After their father’s death, teenage Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and her younger brother Hansel (Sam Leakey) are struggling to get an income that can support their mother. Plus it's really beautiful to look at. Gretel & Hänsel ein Film von Osgood Perkins (II) mit Sophia Lillis, Alice Krige. Romina – movie review, My Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2020. Since both those horror-dramas received critical acclaim, the son of Anthony Perkins managed to scrape together a bigger budget for Gretel & Hansel. Krige has the allure of wisdom in her performance, an undeniable power that stems from strength and experience, and unlike many movie villains, her rationalizations seem relatively rational based on what Perkins has shown us about Gretel’s options. It’s not a straight line to the witch’s house. It generated controversy as the movie was released just two years after the Waukesha stabbing, in which two 12-year-old girls stabbed a third, claiming the stabbing was part of the steps to becoming a proxy for the Slender Man. 100% agreed. That seems overly optimistic. Vampire Hunter, this junky offering is equally, hopelessly unnecessary. As a fantasy, “Gretel & Hansel” is a delectably smart concoction, thoughtfully reevaluating the original tale, adding all-new layers of the ominous, and yet also keeping the story rooted in an amorphous, fairy tale past. An action-packed, gore-filled blast. Even though this is exactly what I wanted in terms of visuals and tone, such style really doesn’t match with the bare-bones story and lack of depth in every department. Yes, well, it is a witch’s house, after all. However, in exchange he didn’t have creative control over the project, as the script for this film was written by Rob Hayes. The woods aren’t verdant; they’re arid and skeletal. Gretel & Hansel – same story, new approach. Perkins, who co-wrote the script with Rob Hayes, takes the basic framework of the tale – a brother and sister wander into the woods and encounter a witch – and use it to craft a distinctly feminine story – the tale of a young girl becoming a woman, and all the power – and scorn – that comes with that. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters ends with the suggestion that there is more to come. Gretel & Hansel is also surprisingly colorful, and the shifting colors reflect characters’ feelings, as well as the mood of the movie. Gretel & Hansel is as visually arresting as it is tedious, a 90-minute movie that really should have been a 3-minute music video for Marilyn Manson or Ozzy Osbourne. Movie Review: ‘Gretel and Hansel’ February 6, 2020 By Kurt Jensen Filed Under: Movie Reviews, News, World News. All names, trademarks and images are copyright their respective owners. I’m glad you see it this way too… his style saves the movie, without it Gretel & Hansel would be another garbage horror flick based on a previously successful property. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer. In Pretty Thing and Blackcoat’s Daughter, Perkins’ excellent directing serves as perfect icing on the cake, with the metaphorical significance of those films (respectively, on grief and abandonment) taking central stage. According to IGN, the film was investigated for criminality in Serbia and other countries, and was also investigated for its violent and sexual content. Sign up here. Exactly! Piercing (2018) – analysis and ending explained, The least ‘rapey’ and ‘revengey’ rape and revenge movie of all time! [Full review in spanish]. Actually, it’s like dread for 90 minutes. Copyright © Fandango. This aspect could be overlooked if other elements of the writing were implemented, but both dialogue and characters feel extremely stiff and annoying. The scene of the siblings laughing in hysterics while the woods around them warm and blur out of focus is one fo the many indications that Perkins isn’t concerned with making his tale family-friendly. Perkins and screenwriter Rob Hayes stretch the seemingly simple story of “Hansel and Gretel” apart like taffy, keeping the whole piece intact but giving us all the more opportunity to savor the experience. Through it all, Gretel suffers from nightmares – or are they visions? That girl on the cusp of womanhood is Gretel, played by Sophia Lillis. Holda takes a shine to Gretel, and sees within her the same dark energy that she herself possesses. Holda explains to Gretel her potential as someone on the cusp of womanhood, and Gretel also has to decide whether it’s good to keep her sisterly loyalty to her brother, or abandon him as a burden. Huge disappointment for all the reasons you’ve mentioned already. However, upon arriving they discover the tribe is cannibalistic. So far, Gretel’s had bad choices offered to her, turning down a lecherous man looking for a housekeeper, and rejecting a suggestion she enter a convent. Perkins finds new layers of dread and discomfort in the Brothers Grimm tale, further establishing himself as a vital horror auteur. Pu T.    Tikunpon D.    Leroy D.   Saoirse N.     Ricardinho      Mark T.     Gioia D.       Lula Q. This is the house of Holda (Alice Krige), an elderly woman who is never the least bit convincing as anything other than evil. Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: Teaser Trailer 1. This is no world for young children and young women, because, as Gretel and Hansel learn, their best hope is to find the young boy a job doing punishing labor and, for Gretel, some sort of husband. It is bombastically ridiculous, over the top, and innocuous enough to be vaguely entertaining, and possibly various designers' inspiration to hire them for their next ad campaign. But sure enough, the duo soon takes up residence in Holda’s house, and while Hansel goofs off in the woods trying to learn to use an ax, Gretel and the old woman grow uncomfortably close. According to IndieWire, the film also received sanctions from the MPAA because the film's distributor, IFC, opened an unrated director's cut of the film over 100 cities without getting permission. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. Gretel's powers appear to come from the Force to such a degree that one can't help but wonder if she's related to the Skywalkers. Some films were so disgusting and repulsive that they had to be banned in various countries, 'The Rhythm Section' Arrives During Super Bowl Slump Weekend for Box Office, Watch Tim Burton's Long-Lost 'Hansel and Gretel' Film From 1983, 'The Grudge' US Movie Franchise, Ranked Worst to Best, 20 Unscary Horror Movies, Starting With Jennifer Aniston’s ‘Leprechaun’ (Photos), How ‘The Lighthouse’ Delivers Ominous Horror Through Simple Cinematography, The 9 Most Divisive Horror Films of the Decade, From ‘Human Centipede’ to ‘mother!’ (Photos), ‘Don’t Breathe’ Filmmaker Fede Alvarez to Direct Horror Movie Set in White House. Critics at the festival even said the director "had gone too far this time.". The film follows a group of college activists who go to the Amazon Forest to help protect a tribe from deforestation. The witch’s house could be small and could be enormous, and the basement — let’s not think about the basement, except to say that production designer Jeremy Reed (“I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House”) and art director Christine McDonagh (“Into the Badlands”) have followed Perkins’ stark aesthetic interests to a logical, striking, grotesque conclusion. The film contains an occult theme, fleeting gore, a scene of drug use and a reference to menstruation. Mad Sin Cinema    Kurt D.     Benoit G.     Sidy Q.    Robert G.      Marco L.M. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. It’s got “cult movie” written all over it in strawberry jam, which probably isn’t actually strawberry jam, and audiences who tune into its unusual wavelength will no doubt be grateful for such a beautiful, frightening, intelligent new venture into an age-old nightmare.