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The cutesy Disney cartoon this ain't. Although the BASIC story structure remains, SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR is an interpretation that is much closer in tone and mood to the original somber tale by the Brothers Grimm, and in many ways it is actually even darker. Instead of a kiddie flick, then, what director Michael Cohn and crew serve up is a top-notch gothic horror film.
In this gloomier version of the famous fable, many of the familiar elements are wryly skewed. For example, the seven men who house the heroine (here called Lilliana, or Lilli, rather than Snow White) during her sojourn in the forest are not cutsie dwarves--although one is actually dwarfish--but are instead a bunch of grubby, ruffians who earn their living working mines. At first they want to use the girl to obtain a ransom from her wealthy father, but they soon develop a sort of fatherly affection for her. Another clever twist occurs when the hero revives Lilli after she has fallen comatose from eating the cursed apple. Instead of awakening her with an enchanted kiss, he repeatedly pushes on her midriff out of desperation, thereby dislodging the piece of fruit with a sort of primitive version of the Heimlich Maneuver. Such changes in narrative and characterization are perceptively clever and make the tale much more realistic and believable than its animated ancestor. However, despite this deliciously sardonic tweaking, remaining at the story's core is its familiar and enduring moral, to wit, that basic goodness will always triumph over hatefulness and vanity because the latter are ultimately self-destructive.
In the role of the wicked stepmother (as well as her evil mirror's reflection), Sigourney Weaver delivers a superbly malevolent performance as she schemes to destroy her beautiful stepdaughter. The lovely Monica Keena--most recently seen by horror fans playing the buxom Lori Campbell in 2003's FREDDY VS. JASON--does a very affecting job as the object of Weaver's disdain (i.e., Lilli), and Gil Bellows is very convincing and interesting as the hero and tacit love interest. Sam Neill does a fine job as the heroine's mostly clueless father, and the film's realism is further bolstered by outstanding supporting performances from talents like Brian Glover, Frances Cuka, David Conrad, Anthony Brophy, Christopher Bauer, and numerous others.
With SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR, director Michael Cohn and scripters Tom Szollosi & Deborah Serra recreate the tenebrous tone of the Grimm Brother's original story while, at the same time, they subtly thumb their noses at the saccharine, white-washed Disney interpretation. Mike Southon's beautiful cinematography is deliberately on the warm side of the spectrum, generating a autumnal ambiance perfectly suited to the plot. And the creative art direction by Peter Russell, outstanding pseudo-medieval production design of Gemma Jackson, and clever "period" costume designs from Marit Allen and Charles Knode add detail to the film that greatly enhances both the spooky ambiance and the fairy-tale quality of this twisted fable.
The DVD from Universal Studios Home Video offers a clean, crisp digital transfer in the original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1. (Alas, it is only letterbox widescreen and not anamorphic, but it still looks beautiful.) The only real bonus feature is a trailer for the film, which curiously identifies it using one of its numerous alternate titles. The disc is very reasonably priced, though, so fans of old-fashioned gothic horror or grim Grimm fairy tales are hereby advised to add SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR to their collections.
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