A movie filmed in Sussex has been slammed by critic Mark Kermode as a “sub-Texas Chainsaw Massacre slog”.

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey hit cinemas in the UK on Friday and has grossed $4 million worldwide.

However, the former BBC critic issued a scathing rant about the movie, describing it as “depressingly poor”.

He said: “The story which is set up in an animated narrated opening is rather good and kind of exciting.

“You think that’s a great set-up, that’s a dark twisted fairy tale, I can get on board with that.

“After that, it is literally a big bloke dressed like Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre but with a Pooh head and another bloke with a Piglet head.”

Mark said the film left him disappointed after being “kind of excited” for its release.

The film sees the characters from the classic children’s book by A.A. Milne turn feral and unhinged after Christopher Robin abandons his forest friends when he goes to college to become a doctor.

However, when Christopher returns with his new wife, Pooh and Piglet go on a murderous rampage.

The low-budget production was filmed over 10 days in Ashdown Forest in Sussex, which acted as inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood.

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Despite its location, one point of confusion for Mark was how some of the characters come across a hillbilly speaking in an American accent near the Sussex forest.

“I said to somebody afterwards “what was that about”, and he said it must be for the American trailer so they don’t think its British,” he said.

Mark also criticised how one of the victims had her shirt removed “for no reason at all” before being killed.

He also criticised the gore effects as “poorly done”, but praised the sound design of the film after it was pointed out that his son-in-law was responsible for it.

“The only laughs in it are due to how bad it is. An AI wouldn’t write a script this poor,” he said.

“It’s like Sharknado - it’s a title and nothing else, it’s rubbish.”

A sequel is understood to already be in development, with its budget set to be five times larger. It is due to be released in February 2024.