Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare (2025)
Directed by: Scott Jeffrey
Written by: Scott Jeffrey
Starring: Campbell Wallace, Hardy Yusuf., Kit Green, Martin Portlock, Megan Placito, Nicholas Woodeson, Olumide Olorunfemi, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Teresa Banham

Meet the Peter who did grow up…..

Not content of getting horror fans to watch Winnie The Pooh run amok with an axe and with the arrival of a blood-thirsty Bambi on the horizon, we now have Peter Pan entering the Twisted Childhood Universe, a boy who actually did manage to grow up, but this time not in the shape of Robin Williams.

In some strange way, there is something quite great in the idea of offering Peter Pan up as some kind of bogeyman. He does after all abduct children and take them away to his neverland and there is a lot more here to play with, I mean Tinkerbell and her fairy dust could easily be a metaphor for something darker and while the material is ripe for horror, even the name Captain Hook basically sells itself, sadly, here the makers have tried to ground it realism and lose what could have been a stand out film.

Even as we first meet Peter, head aloft from a hatch in the basement, coming across like three scenes combined (Evil Dead, IT and The Dark Knight), you get the jolt that this is not going to have a fantasy horror setting and the missed opportunity of having a child killer, will grate long before the final credits roll.

Here, we have a grown up Peter ((Martin Portlock) mimicking Ledger’s Joker at first, before settling down and being established as a twisted and brutal serial killer who abducts kids with the promise of taking them to a special place and making them one of his “Lost Boys”. You can guess, what he means by that. You don’t need to imagine what J.M. Barrie would think of this brutal re-telling of his beloved story, but this is no dark fairy tale, just a grim and dark desperate place where the plot descends into uncomfortable watch.

Just look at Kit Green’s tragic brainwashed Tinker Bell, not a fairy here, just a lost soul battling drug addiction – yes- Pixie Dust- who shares the same home with Peter and is swept into this crazy murderous world that is not pretty but horrific and horrid. Megan Placito plays Wendy, whose brother Michael (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) gets abducted by Peter and then tries to track down and get back which all leads to a third act showdown of violence that may delight a few who like their horror dipped into the very pit of blackness.

Bleak with gore, once the final credits roll, you’ll either need a cold shower, or perhaps dust down your copy of Steven Spielberg’s HOOK and for the first time, question “how was it a flop?”

Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is now available to rent and buy