Fairy Tales for Grown Ups
These are films that are based- either loosely or closely- on classic fairy tales. For the most part they are geared toward older audiences (teenage and older)
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- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.Based on the Hans Christian Anderson story of the same title. This film depicts a ballerina torn between love and art and driven to maddness as a result
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsNatalie PortmanMila KunisVincent CasselNina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.The story of this film about a ballerina's nervous breakdown parallels the story of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake which is based on the fairy tale The Swan Maiden.
- DirectorDavid SladeStarsPatrick WilsonElliot PageSandra OhHayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.This film about a young girl taking revenge on a suspected pedophile and murderer turns the classic Red Riding Hood story on it's ear.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsReese WitherspoonKiefer SutherlandBokeem WoodbineA twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.A twisted Red Riding Hood tale about a runaway girl who takes up with a serial killer.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsColin FarrellAlicja BachledaDervla KirwanAn Irish fisherman discovers a woman in his fishing net whom his precocious daughter believes to be a selkie.A romance about a fisherman who draws a breautiful woman from the water- but she may have a past that can hurt then both. Draws heavily on several selkie/seal wife tales.
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.This film is very faithful to the classic Beauty and the Beast story, but has dark undercurrents and incorporates some adult themes. It's also a visually stunning experience.
- DirectorCatherine HardwickeStarsAmanda SeyfriedLukas HaasGary OldmanSet in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.A European village in the middle ages falls prey to a werewolf in this version of the classic tale aimed at teen audiences. It does have some strong storybook influenced visuals to recommend it.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsGerard ButlerEmmy RossumPatrick WilsonA young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opéra House.Any adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera has strong ties to Beauty and the Beast. I chose this one because it has saveral visual references to Cocteau's 1946 adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (also listed).
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppWinona RyderDianne WiestThe solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.An inventor dies before he can finish his greatest creation: a young man. Left with scissors for hands, Edward grows up along in a crumbling mansion until the day he is discovered by a saleswoman, who brings him home. When Edward meets her daughter he falls in love in this Beauty and the Beast story.
- DirectorMark PalanskyStarsChristina RicciJames McAvoyReese WitherspoonA modern romantic tale about a young aristocratic heiress born under a curse that can only be broken when she finds true love with "one who will accept her as one of their own."Living under a family curse, a young girl with a pig's snout for a nose must be loved by "one of her own kind" if she's to break the spell. Penelope does find love and break the spell, but not in a way that anyone expects. This Beauty and the Beast story shows that the Beast and the Beast can sometimes be the same person.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksDaryl HannahEugene LevyA young man is reunited with a mermaid he briefly encountered as a boy and falls in love with her without knowing her secret.A mermaid loves a human in this classic romantic comedy inspired by The Little Mermaid.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.This Red Riding Hood story also incorporates several of Angela Carter's short stories, and other fairy tales. Sexy, scarey and not for the kids!
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsSarah PolleyRobert John BurkeMargrét ÁkadóttirA young journalist journeys to Iceland to find her missing fiancé only to encounter a mythical creature.Beatrice is a tabloid journalist whose fiance is killed by a monster in Iceland. When Beatrice encounters this monster they forge a relationship that is threatened by an unscrupulous media in this Beauty and the Beast story.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.A gangster's moll on the run takes refuge with a group of stuffy professors in this take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
- DirectorWayne KramerStarsPaul WalkerCameron BrightChazz PalminteriA low-ranking thug is entrusted by his crime boss to dispose of a gun that killed corrupt cops, but things get out of control when the gun ends up in wrong hands.A cop is put in possession of a gun that shot one of his fellow officers. But when the neighbor kid finds it and uses it to shoot his abusive father, the cop must find him and the gun, before the police and the mob do. This gritty crime drama has some strong Hansel and Gretel ties.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsIan HolmSarah PolleyCaerthan BanksA bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.A tragic and fatal schoolbus crash destroys a town in this tragic Pied Piper-esque story.
- DirectorJulia LeighStarsEmily BrowningRachael BlakeEwen LeslieA haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.An apathetic college student joins an organization of girls who agree to be loaned out to men while under sedation. However as time goes on, our heroine discovers she wants to know what's happening while she's asleep.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.OK, it might seem like a stretch but the daughter under the the thumb of an oppressive mother, with cruel peers (rather than siblings) gets a chance to go to the ball (or prom as the case may be). In the Grimm's version of Cinderella the step sisters get their bloody desserts when their toes, heels and noses are cut off and their eyes are plucked out by a bird. Here of course it's Carrie who exacts that bloody revenge on her classmates on a larger scale. Yes, this is truly a Cinderella story, Stephen King style!
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsDrew BarrymoreAnjelica HustonDougray ScottThe Brothers Grimm arrive at the home of a wealthy Grande Dame who speaks of the many legends surrounding the fable of the cinder girl before telling the "true" story of her ancestor.A sweet, feminist friendly retelling of Cinderella given some historical context as well.
- DirectorMichael CohnStarsSigourney WeaverSam NeillGil BellowsIn this dark take on the fairy tale, the growing hatred of a noblewoman, secretly a practitioner of the dark arts, for her stepdaughter, and the witch's horrifying attempts to kill her.A very dark version of the Snow White story with a brutal stepmother! Set during the crusades this has images of crucifiction and cannibalism galore.
- DirectorYong-gyun KimStarsKim Hye-suKim Seong-suYeon-ah ParkA woman who finds a pair of pink high heels on a subway platform soon realizes that jealousy, greed, and death follow them wherever they go.The Hans Christian Anderson story is given the Korean horror movie treatment.
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsCatherine DeneuveJean MaraisJacques PerrinA fairy godmother helps a princess disguise and flee the kingdom so she won't have to marry the king who happens to be her father.The story "Donkeyskin" is plently disturbing as is. Here it's given a candy coated musical treatment for adults, which makes it even more unsettling.
- DirectorDaniel BarnzStarsAlex PettyferVanessa HudgensMary-Kate OlsenA modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.Beauty and the Beast set in modern day New York City. This is very teen oriented and not very good IMO. But I put it on here for the sake of completion.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsJoan BennettMichael RedgraveAnne RevereAfter a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.Bluebeard as seen by Fritz Lang. Suspenseful and Freudian.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsNatasha LyonneMaría CeledonioDavid Alan GrierA teenage prostitute escapes from a juvenile prison with a 16-year-old serial killer and both go on a destructive road trip to Mexico in this twist on the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale.Stand alone sequel to Freeway that takes on Hansel and Gretel
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsShelley WintersMark LesterChloe FranksA demented widow lures unsuspecting children into her mansion in a bizarre "Hansel and Gretel" twist."Hansel and Gretel" story about two British orphans pitted against a "charitable widow" who is more unhinged than she lets on."
- DirectorPil-sung YimStarsCheon Jeong-myeongEun Won-jaeShim Eun-kyungAfter meeting a mysterious girl on an dark stretch of road, a young salesman is invited to a beautiful house with bizarre secrets and no way to escape.Haunting and bittersweet Korean ghost story inspired by the titular fairy tale.
- DirectorWill GeigerStarsMax MinghellaBlake LivelyJoe MantegnaDying after being crowned Miss Texas Rose, Anabelle comes alive just before Elvis embalms her. He does his ailing dad's work. Anabelle later returns to the embalmer's farm to get away from her mom and be happy.Sweet modern Sleeping Beauty story turned romantic comedy.
- DirectorMichael CohnStarsSigourney WeaverSam NeillGil BellowsIn this dark take on the fairy tale, the growing hatred of a noblewoman, secretly a practitioner of the dark arts, for her stepdaughter, and the witch's horrifying attempts to kill her.Pretty much what the title says! The focus here is on Sigourney Weaver as the Stepmother whose sanity is slipping...