15 unusual and frightening fairy tales for adults

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These magical films are equally horrifying and thought-provoking.

1. Gretel and Hansel

• USA, 2020.
• Dark fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 87 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 4.

A crazy single mother kicks her children Hansel and Gretel out of the house. Brother and sister, hoping to find food, go to the forest thicket, but find something sinister there.

Contemporary horror director Oz Perkins (February, I Am the Sweetheart Living in the House) has filmed an eerie reimagining of the classic Hansel and Gretel. Critics took the job ambiguously, but everyone liked the choice for the lead role of the young actress Sophia Lillis.

Prior to this, the girl's stunning rise was promoted by Andy Muschetti's film It, as well as the series Sharp Objects and I Don't Like It. Now she again demonstrates an excellent game in the frame, transforming from a girl into a woman in front of the viewer.

2. Little Red Riding Hood

• USA, Canada, 2011.
• Gothic tale, horror.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 4.

Parents want to marry the pretty girl Valerie to a blacksmith, although she is in love with a woodcutter. Meanwhile, a werewolf appears in the vicinity, regularly dragging the villagers into the dark forest. Soon they, with the help of the priest, find out that the beast is one of them.

This mystical chamber thriller was filmed by the director of the first "Twilight" Catherine Hardwicke based on the well-known fairy tale. Moreover, before that, the director had other works, for example, "Kings of Dogtown" and "Thirteen". Although the film received mostly negative reviews, it may appeal to those who love dark fantasy about monsters and werewolves.

3. The further into the forest …

• USA, 2014.
• Musical fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 9.

The wicked witch made the baker and his wife childless. To remove the curse, the couple go to the forest in search of mysterious things and on the way they meet many fairy-tale heroes.

In the film directed by Rob Marshall, seemingly ordinary folklore characters have gathered: Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood. But at the same time, the director carefully preserved the unsightly moments, which are usually not usually remembered when retelling fairy tales.

For example, the sisters of Cinderella cut off their heels, after which the heroines' eyes are also gouged out - it sounds creepy, but this is how this story looked for the brothers Grimm.

4. The Brothers Grimm

• Great Britain, USA, Czech Republic, 2005.
• Dark fantasy, adventure, thriller.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 9.

Brothers swindlers fool uneducated peasants, promising to expel "evil spirits" from domestic animals. But one day young people have to face the characters of those very fairy tales, from where they get their adventurous ideas.

The characters invented by director Terry Gilliam have nothing to do with the real brothers Grimm. But the main roles are played by very young and colorful Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, and it is very pleasant to find in the film numerous references to fairy tales loved from childhood.

5. Witch hunters

• USA, Germany, 2013.
• Dark fantasy, action, thriller.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

Adults Hansel and Gretel become professional witch slayers. One day the brother and sister go on another business trip, but they don't even know that this time they will be hunted.

The film directed by Tommy Vircola was crushed by critics, but the picture is nevertheless good as a harmless entertainment spectacle. Among the findings of the writers, there are very successful ones - for example, the witch forced little Hansel to eat sweets, so he eventually falls ill with diabetes.

6. Snow White: Scary Tale

• USA, 1997.
• Dark fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 2.

Young Lillian Hoffman immediately took a dislike to her father's new wife. The latter unsuccessfully tries to win the friendship of her stepdaughter, but everything changes after an unexpected tragic incident.

Now the film is undeservedly forgotten, since it was intended only for showing on TV, but you definitely need to watch this atmospheric and bewitching picture. Moreover, the main villain in it was played by the star of the "Alien" franchise Sigourney Weaver.

7. Tales from the dark side

• USA, 1990.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

The boy is captured by the cannibal and tries to distract her from preparing for the feast with scary stories that he read in the book "Tales from the Dark Side".

The film based on the TV series of the same name combined into a harmonious anthology the not-too-famous story by Arthur Conan Doyle "Lot 249", the novel by Stephen King "The Cat from Hell" and another rather exciting story called "The Lover's Oath" by the author Michael McDowell.

8. Beauty and the Beast

• France, 2014.
• Dark fantasy, adventure melodrama.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 4.

The ruined merchant finds an abandoned castle, the owner of which turns out to be a terrible monster. The creature decides to make the old man its prisoner and lets him go home only for one day - to say goodbye to his relatives. Then the youngest daughter goes to the castle instead of her father.

Although the film is incredibly beautiful and features the brightest stars of French cinema - Lea Seydoux and Vincent Cassel, it should not be watched with young children. A much more cheerful film adaptation with Emma Watson will suit them. The fact is that director Christoph Gahn (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill) staged the fairy tale in its classic form and did not soften the cruel details.

9. Scary tales

• Italy, France, UK, 2015.
• Dark fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 4.

The queen of a fairyland cannot become a mother in any way until one day she learns from a fortuneteller that the heart of a sea monster can help her. The ruler of a neighboring state falls in love with a lovely girl who, in fact, turns out to be an ugly old woman. Finally, the ruler of the third kingdom lovingly raises a giant flea, and gives his only daughter to a terrible mountain creature as his wife.

The film was directed by the Italian director Matteo Garrone, taking as a basis several stories from the classic collection of Giambattista Basile, from where the well-known fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault originate. At the same time, earlier Garrone was not interested in fantasy at all, and the audience knew him from the naturalistic dramas "Gomorrah" and "Reality".

10. Pinocchio

• Italy, France, UK, 2019.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

The beggar master Geppetto carves a wooden man from a log, but he almost immediately escapes from his creator and does not want to take up his mind at all. Meanwhile, Pinocchio can turn into a real boy only by becoming kind and obedient.

After "Scary Tales" Matteo Garrone decided to return to the theme of Italian folklore and made another fabulous film - this time based on the classic work of Carlo Collodi. Formally, "Pinocchio" is positioned as a painting for children. However, even adults can become uncomfortable due to the gloomy atmosphere and eerie appearance of the characters.

11. Return to Oz

• USA, UK, 1985.
• Adventure fantasy.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

After little Dorothy returns home from Oz, she cannot stop thinking about her adventures. Then the worried uncle and aunt send her to an insane asylum, from where the girl again finds herself in a magical reality, where everything has changed a lot since her first visit.

Although the film was shot at Walt Disney Pictures, some viewers who watched "The Return …" as a child still find the film quite creepy. Suffice it to recall people with wheels instead of arms and legs, an evil queen with a removable head and other strange moments.

12. Labyrinth

• Great Britain, USA, 1986.
• Musical fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Young Sarah sets out to find her little brother Toby in a magical land ruled by a great goblin king named Jareth. But you can get to the fortress of the lord only through a mysterious labyrinth, teeming with monsters and traps. Moreover, the girl needs to hurry: if she does not manage to be in the castle before midnight, her brother will turn into a goblin.

The film was directed by renowned British puppet master and creator of the famous "The Muppet Show" Jim Henson. David Bowie was invited to play the villain, because they felt that some popular rock singer should certainly play the antagonist. The main character Sarah was embodied at that time by a completely unknown American actress Jennifer Connelly. Later, she was called many times one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Despite the soft PG rating, the age orientation of Labyrinth is not entirely unambiguous. This was one of the reasons for the failure of the film, despite the fact that he was nominated for the British Academy Award and "Saturn". But in the end, years later, the tape still received cult status.

13. Alice

• Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, 1988.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

In pursuit of the White Rabbit, little Alice finds herself in an eerie surreal world. Moreover, he acts according to his own laws, incomprehensible to the girl.

The first full-length film by the talented Czech director Jan Schwankmayer is better known as "Alice", but in the original it is called "Alyonka's Dream". The work is clearly addressed to adult audiences: the film is dominated by dull tones, and the journey through Wonderland itself is more reminiscent of an uncomfortable nightmare rather than a magical adventure.

14. Outland

• USA, India, 2006.
• Adventure drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

The young stuntman Roy is admitted to the hospital after an unsuccessful stunt, meets the girl Alexandria there and tells the latter a fascinating story. In it, five daredevils, who call themselves the "League of Outstanding Gentlemen", are fighting together against the terrible villain Odius.

Indian-American filmmaker Tarsem Singh is adept at combining ethnic motives from a variety of cultures in his works (Snow White: Revenge of the Dwarfs, TV series Emerald City). At the same time, “Outland” can hardly be called a fairy tale for children, because at some point the story takes on truly dark features.

15. Pan's Labyrinth

• Mexico, Spain, 2006.
• Adventure drama, fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The young dreamer Ophelia, along with her pregnant mother, moves to live with her stepfather, Captain Vidal, a ruthless killer and sadist. The latter is busy trying to free the rural area from the partisans. On the very first evening in a new place, the girl meets a mysterious and beautiful Faun. He tells Ophelia that she is actually a princess of the underworld, who has lost her memory. But to return to her possessions, she needs to complete three magical tasks.

"Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro is quite a serious shake-up even for adult viewers, not to mention children. The magical elements of the plot are intertwined with the real events of the times of the struggle against the dictatorship of Franco, while the film in places looks like a surreal nightmare, and the scenes are extremely cruel: one of the heroes is sawed off a leg without anesthesia, the other is broken with a bottle of face.