- Directed by: Dan Allen
- Written by: Felix Salten, Rhys Warrington
- Stars: Roxanne McKee, Russell Geoffrey Banks, Samira Mighty
- Run Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6vHNWqdO0s
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Bambi is all grown up and mutated, and he’s had enough of the humans. The focus here is on a mother and son who become targets after a vehicle crash, but there are also some other subjects of his rage along the way. It’s short and it moves well. We didn’t expect to be as entertained as we were.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open a fairy tale book and get some voiceover narration. We watch an animation of Bambi’s mother getting shot. We get an overview of a very hard life for the local deer population. The factory polluted the waters, and Bambi gets mutated. Credits roll.
We open on a trio of hunters in the dark woods. We cut to Xana and her son Benji on a drive to Benji’s dad’s family. The driver is really chatty, and Benji gets carsick. Suddenly, a giant deer charges their car, knocking it off the road and flipping it entirely. The deer then jumps up and down on the car, causing it to crush the driver. Xana and Benji get out and run for safety.
Mary stands in the backyard chanting “Bambi” repeatedly. Her family is inside talking about the old woman’s dementia. Xana and Benji come to the door; this is grandma’s house. Harriet and Andrew argue about whether they should go try to help the diver or not, and Joshua decides to go out looking. Meanwhile, the hunters, who work for the evil factory, find the taxi, but the driver is nowhere to be found.
As Mary sketches pictures of an angry deer, the three hunters hear something in the woods and pull out their guns. They shoot Joshua by mistake.
Back at the house, Bambi smashes in through the window and terrorizes the people inside. Everyone runs out to Andrew’s camper, but Harriet can’t outrun the massive deer, who gores her with his antlers. As they drive away, the deer pursues them. Finally, they break away.
The hunters arrive at Grandma’s house and look at the damage. They find Harriet, more or less still alive, ripped in half, and finish her off.
The camper comes to a log in the road, and moving it turns out to be a disaster. They end up driving several miles at high speed with Andrew tied to the back of the bumper, bouncing all the way. Harrison hides, but Bambi soon finds him, and he gets what he deserves when he learns that Bambi has friends…
Grandma wanders off, and Xana and Benji go after her. The old woman repeats “Death. Death.” and we see just how stupid Benji really is as he lights up a torch. This shows them all the bones of Bambi’s victims. They’re in his nest! The deer reappears, and the three run straight to the hunters and tell them the story. They all drive to the hunters’ place, where they run into Simon, Benji’s father.
As Xana and Simon argue, he admits he knows all about the company dumping chemicals. Michael, the leader of the hunters, points his gun at Xana; he has no intention of helping them. Xana finds Joshua and the driver’s bodies, so she knows it as well.
Benji watches as the other two hunters carry out a baby deer in a cage to use as bait. Benji releases the baby, and Bambi takes care of the two hunters.
Bambi comes face to face with Mary, but suddenly, the whole base explodes when she shoots a pressurized gas cannister. Xana, Banji, and Simon come face to face with Michael. Bambi shows up, still burning from the explosion, and takes care of Michael for them.
Simon and Xana fight over the satellite phone. She wants to call the police, but he knows he’s going to jail for the illegal dumping if she does. He runs off, leaving his ex-wife and child alone with the monster. They grab the fawn and hand it over to the big deer.
Michael returns from somewhere and shoots Bambi repeatedly. Mary comes out of nowhere and shoots him in the back.
Simon, making his getaway, sees something moving in the backseat. It’s one of Bambi’s little friends. This one has seen too much Monty Python and does “the thing.” Simon dies.
As Bambi lay dying, the little fawn is sad. Time for a sequel?
Brian’s Commentary
This is based on the 1923 book “Bambi, A Life In The Woods,” not the much more well-known 1942 Disney cartoon.
The creature effects are less than stellar, but the overall story moves along nicely and doesn’t slow down or get boring. I haven’t seen a horror movie with a stupid kid putting everyone else in extreme danger in quite a while; I thought it was a trope that had been forgotten.
Overall, this was way better than I expected. Not great, but better than expectations.
Kevin’s Commentary
This wasn’t just an angry deer, it was an angry monstrous deer – gigantic, fast, strong, and fanged. Thanks to a chemical being dumped in the woods that mutated him. It was impressive how some of the people managed to damage each other in the process dealing with Bambi.
The carnivorous, crafty bunnies were a nice touch too. It wasn’t just Bambi who mutated, it was all the little forest creatures.
I was dreading going into it, but I was pleasantly surprised with how entertaining it was. Dumb, but entertaining.
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