In middle school, she rented for me and a friend a Snow White movie she was sure was the one I had watched on TV when I was a kid. It was the standard Snow White story with a few more of the Grimm elements thrown in (the evil queen uses a poison comb and a corsette to try and kill Snow White before resorting to the apple), but it wasn't overly dark. It was just a good live action telling of the tale meant for older kids and was really well done. I obviously remember it fondly.
But that's not what was grabbed in the video store. What she had grabbed was Snow White: A Tale of Terror. Snow White: A Tale of Terror goes beyond being Grimm, but goes full tilt into the horror genre.
It stars Sigourney Weaver as the Evil Queen, and tries to make elements of the story as "realistic" as they can be. For example, the dwarves aren't seven dwarves, but instead a band of robbers of varying heights, led by Ally McBeal's boyfriend Gil Bellows (or as I'll refer to him going forward, Dashing Thief). The thieves don't have cute names and all leer a little to much at Snow White.
Additionally, Snow White pretty much falls for Dashing Thief and he becomes the Prince Charming (what a twist!), with the actual prince being relatively wussy and hurled out a tower window towards the end. (Funny side story: My friend I was watching it with referred to the wuss Prince as "queer boy" towards the end as a joke. I thought she was saying Choir Boy and didn't get the joke about him being queer for like five minutes, mostly because she was whispering it in case my mom heard.)
A lot of crazy crazy stuff happens in the movie. I'll say the most notable scenes are:
-After receiving what she thinks is the heart of Snow White (in fact it's a boar's heart, as the original goes), Sigourney Weaver's character DANCES AROUND HER LAIR, rubbing it on her and cackling. Then she has it cooked into the castle's meal for the evening and acts totally shocked when someone reveals to her and the King (played by Sam Neil) that Snow White is dead/missing.
-Towards the end when Snow White and Dashing Thief are rushing to the castle to stop Sigourney Weaver, they find King Sam Neil crucified upside down (but still alive, hey!) at the castle entrance. This was a little awkward, as my friend was Catholic (I was raised not going to church of any kind, and am therefore a filthy heathen), and I was worried she'd be offended, but she didn't really react.
-The kicker has to be part of the final showdown between Snow White and Sigourney Weaver. Early in the movie, the Evil Queen becomes pregnant, but the baby ends up being still born. They burn it on a funeral pyre, and she mourns it for the rest of the movie. But it also makes her determined to kill Snow White to resurrect the baby (or something along those lines). Anyway, as Snow White enters the Lair, Sigourney Weaver is cradling a blanket and A CHARRED BABY ARM RAISES OUT OF THE BLANKETS. In case you hadn't guessed, the burned infant was partially brought back to life there.
Based on those scenes, I think it's safe to say mom rented the wrong movie.
Now, my mom was not fully aware of how weird it was getting, because she was going in and out of the living room, half watching it and half taking care of dinner and other stuff. As the insanity of the movie progressed, she was surprised that the movie she thought she had rented was so different from how it was remembered. Eventually, we all realized it was not the family friendly dark Snow White, but the batshit crazy Snow White.
My friend and I laughed for a while about that movie (I think our favorite part to retell was maybe the charred baby arm, just because, what the hell?)
Eventually, I did get a chance to rewatch that version of Snow White my mom was trying to rent, and it was still good. But it will never compare to the lunacy of Snow White: A Tale of Terror.
Come on, how can you goof these up?
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