![]() ![]() A throwback to the story's Grimm roots, Snow White: A Tale of Terror has all the cannibalism and crucifixion you never knew you wanted in a fairy tale, but it also has an extra dose of humanity. It's a refreshing inversion on the oft-told tale. As Claudia's attempts to murder Snow with magic repeatedly fail, the queen succumbs more and more to her madness, and yet, perhaps one of the most unnerving elements of A Tale of Terror is the fact that you often find yourself rooting for her. Fortunately, the mysterious and strapping leader Will ( Gil Bellows) intervenes, and subs for Prince Charming in the process. Lilli doesn't end up sharing a hut in the forest with a bunch of domestic dwarves, but in the midst of a ragtag group of miners, one of whom gets real rapey. Claudia doesn't just demand Lilli's organs she tries to feed them to the king. While a mysterious darkness follows her, brought about by her enchanted mirror (and super squicky relationship with her brother), Queen Claudia is kind and patient until a traumatic stillbirth awakens the wickedness within her.įrom that point on, the movie takes a decided turn into adults-only territory. As ever, the queen is vain and murderous, but unlike her traditional counterparts, she's a sympathetic woman, attempting to be a good mother figure to Monica Keena's Snow White (or Lilli, as she's called in the film), only to face rejection and disrespect at every turn. Both the script and Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of the iconic fairy tale villain eschew the traditional portrait of the character, opting instead for something more relatable instead. Originally aired as a cable teleplay, Snow White: A Tale of Terror is somewhat of a tonal mishmash at times, but is redeemed by a revisionist slant on the wicked queen that manages to humanize her without softening her edges. Which is to say, it's all batshit crazy and occasionally vile, but it's “Once Upon a Time” like you've never seen before. It's a wildly perverse slant on the iconic sequence (seriously, keep those kids far away), indicative of the film as a whole. ![]() ![]() A quick trip to the penitentiary and one sexually (and morally) ambiguous prison friendship later, the film finally arrives at her Grandmother's House where Vanessa squares off against Wolverton one last time. There's no Huntsman in Freeway Vanessa is very much her own savior, and once she turns the tables on Bob, the film spins off into even crazier directions, defying expectation at every turn. Pretending to be a soft-hearted youth counselor, Bob gets off on extracting Vanessa’s dark secrets and perverse memories of abuse, but Vanessa, in her immortal words, "ain't no trick baby" and figures him out for the predator he really is faster than you can say, “What big teeth you have.” ![]() Determined not to head back into foster care, Vanessa hits the road to find her long lost grandmother and start a new life, until her car stalls on the side of the freeway and she meets the not-at-all-subtly named Bob Wolverton ( Kiefer Sutherland), a serial killer and necrophile who is the big bad wolf to Vanessa's Little Red. An underprivileged city kid, Vanessa goes on the run when her cracked out mother and lecherous stepfather are arrested for solicitation and possession. A hard-R exploitation slant on ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, Freeway star Reese Witherspoon as Vanessa Lutz, a wild, willful and oh so foul-mouthed high schooler, who's always decked out in red attire. However, Disney’s change to the poison apple makes it more understandable why Snow White would forget Doc’s warning, as she was offered something too special to pass up.Of all the films on the list, keep the kids far, far away from Freeway. Without the Evil Queen telling Snow White that the apple grants wishes, it seems bizarre that Snow White would blindly trust a stranger right after being told not to. Right before Snow White encounters the Evil Queen in disguise as the old lady, Doc tells Snow White to beware of strangers before he and the other dwarves depart for the mines. Although a story like Snow White is never going to be fully realistic, Disney’s villain change makes the characters’ actions more relatable and reasonable to audiences.Ĭhanging Snow White to give a reason for the titular character to accept the apple also fixes a weird plot point in the story. It also makes the Evil Queen more cruel and frightening, exploiting Snow White's hopes for love and happiness. Disney’s change to the original fixes the issue of Snow White's baseless acceptance of the apple, giving Snow an incentive to trust the random old woman. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |