Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Powerful

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

And that's about the BEST thing I can say about this mess. It's one thing for a film to go somewhere slowly. This film, OTOH, goes nowhere slowly. What were they thinking? It was a tale of terror, alright. For the viewer. Considering some of the stars in the cast, it makes me wonder what EVERYONE associated with this disaster was thinking. Avoid at all cost. Or you'll wish YOU'D taken a bite out of a poison apple.

I've had Snow White on the brain for a while now, with the coming out of TWO Snow White films and all (both of which were very disappointing btw), I've become nostalgic for this classic tale about a vindictive envious step-mother, a poisoned apple, 7 dwarfs, and a girl with lips red as blood, hair black as a raven, and skin as white as snow.Fortunately, this under-appreciated movie has almost ALL of those things all wrapped up in one. I'm not gonna giggle and tell you all that this isn't anything like the Disney movie like so many of other reviewers have said---mostly because that's gotten old now and it's stupid to sit their and smugly declare that this is no Disney movie when obviously it's most certainly NOT. This is a more adult and realistic approach on the Snow White tale but still has elements of the supernatural and magic."Snow White" is renamed Liliana Hoffman and she actually looks the part of someone with lips red as blood, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow. The father (played by Sam Neill) has a bigger role in this version (albeit still small) and he's not a king but merely a Nobleman or Lord (whatever), and the 'evil queen' is named Claudia and is really a sympathetic but still rather vain and mentally unstable (played by the always fabulous Sigourney Weaver). The 'Prince Charming' is merely a young doctor who make look like a Prince and even act like one on most occasions, but he's not the one 'Snow White' rides off into the sunset with. The 'dwarves' are reduced to 6 bitter miners and 1 dwarf. The 'magic mirror' is really Claudia's reflection telling her to commit these atrocious things. The movie less childish and more realistic in which Liliana isn't all rainbows and butterflies and the step mother has just reasons to dislike her. The atmosphere, the architecture, the music, the lighting, the camera shots, the scenery, the costumes, ALL of it was just wonderful! What bothered me about this movie would have to be the use of American accents in what is clearly a film set in a European country (Germany I'm guessing?). They never really clarified where this movie takes place, but the American accents are distracting (one of the reviewers on here made a good point on how one of the miners sounds like he's from the Bronx). SMH. I would've preferred they speak in those annoying fake English accents rather than the American ones. I also had a hard time understanding how the miners so quickly changed their minds about Lili, at first they dislike her and mockingly call her 'Princess' and afterwords they mourn her 'death' and then praise her when she's revived. Perhaps if they had shown her saving one or more of them from certain death when Claudia was casting her spells, thus forming an alliance, and perhaps if they showed Lili grow from a privileged snob to an understanding, tolerant, down to earth girl then their change in attitudes towards each other would be more believable. I also think the surviving miners should've been at the final showdown at the Hoffman estate when Lili confronted Claudia, avenged their friends deaths and do something productive to redeem themselves.All in all, I loved this movie and would recommend it almost anyone. 8/10

Sigourney Weaver appears to have a field-day playing the wicked stepmother of a beautiful princess who is aided by her magic mirror in dispensing with the pesky girl. Gothic rendering of the Grimm Brothers' tale of "Snow White" features wolves and dogs with glowing eyes, a fiancé for the fair maiden who is also ensnared in the stepmother's web, also a motley gang of excavators with bad teeth who suddenly find themselves saddled with the young woman (they have an unexpected change of heart towards her--and she to them--which seems to happen off-screen). Prominent among the miscreants is a lightly-bearded hunk with bedroom eyes (sure, why not!) who touches the princess with his sensitive soul and facial scar. Theatrical production debuted on cable-TV in the US; it isn't badly made, but one can see right away this never would have worked in theaters. The continuity is shabby, the cinematography is murky, and young actress Monica Keena is far too modern as Lilly. Weaver gives it a little kick, and her fiery send-off boasts showmanship if not style. *1/2 from ****

we have all heard of the legendary Grimm brothers and their renowned fairytale snow white - or have we?we've all watched the Disney version of the classic tale, helpful forest animals and happy, cherub-like dwarfs rescue the innocent princess from the clutches of the evil, jealous queen and her bag of magic tricks and they all lived happily ever after - wrong!thanks to Disney not many people know the original tale of snow white, a much darker and Gothic fairytale than your usual Disney fair and this movie, long over due, has brought it back for all to see on the big screen. snow white: a tale of terror certainly lives up to its name. it absolutely is a tale of terror and it portrays its origins very authentically. starring Sigourney weaver as the evil stepmother, and Sam Neil as a rather subdued and weak father to his daughter Lilli( snow white) Weaver is fantastic as the queen, and u can see that shes enjoying every moment. i love the fact that she is not evil from the start. you get to see the evil and insanity consume her as her magic mirror manipulates her and blames Lilli for the death of her only child. Monica keena is a good, not great snow white. shes pretty, shes got a good few screams in her lungs, but she doesn't give 100% in her performance. the costumes and sets and scenery are all breathtaking and really add to the style of the movie. even from the first scene of the snow covered mountains, the skeletal trees, the wolves watching a grand carriage wind around the dark secluded roads thick in the forest, you know this movie has something special. its such a shame this movie was never released in the cinemas. this is definitely the best adaptation of snow white by far, not to be missed but not for children. its extremely creepy and grizzly. 10/10