Spinach is scarce in Popeye's Revenge. So is a cohesive plot and any form of shrewd execution.But the kills are brutal, the misogyny is ugly, and the plot is lost somewhere in the current vendetta to butcher some of history’s finest fairy tales and comic book characters. It began with director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who is at the helm of the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey films. Here, it's evident that screenwriter Harry Boxley was using the films he previously penned as horror foreplay. Popeye’s Revenge is a bloody mess, both figuratively and literally.

The executive producers of the Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey movies fuel this endeavor, which attempts to offer a brand-new and horrifying take on the classic character created by E.C. Seger nearly 100 years ago. Directed by William Stead (Children of the Night), the story finds a gaggle of teens trying to survive the "legend...