The story of Peter Pan stands on fertile ground to be twisted into a horror film. The character has a dark backstory before his 1953 animated Disney-ification, J. M. Barrie’s 1904 play, and 1902 and 1911 novels depict Peter Pan as a newborn baby his mother abandons as she cares for another child. He’s bound to his age forever, and Peter’s contempt leads him to take children away from their families. Various updates to the story exist, accentuating the darkness Barrie provided the template for. It’s only natural for the fairy tale to be swept up in the Twisted Childhood Universe with “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare.” Writer/director Scott Jeffrey (who played Christopher Robin in 2024’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2) elects to go for the atmosphere of bleakness and gore while wearing its influences like an illuminated button.
Peter Pan’s hallmarks are present, albeit molded into something more sinister. The concept of “Pixie Dust” is not magical; it is heroin Peter takes to gain a sense of euphoria and consistently warps his psyche. Wendy (Megan Placito) is the resident final girl tasked to find her brother Michael (Peter DeSouza-Feighone) after being abducted. Tinkerbell (Kit Green) identifies as transgender and is Peter’s brainwashed accomplice who is enticed by his concept of what Neverland is. Martin Portlock’s character portrayal draws from three different ones: “The Black Phone’s” The Grabber, Pennywise from “It,” and The Joker. To hit credit, Porlock tries to make the role his own (even as the film introduces variations of classic scenes. There’s a Georgie homage in the beginning).

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Moments exist where Peter’s erratic behavior moves from childlike to insane serial killer. The duality of a person who is stuck in a boyish mindset and lacks the emotional capacity to stop his awful urges for murder sticks out in “Neverland Nightmare.” Even with all the ways the film can do, the film’s story is very straightforward despite one glaring outlier.
There’s a potential rhyme and reason for Peter doing what he does. On the surface, he’s just taking them away from their mothers and fathers and whisking them away to a hallucinogenic-induced fantasy of what Neverland is. The only way to do it is..well, terrible ways of murder. Not much is provided in the way of Peter Pan’s backstory beyond the “you want to know how I got these scars” antidotes he drops to his potential victims. It’s implied that a specific reason exists as to why Peter takes certain children and keeps them alive for a more extended period than others.
If that particular aspect had been expounded upon in a way where it had been given space to develop, it would have had a chance to become something substantial. However, plot points are left hanging, a recurring theme in “Neverland Nightmare.” Peter Pan is probably the most compelling part of this horror film, and it doesn’t help that the supporting characters aren’t given something more convincing to do when he’s off-screen.
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The film drops the more magical stems of Peter Pan in favor of hanging its hat on being grounded and unforgiving. Regarding violence, “Neverland Nightmare’s” production values and practical effects are elevated in how things look and feel. You’ll feel every broken bone and all the physical dominoes fall in the ultra-violent third act. Still, there’s very little to go on in making this proposed lore substantial in the growing world of the Poohiverse besides the villain at hand. If you’re peering into the Poohiverse, it’s most likely out of the morbid curiosity of wondering how this creative collective turns childhood stories into splatter spectacles. “Neverland Nightmare” manages to be both different within the three films provided and highly predictable when looking at the mountain of creepy man abduction horror.