Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on the new portable.
I’ve liked the two films Oz Perkins has directed that I’ve seen. There is a sense that he is very much trying to tap into something deeper with his horror movies, something more than just the surface level jump scare and gross-out moments that are the mainstay of cheap horror films. While perhaps not as high profile as some of the other new horror directors, Perkins has an interesting voice and style. And so it was a disappointment to me that Gretel & Hansel appeared in many ways to be Perkins attempting to riff on Ari Aster.
Clearly, Gretel & Hansel is a riff on the Hansel and Gretel story. You remember the one—two kids are kicked out of their house by their stepmother because of terrible famine. The children wander through the woods until they come to a house that appears to be made out of sweets. Famished, the kids nibble on the house until the owner, a witch, arrives and brings them in. Of course, the witch is cannibalistic and plans to fatten the children up and eat them, but is ultimately outwitted by Gretel. The children find the witch’s treasure and return home with the aid of a swan to discover that their evil stepmother has died, and the live “happily ever after” with their father.
