What hath Winnie-the-Pooh wrought? Since the headline-grabbing success of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel, horror re-imaginings of every fairy tale character and childhood favourite past their sell-by-date copyright infringement have come crawling out of the woodwork – from the Grinch to Steamboat Willie Himself. Next up? Cinderella.
The original version of the fairytale is grim(m) enough as it is, with scenes of childhood trauma, household abuse and lopped-off toes – but director Louisa Warren goes one further, adding an Evil Dead twist to this gory re-imagination of the tale. Summoning her fairy godmother from an ancient book bound in flesh, Cinderella (Kelly Rian Sanson) is finally granted her greatest wish – bloody vengeance.
As far as ideas go, the Edgelord Fairy Tale may be wearing a bit thin, but there’s no reason why Cinders shouldn’t get to go to the ball – or Monster Mash, as it were. And, in that spirit, the Edgelordification of her story makes more sense than most, with a tragic backstory, loathsome villains and the potential for all manner of carnage in a grand ball where a pissed-off Cinderella finally realises her revenge.
The scant seventy-minute runtime keeps things from growing too stale but also results in the setup feeling rushed. An already predictable Frozen-esque plot twist misses the mark, while not enough time is spent with either Wicked Stepmother (a suitably horrible Danielle Scott) or wicked stepsisters (Lauren Budd and Natasha Tosini) to make her brutal revenge feel satisfactory.
Still, it’s appreciated that Cinderella’s Curse doesn’t waste time in getting to the meat of the matter – setting Cindy loose on those who wronged her. Warren delivers on the carnage in this respect, including a toe-curling version of the glass slipper scene. Too much of it is hidden behind dingy cinematography, but the gore is effectively done and liberally shared.
CINDERELLA’S CURSE premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 22nd, 2024.
