New Bambi horror movie gets gory first look – and its screenwriter says it's "Evil Dead 2 meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

A new Bambi-inspired horror-comedy movie is coming our way. Titled 'Bampire' (a combination of 'Bambi' and 'vampire', of course), Bloody Disgusting shared a gory first look at the slasher, which you can see below.

The filmmakers are currently crowdfunding to finish the movie via Indiegogo, and the fundraising page describes the plot as follows: "Five community college students and their professor set out to document unprecedented evidence of a rare fanged deer species never-before-seen in the foothills of the Cascades... the musk deer - Or is it something more sinister?  In the name of science, they depart on a weekend-long field trip and quickly discover that they are not alone: someone (or someTHING) is in the woods with them. Our would-be adventurers come face-to-fang with evolution’s newest predator, the ultimate shape-shifter, and find they are nowhere near the top of this particular food chain…" 

Set in the '90s, the slasher is described by screenwriter Zoë Wassman as "Evil Dead 2 meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit," referencing Sam Raimi's 1987 cult horror-comedy sequel and Robert Zemeckis' 1988 comedy that combines animation and live-action. The film reportedly includes appearances from Greg Sestero, star of cult hit The Room, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure's Diane Franklin, and Lloyd Kaufman, the creator of The Toxic Avenger.

This bloody take on the beloved deer is possible because Bambi, a Life in the Woods, the 1923 novel by Felix Salten, is now in the public domain – and Bampire isn't the only gory take on the fawn in production. Bambi: The Reckoning, which is part of the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey universe, is also in the works, along with a Blood and Honey sequel.

Bampire is currently set for a Halloween 2024 release. For more, check out our picks of the biggest upcoming horror movies on the way this year and beyond.