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Snow White: A Tale of Terror

1997 American dark fantasy film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Snow White: A Tale of Terror
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Snow White: A Tale of Terror[a] is a 1997 American dark fantasy Gothic horror film based on the fairy tale of the same name. It was directed by Michael Cohn and stars Sigourney Weaver, Sam Neill and Monica Keena. It premiered on Showtime on August 24, 1997.[4][5]

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Plot

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Lord Frederick Hoffman and his pregnant wife, Lady Lilliana, are travelling home by carriage through the woods, when Lilliana goes into labour. Their carriage crashes while trying to avoid a pack of wolves and their driver dies. Lilliana is critically wounded and Frederick is forced to perform an emergency c-section to save their unborn daughter. Lilliana dies, but Lilli is born.

Roughly seven years later, Frederick remarries noble woman Claudia, who brings with her an ornate mirror. Despite Claudia's kindness, Lilli is unwilling to accept her new stepmother. On Frederick's wedding night, Lilli's nursemaid mistakenly looks into the mirror, and an unseen force kills her.

Nine years later, Lilli has grown into a young woman. Claudia is now pregnant with her first child. The Hoffmans throw a ball to celebrate. Claudia gives Lilli a gown to wear at the ball that belonged to her as a girl, but Lilli rebuffs it.

Lilli eventually arrives dressed in a gown that belonged to Lilliana. Frederick is startled but pleased at the evocation of Lilliana. However, Claudia is both hurt and jealous. The distress causes her to go into premature labor but the baby is a stillborn. Claudia becomes distraught by the loss of her son and the knowledge that she will never again bear another child. The mirror calls to Claudia, consoles her and says that Lilli must be punished.

The next morning, the Hoffmans' physician, Dr Gutenburg proposes to Lilli, who accepts. Meanwhile, Claudia orders her mute brother Gustav to kill Lilli, who escapes from him to the woods. Enraged, the mirror urges Claudia to punish Gustav, whom she curses with hallucinations that drive him to suicide.

Lilli is confronted by seven miners: Will, Lars, Gilbert, Scar, Konrad, Bart, and Rolf. Rolf attempts to rape her. However, Will stops Rolf and throws him out. With nowhere else to go, Lilli follows the miners to the mines. To kill Lilli, Claudia collapses the mines with black magic. Will manages to rescue Lilli, but Gilbert is buried alive in the rubble.

Claudia again tries to kill Lilli by luring her out in the woods and conjuring a gale to knock down trees. Lilli fails to save Lars but Will pulls her away to safety. She and Will eventually kiss.

The mirror persuades Claudia to resurrect her stillborn son by sacrificing Frederick. To take Frederick's seed for the ritual, she rapes him.

Claudia later turns Gustav's eviscerated heart into an apple. The mirror then transforms her into an old woman. Claudia tracks down Lilli's whereabouts and tricks her into accepting the poisoned apple, putting her into a locked-in syndrome. Gutenberg shortly arrives and attempts to revive her but eventually pronounces her dead. As the men prepare to bury her, Will notices that Lilli's eyes have opened. He removes her body from the coffin and shakes Lilli while begging her to breathe. This dislodges the piece of apple that had been stuck in her throat and she wakes up.

In the castle, Claudia takes Frederick to the chapel, ties him to a crucifix, and suspends it upside down, preparing to exsanguinate him to complete the ritual. Will, Gutenberg and Lilli arrive on the castle, where the entire household has been placed under a spell rendering them into a mindless and hostile state. Will takes a weak and delirious Frederick to safety while Claudia kills Gutenburg.

Lilli confronts Claudia, cradling her newly revived but weak and malformed baby. A struggle ensues, and Lilli accidentally sets the room on fire. Claudia becomes distracted by her son's cries of distress. This allows Lilli to grab a dagger and stab the mirror, wounding both Claudia and her demonic reflection. Claudia removes the dagger and sees her appearance transform to that of an old woman. The mirror shatters, and the shards injure Claudia, causing her to accidentally step into the fire. As she screams and flails around the room, she falls over the nearby burning bed, which crashes down on top of her and kills her. Outside of the castle, Frederick comes to and is overjoyed to see her again.

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Cast

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Production

In 1995, David Conrad got an offer to play "a decoy Prince Charming" in Snow White in the Black Forest, in his last year in the graduate theater program at the Juilliard School.[6] Shooting for the film started in 1995 on locations in Prague, Barrandov Studios,[7] and castles around the Czech Republic including Kost, Dobřichovice, Pernštejn, and Valdek.[8] Stromovka Park was used as the Black Forest.[9] Shooting was reportedly continuing in May 1996.[2]

Reception

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Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[10] Weaver was widely praised for her performance, even by those who reviewed the film negatively.[b]

TVGuide praised the directing which "shows a flair for horror in this expensive production that emphasizes the disturbing elements", adding "[t]he quick pacing, excellent medieval costume design, top-flight makeup effects, and the beautiful locations in Prague and the Czech Republic also help to sharpen this slick effort."[12]

Sheri Linden of Variety thought that the film "suffers from a decided lack of momentum", and in the end, while it is "[g]ood to look at, this Snow White isn't the chilling experience it should be".[7]

Awards

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Home media

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Snow White: A Tale of Terror was initially released on VHS, as well as a DVD edition in the United States on August 25, 1998 via Polygram.[17][18] It was re-issued on DVD from Universal Home Entertainment on August 13, 2002, containing identical artwork to the previous edition[19] and most recently on May 1, 2012 from Universal, containing newly commissioned artwork.[20] A multipack DVD including the film (with Darkman II: The Return of Durant and Firestarter 2: Rekindled) was made available from Universal.[21]

In the United Kingdom, Universal Home Entertainment released the film on VHS format on June 1, 1998,[22] while a re-issued VHS became available via Universal from September 17, 2001.[23] The film has been issued twice on DVD from Universal Home Entertainment in the UK, with the first on February 6, 2006,[24] and a subsequent version containing new artwork on May 14, 2012.[25] All editions from Universal are now out-of-print as distribution company Fabulous Films currently acquire ownership rights for distribution in the United Kingdom. Fabulous released the film on April 4, 2016 on DVD,[26] and for the first time in any country, on Blu-ray format on July 4, 2016.[27]

The film is additionally available to rent or buy on Amazon Video.[28]

The film finally debuted on Blu-ray in the United States for the first time on October 6, 2020 by Mill Creek Entertainment. The disc contains no special features.[29]

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Notes

  1. also known as Snow White in the Black Forest[3]
  2. Attributed to multiple references:[11][12][7][13][14][15]

References

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External links

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