The Twisted Childhood Universe is unstoppable. After the initial success with Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey and its sequel, the universe has churned out back to back movies like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and the recently released Bambi the Reckoning. Now the universe has introduced its next villain in the lovable wooden doll, Pinocchio Unstrung.

The first look at the fully practical doll designed by Emmy-winning artist Todd Masters. The creepy doll can give Annabelle and Chucky a run for their money. With the image taken in a blue tint, the cracks on the wooden face feel like wrinkles, and the captivating blue eyes twinkle with unsaid, unseen scars. The design looks great and will stay with the audiences for a long time if the story is told effectively.

‘Pinocchio Unstrung’ will Be Incredibly Fun

While plot details are scarce, the movie will follow a young boy, James, who learns of his grandfather Geppetto’s deadly secret, a wooden doll, Pinocchio. Nonetheless, Pinocchio’s story too will intertwine with the rest of the TCU and culminate with Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which will see the mega mash-up of all the monsters in the franchise. Teasing the feature and the puppet he created, Masters, previously revealed, “This version is still a little puppet’s pursuit to becoming a boy… but the way he becomes one, is extremely gnarly… and frankly, very fun.”

The movie has assembled the cast of horror veterans for added charm as Robert Englund, who terrified a generation as Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, and Barbarian star Richard Brake have boarded the feature. While Englund’s role has been kept tightly under wraps, Brake will play Geppetto, the creator/father of Pinocchio. It’ll be interesting to see the twists and turns Geppetto and Pinocchio’s relationship takes in the slasher feature. Rhys Frake-Waterfield previously teased the slasher, revealing,

“Our movie flips everything you know about Pinocchio on its head. We have an incredibly talented cast and crew working on this. We are heavily relying on practical effects for all of the deaths and creature work. I can’t wait for the world to meet Pinocchio.”

Pinocchio: Unstrung will crawl into theaters at some point this year, meanwhile, you can check out the new images above.

via Collider