Inspiration for a good horror movie can come from anywhere. There are obvious places to look, from the actions ofreal-life serial killersto urban legends surrounding haunted houses and churches. Science can also be a melting pot of horrific ideas, with viruses and unpleasant bodily transformations providing an endless stream of things to scream about.
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Some of the most interesting horror films take ideas from much more innocent places, though. Fairy tales and beloved children’s classics can be twisted into disturbing new shapes, while still retaining their basic message or ideas. Here are some horror movies, good and bad, that takea more fantastical route, defiling some classic stories in the process.
10Wishmaster
Wishmastercombines elements of Islamic and Arabian folklore with aspects of theOne Thousand and One Nightsstory collection (later translated intoArabian Nightsfor the English market). It involves an evil Djinn who wishes to be freed from his ethereal prison so that he can wreak havoc upon the world.
The Djinn in question is suitably ruthless, and while he’s obliged to grant the wishes of those that ask, he always puts a malevolent twist on them,Monkey’s Pawstyle, resulting in some very OTT kills. It also boasts a host of cameos from such horror luminaries asTony Todd, Robert Englund, and Kane Hodder.
9Rumpelstiltskin
Collected by the Brothers Grimm,Rumpelstiltskinis a dark little fairy tale about an imp who attempts to trade some gold for a firstborn child. The content of this story needed little alteration in the jump to become a horror movie!
The film version follows a similar plot, albeit set in modern-day Los Angeles. The creature of the title yearns to possess the child of a widow, stopping at nothing to achieve his goal. Often cited as being a movieso bad that it’s good,Rumpelstiltskinmade little impact on the box office at the time, fading into horror obscurity.
8Tale Of Tales
Tale of Talesis a portmanteau movie split into three parts. Each segment of this anthology film centers on a different story written by Giambattista Basile, author of some of the most popular fairy tales known today.
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Focussing on the theme of obsession, viewers are provided with three royal families who fixate on things relatable to contemporary life. Twisted, bizarre, and surprisingly deep,Tale of Talesis a strong adaptation of some of the darker children’s stories written centuries ago.
7The Lure
The Lureis a reworking of Hans Christian Anderson’sThe Little Mermaid, and director Agnieszka Smoczyńska infused elements of feminism and the idea of the mermaids being a metaphor for immigrants. It enriches the source material and adds much to mermaid mythology.
As well as layered themes,The Lureisalso a musicaland, of course, a horror movie. With mermaids eating human hearts and some incredibly catching songs,The Lureis a quirky, memorable cult classic.
6Deadtime Stories
Deadtime Storiesis a fun horror anthology movie, bridging three twisted takes on children’s stories by way of an uncle, who regales them to his nephew. What follows is a fun, often humorous voyage into the dark side of fairy tales, putting inventive twists on well-known stories.
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TheRed Riding Hoodtale incorporateselements of Werewolf mythologyto great effect, while the take onGoldilocksinvolves three mental patients sharing their secret hideout with a murderer.
5Gretel And Hansel
Allowing Gretel to take center stage,Gretel and Hanselis one of the more disturbing takes on theHansel and Gretelstory. Sticking closer to the source material thansome other adaptationswas a wise movie, as the original tale by the Brothers Grimm was scary enough.
Slow-burning and laced with atmosphere,Gretel and Hanselmoves at a leisurely pace, boosted by some stunning visuals. Quietly disturbing, eerie, and haunting.
4November
Based on Estonian writer Andrus Kivirähk’s 2000 novelRehepapp ehk November(Old Barny, aka November),Novemberis an adaptation of a more recent and altogether more adult fairytale. It focuses on several creatures from Estonian folklore, who haunt the residents of a medieval village.
Shot in black and white to ramp up the atmosphere,Novemberreceived great critical acclaim for its combination of spooky chills and lashings of dark humor. It is one of the most original fantasy horror movies of recent years.
3Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey
Many fairy tales and children’s stories are peppered with darkness, so the leap to horror isn’t quite so surprising.Winnie the Pooh, however, is at the other end of the spectrum completely. A.A.Milne wrote beautiful, quaint stories about a boy and his teddy bear friend.
The moment Pooh Bear fell out of copyright, writer and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield sought to change that, giving Pooh and his friend Piglet a nastier modus operandi than just looking for honey. Cue a ton of gore, plenty of slasher-movie kills, and a very creepy look for Pooh himself.
2The Mean One
Fresh from his performance as the newest slasher iconArt the Clown inTerrifier 2, David Howard Thornton brings the kills as the Mean One in this unofficial parody ofHow The Grinch Stole Christmas.
UnlikeBlood and Honey,The Grinchis still a licensed property, so director Steven LaMorte and writers Finn and Flip Kobler had to be very careful about how they presented this movie. It’s a typical slasher flick, with some gruesome kills, knowing winks to the source material, and a rather decent costume for the killer of the title.
1Snow White: A Tale Of Terror
One of the darker movies on this list,Snow White: A Tale of Terrorboaststurns from Sigourney Weaveras the Wicked Stepmother, and Sam Neil as Snow White’s father. It stays close to the Disney version of the story but dials the darkness up immensely.
It’s a bleak, gruesome affair with excellent direction and decent special effects and performances. Weaver in particular is perfectly cast as Claudia Hoffman, giving a memorable performance (and a wicked laugh to match). A hard-to-find gem.
