Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story of Snow White takes on a new twist, literally, where young Lilli Hoffman (Monica Keena) is disliked by stepmother Claudia Hoffman (Sigourney Weaver), causing her to eventually flee deep into the forest and into the home of seven gruff-looking and aggressive gold miners.Most of the elements of the classic fairytale is included in this movie, but it is also filled with more adult-themed elements such as a semi-graphic scene of Snow White's mother dying in childbirth, passionate and provocative moments shared between Snow White's father Frederick Hoffman (Sam Niell) and Claudia, and the menacing, violent and belligerent characteristics of some of the seven gold miners (not dwarfs as depicted in the original tale). Filmed in the Czech Republic and Germany, this film captures the beauty of the Crusade era with its rich European and classical flavor; the Hoffmans' palace has a magnificent design and the visual effects, costumes and make-up were superb. Thomas E. Szollosi and Deborah Serra wrote a very intriguing screenplay for the movie that provides a plot that is more than just a story about an innocent little princess escaping from her jealous and vain stepmother - it in detail captures the heart-pounding terror and evil magic Claudia and her magic mirror brought, and the horror Lilli and the seven men experience from Claudia's powers. It also elaborates on the frictional relationship Claudia and Lilli share. In addition, the entire atmosphere of the movie is mostly dark and dim, yet hopeful.The acting was mostly great, in which I thought Weaver's Claudia and Gill Bellows' Will character carried the movie. Weaver's character is vain, antagonistic and devious, but has a purpose to her intentions in the movie, and Bellows' character is courageous and is an unlikely hero. Keann's Lilli character is a typical rebellious and bratty teenager, which made her less charming and attractive. The plot's pacing was a little slow and full of those odd dialog exchanges between Lilli and the seven men, making you just root for some poison apple action to happen already. Overall, it is an eerie, thrilling and somewhat creepy adaptation of Snow White that does away with the all-is-well "fairytale" element and is something not suitable for young children.Grade B

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?

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.

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.