There’s a growing trend of horror films being made based on public domain stories. The trend kicked off with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, but its quick financial success and immediate attention has led to a whole cinematic universe featuring the likes of Bambi, the Mad Hatter, and Peter Pan. It has also led to other filmmakers announcing horror movies based on the early Mickey Mouse design the very second Steamboat Willie hit public domain.

Horror movies based on public domain stories have existed long before the likes of Blood and Honey, like 2021’s The Curse of Humpty Dumpty, 1996’s Pinochio’s Revenge, and 1997’s Snow White: A Tale of Terror. However, the trend has never been more prevalent than it is now. This is due to a number of reasons. As previously stated, there was the quick popularity of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, but it’s much more than just that.

These movies being made are fairly cheap to make, and very little thought is being put into them since the stories and characters already exist. They’re also easy to market since people are familiar with the source material already and recognize the ridiculousness of the concept. It’s also worth noting that we’ve reached a point in time when a lot of popular stories and characters, many of which aimed at children, are becoming public domain at once. Of course, let’s not forget the meme potential with how internet culture has evolved.

The initial popularity of this trend made sense because it was actually sort of funny at first. The idea of an innocent children’s character being scary or violent is genuinely entertaining. That being said, it’s become way too old and far too tired. Nothing very creative has been done with the concept. It’s always just lamely made and unoriginal slasher flicks.

Public domain stories could be used for other ideas that are much more creative and much more entertaining. It’s shocking that a John Wick-style action movie hasn’t been attempted with one yet. It’s a way of adding hyper violence to an innocent tale without making another bland slasher. Something more along the lines of A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in which public domain characters team up for some grand adventure could be a lot of fun as well.

The most obvious route these filmmakers can and probably should take is one without a gimmick. They could just make a movie featuring unique, updated tales that match the spirit of the source material. Moviegoers who love the original stories would probably want to see how it could be tackled today. Either way, this is a trend that either needs to stop or at least change greatly.

Read Next: Spooky Movies Appropriate For Younger Audiences