By Shannon McGrew
PETER PAN'S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE, the newest entry into the Poohniverse, follows Wendy Darling as she strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from the clutches of the evil Peter Pan, who intends to send him to Neverland. Along the way, she meets a twisted Tinkerbell hooked on what she thinks is fairy dust.
For the release of PETER PAN'S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with writer/director Scott Chambers and producer Rhys Frake-Waterfield. During their chat, they discussed everything from the inherent darkness of the "Peter Pan" tale to the challenges of bringing their sinister vision to life.
Thank you both for speaking with me today. What elements of the original "Peter Pan" story did you find inherently scary? And how did you expand on those themes to create this darker re-imagining?
Scott Chambers: When I think about Peter Pan, it's essentially a guy who creeps into a kid's bedroom and takes the kid, and you never see him again. They go to Neverland. So I thought that it was so weird, and it was actually quite creepy. I don't know how that's ever been made into something fun for kids. The undertones are terrifying, and I thought this could easily work as a horror film. It's something that I got excited about very quickly.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield: I always found the little shadow in the original Peter Pan quite scary cause it was doing its own thing. Scott manages to feature that in the film.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in bringing this story to life, narratively and visually?
Scott Chambers: Originally, I had an entirely different script. When I first started developing a "Peter Pan" idea, I had this idea entirely set in Neverland. It was very magical. It was very big. Then, as soon as I started doing the budget for it, I got nervous and worried that I couldn't achieve it to a high standard. I didn't think it was wise because, at that point, we had done Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, and it was very difficult. Even though we had more money, the money gets spent quickly because you have a longer shoot and then the money's gone. It doesn't feel very much different from a normal shoot. Once I realized the script I spent weeks working on didn't work, I returned to the basics. I sat there thinking to myself, what are the fundamentals of this idea? He takes the kids to Neverland, which is creepy. So what if I ground this? What if this is the origin story? Then that other script I have could be a sequel if this does well. Then I asked who he was in the real world. What does he want to achieve? I had that lesson with Winnie-the-Pooh 2 and how difficult that was to achieve. It was more about ensuring I could execute it well and tell the story the best I possibly could with that budget.
It was important to me not to make cookie-cutter characters. I'm not a massive fan of that. When I watch movies, I don't like characters like Wendy being the perfect daughter, etc. I don't like that, and because I come from an acting background, I always get drawn to characters who would excite me as a performer. If you look at Wendy, Tinkerbell, Michael, and Peter Pan, they are quite rich for a performer. With Wendy, I wanted to give her home life a not-so-perfect background. I wanted to make it so she didn't quite get on with her mom. She wasn't the favorite kid of the family; she was kind of the lost cause in her mum's eyes. She wanted to go off with her boyfriend and live a young lifestyle at the moment, whereas her mum wanted her to go to university. She does find herself responsible for her little brother going missing because she was meant to pick him up from school. I wanted that to be something where it was relatable. Everyone's been in that situation where you don't look for one second, and that makes the difference when abductions happen.
Regarding difficulties, I was very lucky on this [film]. I feel like I've probably been the luckiest of all the films we've made, from Bambi: The Reckoning, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, and Pinocchio Unstrung. It all came together for me, and there were no problems on set. Everyone wanted to be there. I had a great time and felt very fortunate because all the other [films] had problems and difficulties. It all came together for me, and I'm proud of what we have made.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield: Like Scott said, there were two scripts for this, and one was entirely focused on Neverland. The scope was just so big, and there would be many creatures and different kinds of rooms, like a Conjuring-like alternative. The problem is, when the film's scope goes that far, and we're under financial constraints, we don't have the same budget as a studio horror film. That's where you have to be able to make this kind of judgment decision. Scott wanted to pull it down into a more contained and focused film with only a few select creatures, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, rather than introducing other characters. We had been looking to tease some other creatures in PETER PAN with the upcoming Poohniverse. The scope on that is the complete opposite; it's gigantic, and there are a lot of other creatures that are going to go into that, and we had thought about sprinkling a few in with PETER PAN.
Scott Chambers: In that script for Neverland, which I hope to make, it was all set in a limbo world. The kids were stuck in this circus, and Peter Pan was harvesting their lives, and it was down to the parents and Wendy to go there and save the kid. When they go there, behind the scenes, it becomes whatever your worst nightmare is. It becomes that, and it feeds off that, keeping you scared so you can't leave. There were going to be characters there that you'll meet in Poohniverse, but again, it didn't feel right with the story that I ended up going with to have all these cameos. You do have some of the characters that tie over to other films. When you get to Pinocchio, you'll see some of these characters. There are Easter Eggs and winks, but there are no characters other than the actual Peter Pan lot in this.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield: I think it was a good decision overall because we were able to focus more on what the core story was rather than having to distribute some of the budget to make these other creatures look good, which would have only been in the film for like a minute or two. That decision was definitely for the betterment of the film.
The film features some fantastic prosthetic work, especially on Peter Pan. What was the process like using prosthetics and makeup to bring these characters to life?
Scott Chambers: From the get-go, I shortlisted every single death scene, and they were all going to be practical and in-camera. I use no VFX in any of this regarding the deaths. I was lucky in terms of this story versus something like Winnie-the-Pooh 2, but I had a far smaller cast, far fewer locations, and far fewer people to kill. I'm a fan of French cinema, so a lot of my references were Switchblade Romance, Inside, and other stuff like that. I like how gritty and nasty those deaths are, and I wanted to bring that into this, especially with Wendy. She undergoes a lot of things, and she's building work for SFX as the film goes on. I just wanted it to feel like with her, especially, if an actual 19-year-old was to enter the room with this psychopath who is fuelled with adrenaline; what would happen? She doesn't know how to punch. She doesn't know how to fight. I wanted it to feel like a genuine 19-year-old girl in this situation, fighting for her life to save her brother. When we had the stunt people, I kept saying that I didn't want to see a stunt performer here. I wanted to see messy fights, bad swings, I want it to feel chaotic and all that kind of stuff.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield: The team we used, The Prosthetics Studio, is the same as the other films and is awesome. They've worked on Harry Potter, some Marvel films, they know what they're doing.
Lastly, what are you most excited for audiences to experience with this film?
Scott Chambers: It's leading towards the Poohniverse, and I need you to hate Peter Pan with a passion because when you get to the Poohniverse, when he's opposite Pooh or Tigger, you need to look at them not so bad. I need this hierarchy of the big bad. I need you to despise them, and I want you to root for people. Hopefully, you're on this journey with Wendy, and you're really rooting for her to save her brother because there's a lot at stake for her, not just saving him, but for herself, and hopefully, these are characters that you enjoy spending time with. Tinkerbell is someone who really means a lot to me, and I really hope that people haven't seen a character like that before. I don't ever have a big monologue in this where everything gets explained with Hook and Tinkerbell, but I do give these elements as they go. Hopefully you'll really feel for these people.
PETER PAN'S NEVERLAND NIGHTMARE arrives in theaters for three days only starting January 13, 2025 until January 15, 2025 only from Iconic Events Releasing. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE.