Bambi: The Reckoning Review (2025)

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Bambi: The Reckoning review

Bambi: The Reckoning is directed by Dan Allen, and the cast includes Roxanne McKee, Tom Mulheron, Nicola Wright, Samira Mighty, Alex Cooke, Catherine Adams, and Russell Geoffrey Banks.

My Thoughts On Bambi: The Reckoning

Public domain horror movies has gone from a novelty to a full-on movement over recent years. What started out as a kind of joke, taking childhood characters and turning them into killers. has now carved out its own spot in the horror world. 

It’s no longer just some fringe idea floating around on the internet. Movies like Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey made a lot of money, despite being terrible, and since then we have seen a whole wave of these films be released, with no signs of stopping. 

And no, I don't mean terrible in the 'terrible but fun' way, either. Some can be fun when they pick that lane and embrace it, but most try way too hard to be something they're not, and it ends up being hard to have any 'fun' when they are trying to be something else entirely with little self awareness.

That brings us to Bambi: The Reckoning, the latest offering in the 'The Twisted Childhood Universe', a selection of films being made that will result in a final showdown when 'Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble' is released. Although we will be having some other films in this universe released even after that, and Pinocchio: Unstrung will be released next.

But anyway, the premise in Bambi: The Reckoning is pretty straightforward. Xana, a single mom, is driving her son Benji through the woods to visit his grandma, and they crash their car. Suddenly they’re being hunted by Bambi, but this isn’t the soft-eyed fawn from the old animated classic. 

This Bambi is massive, terrifying, and mutated into something else. He’s also got a personal reason for his rampage, he watched his mother die never really recovered. So now, instead of quietly grieving in a meadow, he’s stomping on cars and tearing people apart.


The best parts of the film are when it leans into the chaos and absurdity. The creature design is surprisingly solid. Bambi isn’t cartoonish or cheesy, and he’s got jagged teeth, strange, almost human-like eyes, and a body that’s way too big for a deer. 

He doesn’t move like an animal anymore either, he moves like something out of Jurassic Park, all power and weight and violence. There are scenes where he’s chasing people through the forest, crashing through walls, and basically acting like the final boss of a video game. Those moments are a lot of fun and deliver exactly what you'd hope from a movie with this title.

But like a lot of public domain films, Bambi: The Reckoning struggles to balance its tone. The action and creature horror is fine, but everything in between is very hit-or-miss. There’s an attempt to ground the story emotionally through Xana’s relationship with her son and her complicated family history. 

We’re meant to care about their survival, not just because of the deer but because of what they’re going through emotionally. The problem is that the film doesn’t really give this enough depth or time to fully develop, and some scenes that are supposed to be meaningful often feel like they’re just filling time between Bambi’s attacks.

Bambi: The Reckoning still

The pacing is also a big issue. Just when scenes are building momentum, it will just stop dead for a conversation or a flashback that feels like it doesn't belong You can see what the filmmakers want the film to have more weight than just a bloodbath, but the execution is lacking. 

There are also too many characters with too little purpose, and the subplots that don't really add much, and it would have worked better if it had stayed small and focused, and as mentioned, fun.

Films like this need to just get rid of the serious stuff, and fully embrace the chaotic side. No-one is expecting or wanting anything serious from these type of films, so just give us the fun instead, but yet again we get a film that tries too hard at times, and when it does, it falls flat on its backside.

Even with all its flaws though, Bambi: The Reckoning is one of the better public domain movies I have seen, and it has some entertaining moments. It’s a bold, weird swing, and when it goes off the rails, it works fairly well in a dumb way, and the film has about just enough mayhem to make it worth the watch (with low expectations).

Public domain horror clearly isn’t going away any time soon, and if anything, it’s just getting started as I have mentioned before.  Bambi: The Reckoning is one of the better ones available, even if the bar isn't too high,  but it’s another strange chapter in this bizarre trend.