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Despite the subtitle being A Tale of Terror, this version of Snow White is no more authentic to the Grimm’s fairy tale than the Disney version. Substituting musical escapades and cutesy sidekicks for muddled psychology and vague terror, Snow White: A Tale of Terror is a showcase for Sigourney Weaver’s great talents and nothing more.
The film begins with the birth of Snow White, here named Lilli Hoffman (Monica Keena), and the death of her mother. Normal enough, but A Tale of Terror has her mother dying in a carriage accident and her father (Sam Neill) cutting her out of the womb. It’s a needlessly shocking and violent opening, and like so much of the rest of the film a more interesting as an idea than in execution. We flash forward several years and find Lilli’s father has remarried the glamorous Lady Claudia (Sigourney Weaver). After nine years of marriage, Claudia becomes pregnant, Lilli a bratty teen, and their relationship fragments into darkness and jealousy after Claudia gives birth to a stillborn son.
The rest of the film follows the basics of the fairy tale. There’s a flight into the woods, the mistaken belief of her death, getting refuge from seven outcasts, the poisoned apple and glass coffin. However, none of the diversions are of much interest or explored in great detail. This version rejects the idea of the seven lonely men being dwarves, instead casting them as damaged men returned home from the Crusades. Except the main one is Gil Bellows at the height of his attractiveness with a poorly done scar to try and distract from his attractiveness, which it doesn’t. This idea of them being wounded soldiers from the Crusades also doesn’t gain much traction, nor does the vague mentions of class warfare and Christianity versus paganism. Although it is a campy delight to watch Weaver hang Neill upside down on a cross.
At the very least, A Tale of Terror has Weaver in the lead role. And aside from the handsome sets, strong makeup, and lovely costumes, she’s the only reason to watch this mess. She’s operating and performing at a higher level than everyone else, relishing in the campy theatrics. While Neill is wasted in his role, Kennar and Bellows are eye-catching but bland, Weaver manages to create an entirely realized character. Watching her take a piece of broken glass and threaten to kill Kennar is like watching All About Eve envisioned as a penny dreadful horror story. It’s in this isolated moments that the film becomes interesting, and when the camera decides to just sit back and lovingly watch Weaver act like a psychotic diva then it’s really cooking. Much like it’s titular heroine, Snow White: A Tale of Terror is pretty to gaze upon and nothing else.
