I had high hopes going into Bambi: The Reckoning, especially after Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. Like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, it opens with promise—a charming storybook-style intro that suggests a dark fairy tale twist is coming. The setup could be strong and simple: Bambi’s mother is killed by hunters, so he seeks revenge. But instead of sticking with that clean premise, the film spirals into a mess of strange choices and half-baked ideas. After the loss of his mother, Bambi suffers additional trauma, loses the rest of his family, drinks from a polluted pond, and mutates into a monstrous, grief-stricken deer hell-bent on vengeance.
That sounds ridiculous—and it is—but there’s still something weirdly compelling about it. The movie draws from those classic '70s killer animal films like Jaws, Claws, and Grizzly, and at times it channels that energy effectively. The best moments are the quiet, suspenseful ones that let tension simmer. Unfortunately, they’re few and far between. Every time the movie builds something interesting, it slams into cliché or rushes forward like it’s afraid of being boring. A scene with exterior motion-sensor lights stands out as genuinely frightening, but the director doesn’t let it breathe. Before the fear can settle in, the moment is trampled by frantic pacing, and we’re shoved into the next race through the woods.
Visually, Bambi: The Reckoning is an upgrade for the Twisted Childhood Universe. There’s clearly more money on screen, and the cinematography often shines. Some of the CGI leaves a lot to be desired, especially the animated deer sequences, which look cheap and floaty. When the filmmakers rely on practical effects, things improve dramatically. The gore looks convincing, and the bloodier moments carry real weight. It’s a shame those practical effects are used so sparingly, because they’re some of the best elements in the film. The CG Bambi is creepy in an uncanny valley kind of way, but a puppet could’ve been far more effective.
The real standout is the sound design. It’s shockingly good. The crunch of flesh, the rustle of grass, the creak of branches—all of it is textured and immersive. Combined with a solid, tension-driving score, the sound work does a lot of the heavy lifting. It’s the one area where the film feels fully professional, and it helps sell even the weaker scenes.
The acting is generally competent, but the characters are paper-thin. The story follows a mother and son targeted by Bambi after a car accident, yet their emotional journey—what little exists—never lands. The father's absence appears meant to add depth, but instead feels like a half-baked attempt at emotional weight. It’s as if the filmmakers wanted to explore grief and fatherhood but couldn’t figure out how to give those themes substance. An odd subplot involving a poacher, seemingly lifted from The Rescuers Down Under, only adds to the confusion.
Tonally, the movie is all over the place. Some scenes are grim and atmospheric, others absurd and unintentionally hilarious. Several scenes feel ripped straight from Jurassic Park, with characters trapped in vehicles, screaming through shattered glass as a rampaging monster closes in. And while it can be entertaining in a so-bad-it’s-good way, it never fully embraces the camp or the horror. It teeters on both edges but never dives into either.
There are highlights. The kills are decent, occasionally inventive. The Thumper cameo is one of the film’s most memorable and terrifying moments—a twisted payoff for anyone familiar with the animated Disney classic. That moment alone almost justifies watching the film. But those standout scenes are surrounded by filler. A lot of the runtime is padded with running, screaming, and hollow emotional beats that don’t connect. Even with a runtime just over an hour (minus credits), it feels longer than it should.
The ending is unexpectedly melancholic, which is a strange choice after all the gore and chaos. Even the rock song that plays over the credits can’t shake the somber tone. There is a little something tucked away after the credits—not a big reveal, but worth sitting through if you’ve made it that far.
While I was hoping Bambi: The Reckoning would follow the dark creativity of Neverland Nightmare, it ends up falling closer to the straight-to-DVD roots of ITN Studios. Despite the upgraded production values, the story lacks coherence, and the payoffs don’t justify the setup. It’s a strange film, uneven in tone and execution, with just enough atmosphere and shock value to make it memorable, but not enough to make it good.
It might entertain horror fans looking for something ridiculous, and it could absolutely spark an irrational fear of deer in some younger viewers. But for most, it’s likely to be a forgettable oddity rather than a twisted classic. Bambi: The Reckoning bounds into theaters July 25th.
Jessie Hobson