Snow White: A Tale of Terror

1997 "The fairy tale is over."
6.1| 1h40m| R| en
Details

When young Lili's mother dies in childbirth, her father remarries Lady Claudia, a woman ruled by an evil mirror with the power to make her queen of all living things. After escaping an attempt on her life, Lili finds herself lost in a dark forest, where living happily ever after seems unlikely.

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PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

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Reviews

Diagonaldi Very well executed
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Raul Faust When I was a child I used to be very scared when watching the original white snow movie-- I knew that was just a kids movie, but still creeped me out. Lots of people consider this horror version to be frightening and suspenseful, but I have to disagree. Even thought characters are reasonably developed with good actors in the cast, the film isn't able enough to get creepy or anything-- maybe the scene in the closet when an old lady dies did, but that was the only one. Background sound fits to the film, considering it's a combination of horror and fantasy. In the end, I don't know if it's a good or bad movie, but it is surely at least watchable, given that it's usually entertaining.
kitty pants had i have known that half of this was that troll-bitch sigourney weaver masturbating i probably would've selected other *coughs* material 'cause honestly I DON'T KNOW WHETHER I CAN EVER GET IT UP AGAIN.i mean, the little girl is hot, i'd snuggle her face off any day the week, and the older little girl reminds me of that girl i bunny'd in high school bu's that wretched crone slut wot acts like she can act but certainly can't and i finks this proofs that it's not just that shitty director cos i mean the alien movies yeah they's okay she's like a strong female woman in that she looks like a man & i don't expect it stops below the belt like does she even have any tits?
cheshire551225800 Taking Snow White out of the Sanitized Disney Version and showing it more as the Brothers Grimm originally had it makes this a shock for most viewers.This is a very good ensemble cast with reliably fine actors like Sam Neill, Sigourney Weaver, Gil Bellows etc. I had already seen Monica Keena as a high school rape victim on Law and Order and knew she could act as well as another episode with Gil Bellows (along with a very young Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as a gang rapist. Everybody any good turns up on some incarnation of Law and Order eventually and often when they are just starting out.Although there are supernatural elements I like the way they showed the evil stepmother as basically mentally ill and perhaps manipulated by something evil living in her mirror. Her misguided maternal instincts gives her motivation to sink to any depth of depravity.While good still saves the day for most of the main characters it is a far creepier and yet realistic journey to get there. I own this on DVD and watch is occasionally. It holds up over time as a more than fractured fairy tale.
Scarecrow-88 Pure, lovely angelic innocent Lilliana's(Monica Keena, who exudes all the qualities of a live action Snow White, with her hair colored black for added effect) new stepmother, Lady Claudia(Sigourney Weaver) is secretly a witch who envies the bond she has with father Lord Friedrich(Sam Neill), her husband. Haunted by the memory of Friedrich's late wife Lady Lilliana, Claudia also must deal with the fact that Lilli favors her so. Coveting the baby in her belly, Claudia's mental state worsens when a stillbirth occurs after a negative reaction to Lilli who dresses in one of her mother's gowns taking the crowd's(..and Friedrich's specifically)attention during a ball. Claudia plots the murder of Lilli, asking for her mute magician brother Gustav(Miroslav Táborský) to cut the heart from Snow White's chest(..planning to use Lilli's "leftovers" for a feast). When that goes awry, and Lilli is separated from her home in the forest nearby, she falls into a hole leaving her lost as Gustav kills a pig pretending it's heart was hers. The rest of the film follows Lilli, far from home, as she finds herself in the company of foul, grubby men(..the seven dwarfs, except they aren't dwarfs..well there is one..and don't, at first, offer a very friendly welcoming committee)who were cast away from society, mining for gold. While Lilli finds herself falling in love with the brooding, emotionally..and facially..scarred member of the group, Will(Gil Bellows), Claudia uses forms of sorcery in the attempts to harm/endanger her.I found this grim, Gothic horror bliss. I was especially entertained at how the Castle Friedrich, for the first part of the film is bright with a warm atmosphere, and as Claudia begins to take over once her husband breaks his leg, the place becomes dark and foreboding. There's this cabinet that contains a magic mirror, perhaps a Satanic instrument, with this beautiful face representing a fake Claudia whose voice offers evil, manipulative advice for ways she could get her revenge and reap her (un)just rewards through acts of witchery. I particularly liked one sequence where Claudia casts spell on Lilli using a cute bird in an hourglass as the sand slowly buries it as we see an avalanche occur where Snow White and the miners seemed doomed. There's a raven Claudia uses as eyes, and a nifty scene where Gustav's hand opens a wound with a spider crawling out before he's paid back for his betrayal of his sister for not finishing the task asked of him. Weaver has a great scene, dressed as an old lady, where she manipulates Lilli into eating a poisoned apple. And, her dinner table scene, where she believes that the meal was made from Lilli's remains(..and she even takes a bite, with ecstasy glowing on her face, awaiting Friedrich's turn to eat)is deliciously wicked. And, there's this great scene where Claudia causes a windstorm by spinning in a hall with trees falling down nearly toppling Lilli and the men(..actually crushing one of them).Weaver might be cast against type but inhabits the role of Claudia, the witch, with relish, devouring the screen. And, I must admit, I found her striking in a seductive way in certain types of flowing gowns, with her overflowing hair. Sure, as the film continues, she grows more and more ugly, but despite inheriting the role of a witch she has these moments(..like when she has sex with a bedridden Friedrich she poisoned)where Weaver has never been more sexy on screen. Yet, Weaver always dominates the screen with this darkness and evil intent, always pursuing the death of innocence standing in her way. I had read that this film was sadistic and bloody, but it really isn't. The ending, Claudia's fate, is really the most violent of the film, and even that isn't THAT gruesome. I think the film's true success is how the film captures the mood and look of a Grimm fairy tale. I like how the film shifts from the ever-growing ominous nature of the castle as it shapes itself after Claudia, and the forest abode of the men and Lilli with such vibrant autumn colors. Kudos to the filmmakers and crew who created a horror film which can make gloom and doom look so fantastic.