“A little girl with hair as black as the ebony window frame and skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood.”
SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR
1997
Dir. Michael Cohn
Screenplay: Tom Szollosi, Debora Serra
With: Sigourney Weaver, Sam Neil
What is it about:
“Once upon a time...” there were evil step-mothers who practiced witchcraft with evil mirrors and seven criminals who lived in a leacky-roofed house in the middle of the woods who mined for a living. This is no Disney film, boys and girls. This tale is a realistic version of the classic tale by The Brothers Grimm. I don’t need to tell you what Snow White is about, but sufice it to say that this ain’t your children’s Snow White!
Cephas’ notes and spoilers:
I just loved Weaver in this film. She looked so beautiful and acted so elegantly! Not only did she do perfectly as Snow’s step mother, but she almost seemed to be getting off on the wickedness she was portraying! That’s how well she did in this film! The mirror looked resplendent (SP?) - I adored the way it has these two hands that hold the door to the mirror closed that lock when they are clasped. My fave scenes in this film were 1) When Snow meets the ‘dwarves’ for the first time. Actually they are criminals who are not kind to hwer at all. But when she befriends them, they really care for her and are heartbroken when she ‘dies’ from the poison apple. (A friend said she wants to be buried in Snow’s casket when she dies!! It is a stained glass casket.) 2) The wicked witch tries to kill Snow by causing the mine to cave in burying Snow and the ‘dwarves’. So she puts a canary in a hourglass and as the sand falls on the bird, the mine begins to cave in. It just looks cool even though it really doesn’t make sense. See, it’s poetry: Snow is the bird, the sand represents the mine. OK? Happy now?!? 3) When Snow stabs the mirror, the witch pulls out the blade and the mirror bleeds profusely just like the witch!!
Cephas’ Rating:
GO RENT THIS NOW!!!
If you have a bunch of friends getting together and wanna see a cool filom, rent this one. Trust me, babe. You won’t be dissapointed. I can’t ever recall any other films Weaver has done on this line. The only other real horror she did was the first ALIEN.
To read about SNOW WHITE:
Little Snow White
To read more tales by the Brother’s Grimm:
Grimm’s Fairy Tales