Horror Movie Review: Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (2025)

Have you heard of The Twisted Childhood Universe? How about the ‘Poohniverse’? Conceived and created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and produced by the filmmaker’s Jagged Edge Productions film studio, The Twisted Childhood Universe are films that centre around characters from children’s media reimagined as villains.

It’s all starting to make sense now, isn’t it? It began with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, continued with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, and now the latest entry is Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. A horror film based on the iconic Peter Pan story by J. M. Barrie, and one that takes inspiration from other horrors like The Black Phone and Longlegs.

Don’t roll your eyes. Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a very good film.

Written and directed by Scott Chambers, it stars Megan Placito, Martin Portlock, Kit Green, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Teresa Banham, Olumide Olorunfemi, Campbell Wallace, and Nicholas Woodeson.

A brutal watch, Martin Portlock stars as Peter Pan, who likes nothing better than to snatch little boys and take them away to Neverland, alongside his ‘fairy’ Tinker Bell (Kit Green). Horribly scarred after a violent incident when a mother tried to stop him taking her son (the bloody opening of the film that sets the bar high), Pan simply won’t take no for an answer and woe betide anyone that gets in his way. Even Tinker Bell is afraid of him, but as long as he keeps giving her ‘pixie dust’, she goes along with his twisted plans.

The latest boy to be snatched is Michael Darling (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney), something that devastates the family. Refusing to believe that he is dead, his older sister, Wendy (Megan Placito) sets to find him and stop Pan once and for all. To do this she will have to enter his world and take on the horrors that await her.

It’s a really well told story with characters that are easy to like, even the villains, who steal the absolute show. Martin Portlock is staggeringly good as Peter, a genuinely messed up individual who deserves his comeuppance. Whereas Kit Green’s Tinkerbell is a sad character, another victim of Pan, and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney’s Michael is very likable. Megan Placito is also brilliant as Wendy and really grows into the ‘badass’ character as the film goes on, making her the perfect person to face off against the evil of Peter Pan. Everyone does great here, and a tight and focused script helps.

Do you know what else helps make Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare a memorable and enjoyable watch? Gore. So much gore. Great looking gore. Be warned, while it doesn’t quite hit Terrifier levels (those films are in a league of their own), it’s not too far off. Blood cakes everything, and the effects and makeup are great. No spoilers, but a certain other important Peter Pan character makes an appearance here, and it’s quite something.

I really enjoyed this, in case you can’t tell. I feel like Jagged Edge Productions and all those involved have found their calling and hit their stride now. I have no idea if The Twisted Childhood Universe is going to really amount to anything long term but as long as it brings us brutal horror like this, I’m more than happy to support its existence.