The Death of Snow White

A gory Disney reboot, here we go again. I stumbled upon this one by chance, drawn by the promise of a fairly professional production and an apparent 18+ rating that suggested something wild. Of course, the rating is wildly exaggerated, though the film does deliver a fair share of brutal, organ-heavy scenes.

The Death of Snow White sticks closely to the classic Disney tale, with all the key moments: the beauty-obsessed queen, the dark forest, the dwarves, the witch transformation, etc. It's well-paced, entertaining, and generous with its gruesome sequences. That said, there's a deeply cheesy vibe that sometimes kills the fun, though it's not unexpected. The fleeting attempts at humor consistently fall flat, feeling like the film is trying to appeal to kids between gory scenes, which is always awkward and out of place. Many secondary characters, like the Grimm brothers, are pointless, existing only to deliver heavy-handed, disposable jokes. Some fight scenes are choreographed with zero finesse, betraying an obvious lack of budget. You can feel a frustrating gap between the film's ambitions and its resources.

The big strength here is the gore. The creators serve up a relentless festival of effects, ranging from mildly unhinged to generally well-executed for a production like this. From the queen's macabre whims-using her maids as literal organ dispensers-to graphic fight sequences, there's plenty to sink your teeth into, including tooth-pulling, eyelid-stitching, decapitations, a woman torn apart by creatures, and heads smashed with hammers, with splatter effects that would make Ittenbach's Beyond the Limits proud. The medieval setting enhances it all. Some horror scenes are genuinely strong, from the forest monster attack to the mirror demons and the queen's grim fate in the epilogue. The film gets better as it goes, shedding much of its initial kitschy, almost parodic tone.

Disney horror adaptations are always flawed but never dull. The raw, crimson energy of this one is thrilling, despite some problematic nonsense. Looking forward to the next one, flaws and all.

Real Fiction Studios has struck gold-or perhaps spilled blood-with their daring new horror masterpiece, The Death of Snow White. This isn't your childhood fairytale anymore; it's a chilling, visually arresting reimagining that blends folklore with horror. The cinematography is exceptional, using shadow and light to amplify tension while giving the forest setting an otherworldly, menacing beauty. The sound design is equally impressive, with a spine-tingling dramatic score. The actors are wonderful! I was so happy to see both inclusive and appropriate casting! In case you were wondering, both the humans and animals are real! Snow White is adorable yet strong, and the Evil Queen steals the show, a terrifying figure with emotional depth that elevates the horror beyond cheap scares. The Death of Snow White it's horror with heart and brains. I entirely forgot I was watching a horror movie, let alone an independent film!

Granted, I have to admit that when I stumbled upon the 2025 movie "The Death of Snow White", and opted to watch it on account of it being a movie that I had neither seen nor actually ever heard about, then I was harboring zero expectations given the movie's title.

However, writers Jason Brooks and Naomi Mechem-Miller actually put together a script and storyline that proved to be corny and campy enough to actually make for an oddly entertaining movie. Sure, this was by no means Shakespearian theater, but would you expect that from a movie carrying a title such as "The Death of Snow White"?

Of the entire cast ensemble in the movie, I was only familiar with leading actress Sanae Loutsis. The acting performances in the movie were actually good.

Visually then the movie was actually surprisingly good. The wardrobe, props and sets were good and actually had a medieval fantasy feel to them, which helped carry the movie nicely.

I was actually adequately entertained by the cheesiness of the movie.

My rating of director Jason Brooks's 2025 movie "The Death of Snow White" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Jason Brooks's 2025 film, The Death of Snow White, offers a stark and compelling reimagining of the classic fairy tale, anchored by a captivating performance from Sanae Loutsis as the titular character. This is not the saccharine sweetness of childhood stories, but a more mature and psychologically nuanced exploration of beauty, envy, and survival. Loutsis imbues Snow White with a quiet strength and a palpable vulnerability, portraying her not as a passive victim but as a young woman acutely aware of the danger she faces and determined to navigate the treacherous landscape of her stepmother's obsession.

The film's atmosphere is a departure from traditional portrayals, opting for a visually striking palette of muted tones and shadowy forests, creating a sense of unease and foreboding. Brooks's deliberate pacing allows the tension to build gradually, emphasizing the isolation and the ever-present threat looming over Snow White. The reimagining of the seven dwarves as a more grounded community of individuals adds a layer of realism to the narrative, making Snow White's refuge feel less like a whimsical escape and more like a desperate alliance forged in the face of danger. This grounded approach allows Loutsis to showcase the character's resilience and her ability to connect with those who offer her sanctuary.

Chelsea Edmundson delivers a chilling and multifaceted portrayal of the Evil Queen. She avoids caricature, instead delving into the character's insecurities and the corrosive nature of her envy. Edmundson's performance reveals the pain and desperation driving the Queen's obsession with maintaining her beauty and power, making her a more complex and unsettling antagonist. The dynamic between Loutsis and Edmundson is the film's dramatic core, a silent battle of wills fueled by fear and resentment. Their scenes together crackle with tension, highlighting the dangerous power imbalance and Snow White's precarious position.

Ultimately, The Death of Snow White offers a fresh and compelling perspective on a timeless tale, elevated by Sanae Loutsis's nuanced and captivating portrayal of Snow White. Jason Brooks crafts a visually arresting and emotionally resonant film that explores the darker undercurrents of the classic story. While it may deviate from the familiar sweetness, its mature themes, strong performances - particularly from Loutsis - and atmospheric setting make it a thought-provoking and engaging cinematic experience, revealing a new and compelling facet to the enduring legend of Snow White.

Living in a desolate community, a woman learns that she has royal blood when the Queen turns her attention to her to continue looking youthful so she can enact a diabolical plan to rule the kingdom, forcing her into the forest and banding together with a group of dwarves to fight back against her.

Overall, this was a rather enjoyable take on the fairy tale. Among the better aspects of this one tends to incorporate its own unique spin on the typical mythology of the story by changing around a lot of the usual elements of the story. Rather than deal with the usual setup of the story offering the kind of traditional low-rent peasant community that Snow White is involved in while the Queen looks on jealous of everything she has despite her poor state of life is a solid way of going about trying to get back to the throne's power by trying to accumulate her beauty into her own for own gain. It manages to bring about the kind of connection to the original feature, especially once the decision to flee the kingdom and live with the dwarves is put into place, which provides this with some intriguing connections to the fabled story. When matched against the new elements of the story involving the more gruesome attempts at showcasing the brutality inherent in the story and how it would all play out, there's a lot to like here. The general state of the Queen adopting a more vampiric attitude to her beauty by torturing and removing parts of their body so that their body parts can be served to keep her beauty more youthful until her plan comes into focus serves everything rather nicely, especially when it starts moving away from the peasants she's rounded up and onto her inner circle which gives this some solid attempts at body horror. That carries over into the finale, where the different forces come together to deliver on the quest to stop the Queen's plans, leading to some solid action along the way, and with some fine nudity, manage to give this a lot to like. There are some issues here that hold this one down. The main issue here is that it tends to follow more of a dark fantasy route than an overly generic feel, making it appropriate for more adventurous fans, while others may be somewhat more turned off by the atmosphere created here. The idea and concept of the film is built more on the idea of going through their quest littered with perils, magic creatures, and disloyal allegiances that all point to a different genre atmosphere that only becomes far more obvious when it plays out. There's nothing genuinely wrong with it, but it becomes a big part of the film to have to get over as the fairy tale roots it tries to honor are kept in check enough for it to be a factor here as a means of personal preference, despite being the only real issue.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, and Graphic Language.