Snow White: A Tale of Terror
Cast
Sigourney Weaver .... Claudia Hoffman
Sam Neill .... Lord Friedrich Hoffman
Gil Bellows .... Will
Monica Keena .... Lilliana Hoffman
Miroslav Táborský .... Gustav
Taryn Davis .... Young Lilli
Brian Glover .... Lars
Anthony Brophy .... Rolf
Frances Cuka .... Nannau
Christopher Bauer .... Konrad
John Edward Allen .... Bart
Andrew Tiernan .... Scar
David Conrad .... Dr. Peter Guttenberg
Bryan Pringle .... Father Gilbert
Dale Wyatt .... Elsa
Director: Michael Cohn
Written by: Tom Szollosi and Deborah Serra
Theatrical Release Date: 18 July 1997 (Greece)
Plot
Once upon a time, in the Europe of the Crusades, a pregnant mother is injured as her carriage is driven from the road. Dying, she orders her grieving husband Frederick to cut the baby from her womb, so that at least it might live. The infant grows to become the headstrong young Lilli, who is resentful of her father's upcoming marriage to Claudia. Despite early attempts to win Lilli's favour, Claudia's relationship with her step-daughter does not improve; and she becomes increasingly jealous of Frederick's attention. It is also increasingly apparent that she is under the sway of a mysterious mirror that had belonged to her mother, and which she had installed in her room on her arrival. When her own baby dies, Claudi blames Lilli and, driven by the image in the mirror, determines to rid herself of Lilli. She sends her mute brother Gustav to kill Lilli, but the young woman evades him in the forest. He kills a pig and takes the heart to a delighted Claudia, who believes it to be Lilli's heart.
Lilli takes refuge from wolves in a ruined castle, where she's confronted by seven roughneck miners who are seeking a lost gold mine. Will, scarred during the Crusades, is around Lilli's own age and resents her presence, but the older Lars befriends her. Meanwhile, Claudia learns from her mirror that Lilli is still alive, and casts spells designed to kill her stepdaughter. When these fail, the mirror transforms Claudia into an old hag, and she goes into the forest herself. She offers an apple to Lilli, who takes one bite and falls into a trance that no one can tell from death. She's placed in a stained-glass coffin and lowered into the ground, but the agonized Will, who's fallen in love with her, lifts her from the coffin and a piece of apple falls from her mouth. She returns to life, and they seek out Claudia for a final confrontation.