Directed by Dan (Mummy Reborn/It Came From Below/The Mime) Allen and scripted by Rhys Warrington for Rhys Frake Waterfield's progressing, fairy-tale monsterverse, Bambi: The Reckoning is based on Felix Salten's children's novel, Bambi: A Life in the Woods, which was made evermore famous by Disney Studios in 1942.
For this fearsome, 2025 update, a pharmaceutical truck strikes and kills Bambi's mom, with its drivers dumping toxic waste in a nearby stream, from which Bambi sips, hulking out thereafter.
The fable then shifts to a mother and son (Roxanne McKee and Tom Mulheron) traveling home for Thanksgiving (a Brit knockoff, that is) and while with family and friends, find themselves in the mad mutant's crosshairs. They're forced back on the road with the crazed beast on their heels, just as the family's estranged patriarch (Russell Geoffrey Banks) enters. As an interesting side note, the clan's dementia-bound grandmother (Nicola Wright) shares a visionary link with Bambi. (The cause is never explained, but does add to the movie's ominous ambiance.)
Though the humans are engaging as Bambi's bait, it's the monstrous buck who dominates. I'm assuming Bambi is a computerized rendering, and though I'm not keen on that special-effects tactic, I was okay with it here, considering Bambi is beyond formidable with his oversized horns, hammering hooves and frightful fangs, his presence enhanced even further when flesh-feasting Thumpers appear. (Too bad something along these lines wasn't utilized for John Landis' Masters of Horror: "Deer Woman," but that's a gripe to expound upon at another time.)
As I witnessed Bambi's rampage, I couldn't help but think of Prophesy: The Monster Movie, a corporate-caused, environmental tale about a mutant bear. Even so, I'm glad Reckoning never pressed its toxic gimmick. It's planted as a nugget for revenge and then shifts to the margins as a handy, reference point, as opposed to becoming a long-winded sermon.
Due to its lean structure, Reckoning is the loosest derivation of Warrington's cinematic chapters and could have ignored Salten's story altogether. A mad deer running amok (for whatever the trigger) would have worked well enough to coexist with other such no-strings-attached, nature-attacks features, such as The Birds, Jaws, Frogs, Grizzly, Day of the Animals, Cujo and Primate.
No matter the perception, Reckoning should satisfy most horror fans, while giving them cause to accept Bambi in Waterfield's weird assembly of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Peter Pan and (before long) Pinocchio. From either or all ends, the product and its preordained conglomerate click.
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