This is either going to be absolutely brilliant or bloody awful, but considering both of those things fall in my wheelhouse, I’m going to have a great time.

The trend of turning beloved childhood icons into cheap slasher villains has officially claimed another victim. After Mickey Mouse, Bambi, Pinocchio, and Winnie the Pooh all got the low-budget gore treatment, Dr. Seuss’s classic troublemaker is next on the chopping block.

Enter The Cat and the Hatchet, an upcoming horror parody short directed by Cameron Dodd for Six Side Studios and Prime Capitol, the same team behind the Tubi short Simon Says. Produced by Kaleb Carmichael and Mark Ricci, the film introduces “Scratches the Cat” (played by Ricci himself), a deeply unhinged version of the iconic anthropomorphic feline.

The plot sticks close to the classic setup before pulling the rug out: siblings Ellie and Connor are stuck at home enduring a painfully boring day when Scratches pays them an uninvited visit. Rather than bringing neat tricks and clean fun, Scratches brings a sadistic sense of humor and a body count, turning their afternoon into a claustrophobic nightmare.

Whether it lands as a sharp piece of B-movie parody or an absolute dumpster fire remains to be seen, but the sheer absurdity of the premise guarantees it won’t be quiet.