Cinderella's Revenge

For the most part, a rather faithful rendering of the story. The two stepsisters certainly are horrid, and the stepmother really treated Cinderella terribly. The fairy godmother enters with a mix of old and new. She can get Cinderella clothing from the 12th Century or Hammer pants. But sometimes the jokes seem to think they are too clever, and falls flat. The 'carriage' arrives to take her to the ball, and she asks where are the horses? She is told it is electric, and Elon will drive her. The license plate reads PUMPKIN. When she is outfitted for the ball, the names of prominent fashion designers are used. The acting in some scenes seems off. Whether it is the skill or the directing, it doesn't fit. When we get to the more gruesome parts of the movie, Cinderella simply does not seem physically up to the part, and there are other scenes of just terrible acting. In night scenes, the estate houses are simply lit too brightly for just candles, and in one critical scene, there is a mismatch of the action to the sound.

"Cinderella's Revenge" is exactly what you'd expect from a movie with that title-and I mean that in the best, most delightfully cheesy way possible!

If you're here for glass slippers turned into weapons, a princess kicking butt in a ball gown, and a plot so ridiculous that it works, then you're in for a treat.

The movie takes the classic Cinderella tale and flips it on its head, cranking up the action, drama, and-you guessed it-the cheese factor to 5 out 5 on the cheese scale.

Cinderella (played by Lauren Staerck) is no longer the sweet, soft-spoken girl waiting for her fairy godmother to save her. Nope, this Cinderella is out for blood, and she's serving it with a side of sass and sparkles. The evil stepmother and stepsisters better watch out because the glass slipper isn't just for dancing anymore-it's for fighting!

The dialogue is cringe and absolutely filled with groan-worthy one-liners like "This princess doesn't need saving-she's saving herself!" and "You mess with the slipper, you get the heel!" And I'll be honest, I was laughing through most of it, not because it was bad, but because it's just so gloriously over-the-top. It's clear the cast had fun with it, and that energy translates to the audience.

Visually, it's a riot of glitter and dramatic slow-motion fight scenes, all accompanied by a pop-rock soundtrack that feels like it belongs in the early 2000s (and I'm not mad about it). You've got Cinderella swinging a sword made out of enchanted pumpkin vines, dodging magical attacks from her stepfamily, and leading a rebellion of wronged fairytale characters-it's like if John Wick met Shrek at a midnight costume party with a plate of cheese snacks on the side.

Sure, the plot doesn't make much sense, and there are moments so absurd you can't help but roll your eyes-but that's what makes it so fun. It's cheesy, it's ridiculous, and it knows it. Cinderella's Revenge embraces the silliness, and honestly, in a world full of serious blockbusters, it's refreshing to see 2024 deliver a lineup of movies that doesn't take themselves too seriously like this one.

People really needs to stop using fairy tales' titles to their own sick and twisted slasher movies. And that saying also goes for this movie. This slasher movie took a dump on every values that the original writer has put on Cinderella. They pictured Cinderella as a bloodthirsty murderer who has dumped her ideals on kindness. She wanted revenge on all of the people who have wronged her. And what's up with that psycho fairy godmother who seduces Cinderella into committing homicides?! Usually I'm a sucker for revenge themed movies, but this one is kinda weak on that front. The violence and gore wasn't on point. Especially since you can see how fake the blood is. Besides, the cheap settings didn't help at all. Is that fancy house supposed to be seen as a castle? Maybe people who has never seen an actual castle can swallow that. Not me, I've seen several enormous castles. That pathetic little cottage isn't sufficient to be called a castle.

Not since the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" have I laughed so hard at a campy low budget affair. The cameos were truly astonishing and least expected. Cheap blood and guts, great script and spot on b-movie acting (on pupose). The scenes were apparently all in rural England, which provided an excellent backdrop for this sordid on-its-head telling of a classic fairy tale.

I've read some of the other reviews and don't believe that they are getting the joke.

To sum up simply; this cinematic excursion into what-if land is excellently done, but it is exactly as intended.

Cheap, sarcastic and most importantly of all... A ginormous waste of daddy's time, money and friends!

A good romp!!!

I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.

Following her husband's death, a stepmother to his benevolent daughter lords over the incident as a means of keeping the girl in her employ and sets about trying to push her stepsisters into a ploy to win the Prince's heart forcing the distraught woman to resort to murder to right the wrongs.

Overall, this was a fairly fun and likable adaptation of the story. One of the finer aspects on display is the way that this one goes about getting the necessary setup in order so that the eventual rampage will feel earned and valuable. The initial setpiece focusing on the erroneous setup of the father and getting her left alone with the stepfamily gets this off to a great start while starting the series of setpieces focusing on the treatment that the family puts her through as it speed-runs through the familiar storyline. With the experience given just a brief bit of lip-service about the harsh orders, excessive workload, and violent outbursts against her for disobeying, there's enough about who she is that gives the experience a strong starting point heading into the fateful Ball. With the Ball serving to help introduce everything that happens afterward with her showing up in extravagant evening gown and slippers which was forbidden by the stepmother and sisters, and wooing the prince, that forces the impetus to continue the treatment against her, including even more cruel and barbaric activities such as whipping or psychological torments. Finally igniting and serving as the impetus to seek bloody revenge on everyone, there's a lot of fun to be had in the second half with the masked girl going around the house knocking off the family for their transgressions against her in brutal fashion, as the ambush sequences and brawling come across fairly well. With some great action and bloody kills on display, there's a lot to like here, although there are some big issues holding it back. One of the main drawbacks with this one is the need to speed run this one to get through the familiar story at a frantic clip. Hitting all the familiar notes from the story involving the stepmother taking control of the family, the cruel treatment of the main girl by the stepsisters and getting to the ball despite their strict instructions not to attend, this manages to tell a majority of the story in the first twenty minutes of the film rather than set the action at a more measured clip than anything else with the way this comes together being quite hard to buy into due to the rushed nature it goes through the main story. There's also the expected low-budget nature of this one which manages to include all manner of familiar and easy-to-spot features, from flimsy make-up, illogical props, obvious locations, and other such fare that highlight this one's cheap origins, and with the expected change in treatment of the characters from the familiar story might be what end up lowering this one overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, and a sex scene.