Snow White: Tale of Terror [VHS]

Snow White: Tale of Terror [VHS]
by Michael Cohn

Snow White: Tale of Terror [VHS]

List Price: ~~$9.98~~
Category: VHS Video
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Product details

Actor: Gil Bellows, Monica Keena, Sam Neill, Sigourney Weaver, Taryn Davis
Director: Michael Cohn
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 101 minutes
Release Date: 1998-08-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Polygram USA Video
Studio: Polygram USA Video

VHS Movie Reviews of Snow White: Tale of Terror [VHS]

Movie Review: Oh-No! Oh-No! It's Off To Dle We Go!..,.
Summary: 5 Stars

I've always thought the Disney version of SNOW WHITE needed something extra. Something like mass murder, immolation, or crucifixion. What the....?? It's as though the movie gods have read my mind! In SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR, I get my wish and more! Sigourney Weaver (ALIEN 1-4, AVATAR) is the delightfully wicked Claudia, stepmother to Lilian (Monica Keena). Now, Claudia didn't start out eeevil. She was fine up until losing her baby. After that, she became hyper-jealous, vain, and absolutely psychotic! Weaver is the nasty black soul of SW:ATOT, allowing us to see just how bloody dangerous hatred can be! Sam Neill (OMEN 3, EVENT HORIZON, JURASSIC PARK, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) is Claudia's kindly, utterly blind, ultimately doomed husband. He bumbles along, oblivious to his wife's nefarious plot to kill his daughter and seize all power to herself. Lilian must find a way to survive the many curses and schemes thrown at her by her sinister stepmum. Are there seven "dwarfs" in this movie? Yes, sort of. More like a group of stinky forest men who wind up helping Lilian in spite of themselves. If you enjoy twisted faerie tales, Sigourney, or are as ghoulish as I am, you'll love this one...

Movie Review: really creepy
Summary: 5 Stars

This movie is awesome! It really keeps your attention--me and my friends usually fall asleep when we watch movies, but not this one! It's not that it's really gory, it's more creepy & suspenseful than horror. The main girl is so pretty! I love that she's pale with dark hair & still really gorgeous.

Movie Review: Another Face of Sigourney Weaver
Summary: 5 Stars

I watched this movie a few years ago. It's a darker version of Snow White and isn't nearly as cheery as the original version. It's well done, follows the original story pretty well. The costumes are first rate.

Sigourney Weaver is the evil stepmother, but instead of being an ugly old hag as in the orginial story she is beautiful. I've never seen her in a costume like this and she is nothing short of stunning in it. Her
performance in it is flawless as always, and the expressions she uses are priceless.

I admit I'm a great fan of hers and if you like her, you'll love her in this story.

Sam Neill plays the part of the father. He does a fair job of playing this part. I don't know if the script was written this way, but he seemed pretty milk toast to me. I expected more of a man than this. He seems pretty mamby pamby as the father. That's just my impression of him.

To be honest I bought the movie because of Sigourney Weaver and the theme of the movie. Sometimes I like darker stories and this one really caught my eye.

If you like my review then you should at least watch this movie or go rent it, and decide if you want to buy it. If you don't like my review then watch it anyway and make up your own mind. I wanted this in my library so I bought it.

Dave P.

Movie Review: Mixed Review
Summary: 3 Stars

Overall I very much enjoyed "Snow White, A Tale of Terror". I thought that the acting and cinematography were excellent. I love the dark, gothic atmosphere of the film. Sigourney Weaver did an excellent job as the increasingly mad witch, Lady Claudia. I have three main points of contention with the film:

1. The accents! This film has such a realistic look and feel of the middle ages. However the actors speak in American accents! They should have cast British actors or at least insisted that the cast speak in British accents. That would have been much more appropriate.

2. Monica Keena is miscast as Lilliana/Snow White. Snow White should be a gorgeous young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Monica Keena is too short, does not have a womanly figure, and as cute as she is, she is simply not pretty enough to play Snow White. Overall she is too girlish.

3. Sam Neill as the nobleman father of Snow White.In keeping with the original story, the production should have kept him a King, not merely a nobleman. Additionally, I found Sam Neill to be a rather dull choice for his role. I would have preferred a younger, more handsome and romantic actor. He simply does not seem like someone who would inspire such obessive love and devotion in Lady Claudia.

Movie Review: "Never look a raven in the eye for too long. Might steal your soul and fly away with it..."
Summary: 4 Stars

Make certain that the kids are safely tucked away in bed before popping this movie into the DVD player...

SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR (1997) is allegedly based on the "Snow White" fairytale as it was originally set down by the Brothers Grimm; though I suspect that very little of what you'll see on the screen will remind you of any Snow White you've ever heard or experienced before.

When he wife dies in premature childbirth (brought on by a carriage accident), Lord Friedrich Hoffman (Sam Neill) takes on the lovely Lady Claudia (Sigourney Weaver) as his second wife. All goes well until Hoffman's daughter Lilliana (played as a child by Taryn Davis) grows into a stunning young woman (Monica Keena) whose beauty and shining innocence threatens the vice-like grip which Claudia holds over her husband and the entire court.

When Claudia's only child is delivered stillborn, she blames Lilly for her baby's death and the estrangement of Friedrich's affections. Following a grisly attack on her life, Lilly flees into the forest where she's taken in by a group of miners (of which only one is a dwarf); but Claudia's magic mirror will never let her escape the wrath of the spurned stepmother...

Dark, intense, moody and quite gory in places, this SNOW WHITE won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I appreciated the Germanic storybook look of the piece, and the sensational performances of Weaver and Keena, adding a realistic flavour to their characters; this is a particularly brave turn from Ms Weaver. Gil Bellows ("Ally McBeal") throws away any prissy pretense and gives us a fairytale hero with lots of sweaty, masculine energy.

Well worth a look, but make sure to expect the unexpected!

Write your own review

Drama Video

Genres
Horror > General
Science Fiction & Fantasy > By Theme > Witchcraft
Fantasy > Fairy Tales

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