Cinderella’s Revenge (2024) – Film Review
Cinderella’s Revenge is a black comedy that combines elements of the classic fairytale with modern slasher horror films. It’s an unusual mix but, in this case, it works reasonably well.
The film begins with a manhunt. Racing along on horseback, the king’s men are chasing Cinderella’s father who is believed to have stolen a precious necklace. He’s innocent and totally unaware that he has been set up by his wife, Katherine (Stephanie Lodge), who is the real thief and has hired a couple of killers to end their marriage by making sure death does them part. They do this by chopping off his head with a sword. The special effects are not on par with hardcore films such as Wrong Turn (2003) or House of 1000 Corpses (2003) but are suitably nasty, making Cinderella’s Revenge not a great choice for the kiddies. However, if you are hoping for buckets of blood and regular slicing, dicing, and stabbings throughout the film, you will find Cinderella’s Revenge falls well short of the mark.
After watching her husband lose his head over her, Katherine goes and finds Cinderella (Lauren Staerck) and gives her the unfortunate news: her father has been caught stealing, resulting in him being executed by the king’s men. She also tells her step-daughter the king believed she may have been involved and that her father was stealing the jewelled necklace for her. Taking the lie a step further, Katherine says she convinced the king’s men to leave Cinderella alone on condition she remains in her care so she can keep an eye on her. However, Cinderella will need to earn her keep by slaving for her and her two step-sisters, Josephine (Beatrice Fletcher) and Rachael (Megan Purvis).
The early stages of the film are pretty much in line with the original story. Cinderella’s step-family is obnoxious and treats her like dirt. More vindictive than the characters they are based upon, at one point, after assaulting her, her sisters even pull out a knife and plan to cut out her eyes. Fortunately, their mother stops them at the last moment, pointing out that Cinderella will need both her eyes to carry out her household chores.
Not long after this, the king hosts a ball and sends a blanket invitation to the household. As it’s rumoured his son James will be seeking a bride, Josephine and Rachel are keen to go. Cinderella asks her stepmother if she can go too, but the answer is no.
Home alone on the evening of the ball, poor Cinders prays for help. Divine intervention follows shortly when Cinderella’s fairy godmother (Natasha Henstridge) pays her a visit. From this point forward, the film starts to go overboard with creative new additions to the story. Instead of just producing a dress out of thin air by waving her magic wand, the fairy godmother arranges a complete makeover by summoning stylists and designers from the future. She even arranges for Vidal Sasson to style her young charge’s hair.
As for the pumpkin and mice from the original story, they are not needed. Instead of a horse and carriage, Cinderella’s transport is an orange, electric-powered Tesla, with Elon Musk (Stephen Staley) as the chauffeur.
As soon as she arrives at the ball, Prince James (Darrell Griggs) only has eyes for Cinderella, much to the annoyance of Josephine and Rachel, who the prince is not interested in anyway.
True to the fairytale, Cinderella leaves the ball just before midnight and loses one of her glass slippers. Shortly after this, the film starts to become a little darker when, at her mother’s bidding, Josephine cuts off her little toe to try and force her foot into the lost slipper. Meanwhile, Cinderella, who has been brutally whipped and confined to her room calls on her fairy godmother for help. A hardcore fairy at heart, she gives Cinderella a mask that will give her the power to get back at those who have hurt her.
And so the slaying begins.
Cinderella’s Revenge provides an entertaining interpretation of the story. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a serious horror film. If you do you will be disappointed. I only watched it out of curiosity and I’m sure many other viewers will do the same thing. Fortunately, I wasn’t expecting a bloodbath and was happy to concentrate on the story. If you can do the same, you should find the film is okay.
However. the story starts to go off the rails a bit after Cinderella dons her new mask. When the film goes from being a fairytale with dark overtones to being a revenge movie it’s almost like watching a different film that contains many of the same elements but has fallen out of sync. It’s a script issue though and has nothing to do with the cast, whose portrayal of their characters is hard to fault. All of them do a good job and Natasha Henstridge shines as the omnipotent fairy godmother who is not bound by the limits of time and often forgets she is talking about things that are yet to come, much to Cinderella’s confusion.
With a runtime of 1 hr 25 minutes, Cinderella’s Revenge is not overly long and never gets dull, but the ball scene is a little disappointing. Instead of a large ballroom with high ceilings, the venue is more like somebody’s front room. It appears cramped and the party-goers look like they need some Red Bull. As for Cinderella’s dance with the prince, it looks so staged it’s comical. But hey! It’s a black comedy, so that could be seen to work in its favour.