Erstwhile

With two new Snow White movies coming out in the next year (Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman), I thought I would talk about another Snow White movie that takes a slightly darker path and might have been overlooked. Snow White – A Tale of Terror is a much more frightening look at the beloved fairy tale than most people will be used to seeing. While it is an interpretation and not completely faithful to the original tale, it feels much closer in tone to the original by the Brothers Grimm. Don’t get me wrong, I like lighter views on the tales as well, but it’s nice to see a movie or comic do something different sometimes.

Sigourney Weaver plays a wonderfully wicked stepmother and somehow she still comes off feeling somewhat pitiable. I don’t think I felt this way before I had my baby, but upon rewatching it I found that I did. As a mother I could somehow relate a little bit to her loss early in the movie. As her fear of losing her beauty to age and her continued loss, she finds herself listening to the evil mirror’s goading. She becomes more and more wicked as the story goes on and you just love to fear and hate her.

The character of Lilli comes off like a spoiled child early on in the movie, but grows a bit during her adventures in the forest. I think I would have liked a little more time for the miners to grow attached to her before they did, but it still worked well. Personally, I think they if they had had any sense they would have abandoned her as their fortune took a very bad turn very quickly once they befriended her. Still, it speaks to what sort of morals these raggedy men had toward a person in need.

All in all, this is a great little movie to check out. I know you can stream it on Netflix, but if you’re looking to add it to your DVD collection, you can pick up a copy from Amazon!