‘Pinocchio: Unstrung’ Clip Reveals a Sinister Cricket Voiced by Robert Englund [Watch]

Courtesy of ComicBook.com, we have a fresh look at Pinocchio: Unstrung, a horror take on the classic fairy tale that throws the old story out the window and sends Pinocchio on a murderous rampage in his quest to become a real boy.

The below clip features Pinocchio’s introduction to Cricket (voiced by none other than A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Robert Englund). A polar opposite of the original version, this Cricket reveals himself to be a bit of a devil on the shoulder, driving the wooden menace to murder.

The dark coming-of-age reimagining of Pinocchio follows the iconic puppet’s disturbing journey toward becoming real, and the MPA rating teases just how bloody and violent Pinocchio and Cricket are in this splatter-filled, twisted take on the children’s classic story.

Richard Brake and Cameron Bell also star.

Pinocchio Unstrung has been given an R-rating for “strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, and brief graphic nudity.”

The official description reads, “A chilling reimagining of the familiar fable, ‘Pinocchio Unstrung’ unfolds inside an elite London prep school. Influenced by a sinister Cricket (Robert Englund) and created by Geppetto (Richard Brake), Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother James, one piece at a time.”

Emmy winner Todd Masters oversees the practical animatronics, which look phenomenal. Jagged Edge Productions is behind the production.

Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, Pinocchio Unstrung will open in theaters on July 24, via Viva Pictures.

It is the latest standalone addition to Jagged Edge’s growing low-budget Twisted Childhood Universe, which currently includes Blood and Honey and its sequel, Bambi: The Reckoning and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. A third Blood and Honey is set to shoot soon, while Poohniverse Monsters Assemble, the Avengers-esque crossover film bringing all the characters together for an IP bloodbath, is in development.