Review of Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) by Aaron R — 14 Feb 2013

This rather gruesome retelling of the now famous SNOW WHITE fairy tale has a lot going for it; it starts off magnificently and continues on that note for at least one full hour. Unfortunately, it goes downhill in the latter half, resulting in a climax that feels rushed and unsatisfying.

Too bad, because there's a lot to praise about SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR. Sigourney Weaver turns in an effectively creepy and almost scary, but subtly handled performance as the antagonist of this tale, the vain and obsessive Lady Claudia.

Every scene she is in is positively chilling. In a rather interesting twist, Claudia doesn't necessarily start out so vicious and evil. Snow White, incidentally (who is called Lilliana) isn't so pure and innocent either, in fact starting out being rather unappreciative of her new stepmother.

In fact, the strongest element of the film is the psychological examination of the relationship between the two and what ultimately begins the famous conflict of the tale. This makes for a rather refreshing take.

And instead of seven cheerful dwarfs, we get rather surly, gruff, borderline unlikeable miners. It's in this latter aspect of the film that SNOW WHITE begins to lose its appeal. The transition of their hostility to friendship with Lilliana feels very rushed and jarring to be believable.

Then there's the love triangle between Lilliana, her Prince Charming Peter Gutenberg (David Conrad), and the youngest of the miners (Gil Bellows). It just... happens without much development. If only those two aspects of the film were improved (in addition to the final scene, which sort of just "stops" the film instead of ending it), this SNOW WHITE could have been a compelling one.

As it is, though, it's a mixed bag.