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In the previous month, horror films have slumped significantly with the release of embarrassing stinkers such as The Grudge, Underwater, and The Turning, which together produced inadequate levels of fright that one would expect from a trailer of a Peter Rabbit sequel. Because of this, one would expect Gretel & Hansel to be another movie that comes and goes from theaters in record time considering it is getting released with little marketing and during the Super Bowl weekend. This is the kind of unassuming gem horror enthusiasts so desperately seek and seldom find: one that is genuinely frightening, visually impressive, and thoughtfully constructed.
The characters in the title tell a lot about this version of the grimmest of all the Grimm fairy tales. The focus shifting from Hansel to Gretel is quite intriguing considering that Hansel is much younger than Gretel, Sophia Lillis. On the other hand, she claims to have gotten work ‘looking after her mother’. In fact, she says that she is capable of taking care of her brother as well as an out-of-control mother. Believing that I can imagine a possible work opportunity for her. After all, does she have ‘left her maidenhood’ to Greek. Not surprisingly, that opens doors for nudity and enables some stricter outfit codes to be enforced. But what follows with her mother throwing her out with ‘pretty little graves’ is perplexing. Now, instead of imagining a deep grave, one can picture a kindly woodsman, Charles Babalola who has food, sage advice, and directions to help. But the forest is long, unbearable, and dry. There is a longer break when I happen to get lucky with some wild mushrooms. They are better than expected, allowing me to rest a little longer.
Just as support seems borrowed for those two, they are lost. Was I sleeping? Because my rest has ended and it is no longer a dream, but a dazzling feat sitting unattended in the middle of nowhere for someone to pick from.
The settlement of Holda (Alice Krige), an eccentric elder lady, nudges Hansel and Gretel into her home for some food and shelter. While Hansel focuses on gorging himself on the food served, he completely neglects the fact that his host is seemingly sniffing his hair. In contrast to Hansel, Gretel detects odd behavior immediately. The house is an enigma in itself as the logic bound to the size is thrown completely out of the window. Strangely, the endless supply of food that is served has no explanation given the fact that there is no garden or livestock around. Alongside this, she has always had weird and creepy dreams but the more time they spend with Holda, the creepier the dreams get. From what has been highlighted so far, it is safe to say that you think you know what happens next. Unfortunately, that is not true.
The animated horror film Gretel & Hansel was directed by Osgood Perkins which happens to be his third movie. His first two films were I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and The Blackcoat’s Daughter. To be honest, those two films did not work for me at all, but there was an important takeaway from them which is that with the right materials, Perkins would make something phenomenal. With this movie, it seems he has and the outcome is often nothing short of extraordinary. Rob Hayes wrote the screenplay for the movie and from what I can gather, he cannot work for Disney since he always prefers putting a twist and a new spin on the stories. Instead of working for them, Hayes takes a different approach and tells the story in a way that is new and often quite shocking. I guess it can sometimes be considered a feminist approach to storytelling.
While it is a horror story, this angle views the movie as a well-crafted coming-of-age story about a young woman who slowly learns that she has power and that she is capable of carving a space in the world through her very own efforts.
A great variety of other features of the film also come together in unexpectedly rewarding fashions in other aspects. The look of the film alone is a nonstop jaw dropper as Perkins and Galo Olivares, the cinematographer, give it a moody hypnotic style that, at times, makes it resemble a lost piece of work from Italian horror master Mario Bava. This feeling is intensified by Jeremy Reed’s production design. Robin Coudert’s heavy synthesizer score adds an extra element of unease which is tremendously effective. Again, the more astonishing thing is that the three leading actors perform the film better than most without making the silly mistake of taking their roles lightly. (There are a few dark laughs now and then but the film manages to be refreshing in its seriousness for the most part. ) Perkins does an astonishing job at creating a sense of dread in a PG-13 horror film, an impressive feat for genre aficionados.
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