Rating: B-
Dir: Jason Brooks.
Star: Sanae Loutsis, Chelsea Edmundson, Tristan Nokes, Risa Mei.
This was a pleasant surprise. I was mostly expecting another in the recent run of public domain horror films. Maybe Snow White would be a serial killer. Except, turns out to be more the traditional story: all the basic elements are there. Evil Queen. Magic mirror. Prince Charming. Seven dwarves. Poison apple. Princess in a coma ( I know, I know, it’s serious…). Just with everything ramped up to eleven – the Evil Queen (Edmundson) is psycho – and what feels like a lot of influence from Monty Python. I mean, the scene where the dwarves debate whether Snow White might be a witch? I half-expected a “She turned me into a newt” comment. It walks a delicate line between parody and affection.
This is also strikingly gory. The queen’s dark magic, used to sustain her youth and good looks, requires blood. A lot of it (above). Meanwhile, the dwarves with whom Snow White (Loutsis) falls in are not miners. More like disgruntled former members of the royal household turned serial killers, each with their own special method of attack (they’re closer to the Brothers Ferox from Spartacus: House of Ashur). Actually, the dwarves might be the best thing about the film. This is probably the only version of the story I’ve seen where they’re legitimate characters, rather than being defined by their height and/or names. It’s also a gender- and race-mixed version, which doesn’t bother making a fuss about it. Certain rodent domicile studios could learn from it.
Mind you, the Queen is also great, spitting out her lines with undeniable venom, and the film ramps up a notch whenever she’s on screen. Interestingly, she undergoes toe-snipping and eyelid-stitching for the purposes of beauty, in a way highly reminiscent of The Ugly Stepsister. Yet there was only a couple of months between the two films’ releases, so I’m not blaming anyone. I note this does have the Brothers Grimm in supporting roles, documenting the progress of the Prince (Nokes), as he ventures into the forest to rescue Ms. White. While mostly comic relief e.g. a discussion over whether there might be princesses available with less drama, they perhaps provide an excuse for elements like these, drifting in from other Grimm fairy tales.
Less successful is the Prince/Princess dynamic. The former is too bland, and the latter is taking things more seriously than they deserve. However, despite this core weakness, I found myself gradually appreciating the positives more over the (fairly hefty) 110-minute running-time. It may be a factor that the earlier stages lean more towards being a spoof of fairy tales; as things proceed though, it definitely leans into the darker side of things. Tongue never drifts far from cheek though. Hopefully, the makers get to go on and adapt other stories in the same way. Or, at least, this should act as a template for how it’s possible to do this kind of thing, and get it right.