‘We have to get across the border before it gets dark...’
As many of the original fairy tales were genuinely horrifying, particularly anything written by the Brothers Grimm, it’s perhaps surprising that there hasn’t been more outright horror versions of those classic tales. Sleepy Hollow is perhaps the most prominent example, but stuff like Gretel & Hansel or Snow White and the Huntsman are either long forgotten or not really horror films at all. The Ugly Stepsister, the debut feature from Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt, takes on the Cinderella myth in a way that is viscerally effective…
Cinderella here is renamed as Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), but it is Lea Myren as Agnes’ ‘ugly’ stepsister who takes centre stage. Both come from families that are penniless, and so both are trying to win the affection of the shallow but wealthy Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth). Meanwhile, Anges’ mother, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) hatches several evil schemes to help her daughter succeed against her most naturally beautiful step sister.
Despite the fact that this is a low-budget film that started out life as Blichfeldt’s thesis project at Norwegian Film School, set designer Manon Rasmussen does a great job in creating a convincing fairytale-esque setting, and the gnarly visual effects are rendered in hideous clarity. Drawing from other body horror exponents such as David Cronenberg and Julia Ducournau (as well as the Italian gore hounds Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci), Blichfeldt creates several moments here that I was watching from behind my fingers. Her great strength as a director is that even when you know what’s coming, the bloodier moments are still incredible shocking and powerful. The message of the dangers of pursuing impossible beauty standards is a prescient one (if well worn), and both Næss and Myren do an excellent job of bringing the rivalry to life – particular the latter who appears in almost every scene in what must have been an intense and gruelling shoot.
The Ugly Stepsister is proof that it is not only mainstream horror movies from the big studios that are currently excelling. There is exciting stuff happening in this genre everywhere. Drink it in before the terrifying pumpkin turns back into a boring old horse and carriage.
