This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.
The Big Picture
Forget cute bears – Goldilocks gets a slasher makeover in
Death and Porridge
.
Director Craig Rees, known for
Annabellum
, brings a new vision to the classic
Goldilocks
story with fresh faces in the cast.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge
takes a twisted turn, with the trio defending their home against nosy intruders.
Another beloved children’s story has entered the public domain, and in 2024, that can only mean one thing — a slasher knock-off is on the way. This time around, you’ll want to make sure everything is just right before Goldilocks and the three bears come knocking on your door. Today, courtesy of Variety, we have our first glimpse of the film, Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge, after it was reported to have closed a handful of deals at the European Film Market in Berlin. The project has been billed as having a similar aesthetic to other horror titles like The Strangers, a parallel that can definitely be seen in the first-look image which features a woman in a frilly light blue dress donning an unsettling mask and holding a gun to her hostage’s head. Next to her stands one of her three co-conspirators wearing a bear costume that also includes a set of overalls or a cooking apron. Hard to say, but we’re intrigued by the bear’s outfit!
The project was directed by Craig Rees, who previously brought audiences the 2019 possessed doll flick, Annabellum: The Curse of Salem, which essentially combined the story of Annabelle with witches. Starring in Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge will be a group of predominately new faces including Olga Solo (To Happiness), Abigail Huxley, and Julian Amos (Get Millie Black). Rees, who also holds one-off acting credits on shows like Friends and The X-Files, will also appear on-screen.
In the fairytale that many of us will remember from our long-gone youths, Goldilocks is a young girl wandering the woods when she comes across an empty house. With no manners whatsoever, she lets herself in (lock your doors!) and helps herself to things like porridge and a nap on one of the empty beds. When the anthropomorphic bears return from their afternoon away, Goldilocks wakes up and runs off into the trees. Shaking things up a bit, the slasher instead places Goldilocks and the three bears living, laughing, and loving together. When some nosy strangers come poking around their home, the quartet has no decision but to stand their ground and protect their home.
How Many Children’s Stories Must Be Turned Into Slashers Before We’ve Had Enough?
Let’s face it, when it was announced back in 2022 that Rhys Frake-Waterfield was seizing the opportunity of the beloved story of Winnie-the-Pooh entering the public domain and turning it into a horror film, we were all interested. It was something new and fresh and a project that no one could’ve seen coming. Now, two years later, the market feels a little oversaturated with Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge being the latest title to make us question, “Who asked for this?”
If there was something that we should have learned from the blunder of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey it’s that not every children’s story needs to be shoved through the grinder and into the horror genre. Nevertheless, they persisted with a handful of other films featuring characters like Peter Pan, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, and Mickey Mouse taking a terrifying turn, with a sequel to Blood and Honey also on the way.
No release date has been set for Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge, but you can check out the first image above.