Inspiration for a good horror movie can come from anywhere. There are obvious places to look, from the actions of real-life serial killers to urban legends surrounding haunted houses and churches. Science can also be a melting pot of horrific ideas, with viruses and unpleasant bodily transformations providing an endless stream of things to scream about.
Some of the most interesting horror films take ideas from much more innocent places, though. Fairy tales and beloved children's classics can be twisted into disturbing new shapes, while still retaining their basic message or ideas. Here are some horror movies, good and bad, that take a more fantastical route, defiling some classic stories in the process.
10 Wishmaster
Wishmaster combines elements of Islamic and Arabian folklore with aspects of the One Thousand and One Nights story collection (later translated into Arabian Nights for the English market). It involves an evil Djinn who wishes to be freed from his ethereal prison so that he can wreak havoc upon the world.
The Djinn in question is suitably ruthless, and while he's obliged to grant the wishes of those that ask, he always puts a malevolent twist on them, Monkey's Paw style, resulting in some very OTT kills. It also boasts a host of cameos from such horror luminaries as Tony Todd, Robert Englund, and Kane Hodder.
9 Rumpelstiltskin
Collected by the Brothers Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin is a dark little fairy tale about an imp who attempts to trade some gold for a firstborn child. The content of this story needed little alteration in the jump to become a horror movie!
The film version follows a similar plot, albeit set in modern-day Los Angeles. The creature of the title yearns to possess the child of a widow, stopping at nothing to achieve his goal. Often cited as being a movie so bad that it's good, Rumpelstiltskin made little impact on the box office at the time, fading into horror obscurity.
8 Tale Of Tales
Tale of Tales is a portmanteau movie split into three parts. Each segment of this anthology film centers on a different story written by Giambattista Basile, author of some of the most popular fairy tales known today.
Focussing on the theme of obsession, viewers are provided with three royal families who fixate on things relatable to contemporary life. Twisted, bizarre, and surprisingly deep, Tale of Tales is a strong adaptation of some of the darker children's stories written centuries ago.
7 The Lure
The Lure is a reworking of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, and director Agnieszka Smoczyńska infused elements of feminism and the idea of the mermaids being a metaphor for immigrants. It enriches the source material and adds much to mermaid mythology.
As well as layered themes, The Lure is also a musical and, of course, a horror movie. With mermaids eating human hearts and some incredibly catching songs, The Lure is a quirky, memorable cult classic.
6 Deadtime Stories
Deadtime Stories is a fun horror anthology movie, bridging three twisted takes on children's stories by way of an uncle, who regales them to his nephew. What follows is a fun, often humorous voyage into the dark side of fairy tales, putting inventive twists on well-known stories.
The Red Riding Hood tale incorporates elements of Werewolf mythology to great effect, while the take on Goldilocks involves three mental patients sharing their secret hideout with a murderer.
5 Gretel And Hansel
Allowing Gretel to take center stage, Gretel and Hansel is one of the more disturbing takes on the Hansel and Gretel story. Sticking closer to the source material than some other adaptations was a wise movie, as the original tale by the Brothers Grimm was scary enough.
Slow-burning and laced with atmosphere, Gretel and Hansel moves at a leisurely pace, boosted by some stunning visuals. Quietly disturbing, eerie, and haunting.
4 November
Based on Estonian writer Andrus Kivirähk's 2000 novel Rehepapp ehk November (Old Barny, aka November), November is an adaptation of a more recent and altogether more adult fairytale. It focuses on several creatures from Estonian folklore, who haunt the residents of a medieval village.
Shot in black and white to ramp up the atmosphere, November received great critical acclaim for its combination of spooky chills and lashings of dark humor. It is one of the most original fantasy horror movies of recent years.
3 Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey
Many fairy tales and children's stories are peppered with darkness, so the leap to horror isn't quite so surprising. Winnie the Pooh, however, is at the other end of the spectrum completely. A.A.Milne wrote beautiful, quaint stories about a boy and his teddy bear friend.
The moment Pooh Bear fell out of copyright, writer and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield sought to change that, giving Pooh and his friend Piglet a nastier modus operandi than just looking for honey. Cue a ton of gore, plenty of slasher-movie kills, and a very creepy look for Pooh himself.
2 The Mean One
Fresh from his performance as the newest slasher icon Art the Clown in Terrifier 2, David Howard Thornton brings the kills as the Mean One in this unofficial parody of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
Unlike Blood and Honey, The Grinch is still a licensed property, so director Steven LaMorte and writers Finn and Flip Kobler had to be very careful about how they presented this movie. It's a typical slasher flick, with some gruesome kills, knowing winks to the source material, and a rather decent costume for the killer of the title.
1 Snow White: A Tale Of Terror
One of the darker movies on this list, Snow White: A Tale of Terror boasts turns from Sigourney Weaver as the Wicked Stepmother, and Sam Neil as Snow White's father. It stays close to the Disney version of the story but dials the darkness up immensely.
It's a bleak, gruesome affair with excellent direction and decent special effects and performances. Weaver in particular is perfectly cast as Claudia Hoffman, giving a memorable performance (and a wicked laugh to match). A hard-to-find gem.