the Twisted Childhood Universe? Things get a bit normal here now as we follow Wendy Darling for a bit. Until Peter abducts Michael Darling. Just in a van. Out in the woods. Creepy clown guy abducts a kid. At this point we realize that Peter is just a creepy clown guy who abducts kids. Which made my mind race back to the abduction of James earlier. Peter didn’t magically open a trap door in the living room floor, the home just had one. Let me say that again, the home just had a random trap door in the floor of the living room! In what world do homes have trap doors like that? I’ve lived in several homes, and visited many more. I have never been in one with a trap door. And the movie just lost a big pro in my eyes. I was a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Snoopy balloon caught up in a tree, just flapping uselessly. 

Back to the movie… Wendy is a one woman crusader who tracks down Peter in his home. And we find a surprise addition to the story. TinkerBell is a transwoman kept in a drugged out stupor by Peter so she will help him. TinkerBell was a young boy named Timmy that Peter abducted long ago, but when he realized that Timmy wasn’t “a boy” (within his heart, Timmy didn’t identify as a boy) he couldn’t send him to Neverland. Only boys got that reward. 

I have to say that I was surprised by this twist, and thought it was a very fresh idea. I liked it. TinkerBell was a very tragic character here. But there is one more character we haven’t seen yet. Hook! Wendy stumbles across Hook chained up in the basement. Hook is James, but Peter cut off a hand and gave him a Hook. This part of the story was the polar opposite of TinkerBell. Why was Hook chained up? Why did he turn Peter into Hook? This part made no sense, and I just found it odd. 

I really did enjoy this movie. It’s dark and creepy and twisted. There are plans for a sequel. And while this movie felt a bit more in the vein of Black Phone with Peter abducting kids, and there is drug use that leads to him seeing the Disney version of Peter Pan’s shadow in his house. With the shadow seeming to guide him towards the actions he has been taking. There is early talk that with the sequel they will explore the real world of Neverland. Suggesting that Peter wasn’t just crazy. I’m very interested in seeing the sequel. That sounds quite intriguing to me.

I’m giving this a 9 star rating. I fully intend to buy a copy for my shelf.